Three Minute Monday — 1 June 2026
This is a saved copy of Chris Williamson's Three Minute Monday email newsletter, which lands in my inbox every Monday. All credit to Chris — subscribe at chriswillx.com.
Hi friend,
I'm coming back to the UK & Ireland with a brand new live show.
Edinburgh, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Exeter, London, Dublin (Sold Out), Newcastle & Belfast 🚀
Get your tickets now.
I've been thinking about how hard we try to control our lives this week.
"Fear and ego—in other words, ignorance—are keeping your hand on the tiller. Release the tiller for whatever reason, and the steering takes care of itself." — Jed McKenna
Just let that sink in for a moment.
What would life actually be like if you didn't grip the tiller so hard?
(The tiller is the handle that attaches to a rudder on a boat - it's the thing that steers)
I heard Aubrey Marcus say something similar in a video when he announced the release of his NYT Best Selling Book.
"I spent so much of my life terrified of what I was going to become and whether I was going to be right here right now. God, how much time did I waste afraid I wasn't going to be right here right now? If I could change, the only thing I'd change about my whole life would be fearing less that I wouldn't get right here - the place I was going anyway. I wouldn't change all the mistakes and mishaps, I needed those. But all the constantly worry that I wasn't going to make it, that took me out of enjoying the moment. It took me out of enjoying these experiences, smiling or eating my lunch or doing whatever I was doing. Know your mission, have faith you're going to get there. Wherever you go, it's going to be alright. Just find ways to get out of your head."
Beautiful.
Humour me for a second…
Just imagine that the outcomes in your life are predetermined.
Imagine that where you're going to end up - the achievement of your goals, the attainment of your pursuits are predestined and you're going there anyway, no matter how much you fear or worry.
You still need to work, you still need to do the things, but you don't need to fear about completing the work or worry about whether you'll do the things.
The things you need to do will get done, and the ones you don't, won't.
How differently would you experience life?
You'd be able to just BE.
In the world but not of the world.
Doing the things but not afraid of the things.
"You observe events and you allow the flow of things to do the steering and you go where you go." — Jed McKenna
I really think there's something to this.
"Release the tiller" is a mantra we all should be reminded of when we find ourselves gripping too hard to fears or expectations.
Why fear about whether you'll get to the place you were going to all along?
Modern Wisdom
I do a podcast where I pretend to have a British accent.
This week's upcoming episodes:
Monday. Rabbit Hole - me, George Mack, Signull and Tim Ferriss work out if Tim dreams in Japanese, discuss the best area of Yankee Stadium to get a blown in and realise why remembering everything you experience would be a psychedelic hell. Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Thursday. Isabel Brown - something weird is happening to Gen Z, why is there a religious revival, what is going on with Trump's approval numbers and does everyone love or hate Alex Cooper?
Saturday. Zach Braff - breaking down the creative process of Scrubs' star, how to stay resilient, the sacrifices of a 3-decade career in Hollywood and more.
Things I've Learned
1. A matchmaking service ran a survey.
Asked if they'd marry "down" on three axes, women say no far more than men, every time:
- "Earns less" — women 12x more likely to refuse.
- "Less intelligent" — 6x.
- "Less educated" — 4x.
"Marrying down" is a near-dealbreaker for women and a non-issue for men.
Consistent across all three. — Jake Kozloski, KeeperAI
2. If it doesn't fit, eventually it'll hurt wearing it.
"One of the best pieces of advice I ever got:
If you want a calmer life, you need to address small problems while they're still small.
The cost of dealing with an issue rarely gets cheaper with time.
Procrastination turns uncomfortable things into unavoidable things." — Blake Burge
3. Choose taste.
Taste is having the conviction to do something the algorithm wouldn't.
Life Hack
40% discount at Momentous' Annual Sale.
Get up to 40% off everything during the Momentous Anniversary Sale by using code CELEBRATE.
Fibre+, Sleep Packs, Grass Fed Whey Protein.
All my favourites are on discount, plus free shipping is available.
Shop now before the sale finishes.
Big love, Chris x
Try my productivity drink Neutonic.
PS The feedback for last week's Mostly Wise episode was so good. Moar soon.