Podcast Summary: The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Guest: Chris Williamson

Episode Title: If You Don't Fix This Now, 2026 Is Already Over!
Release Date: December 29, 2025

Episode Overview

In this seasonally pertinent episode, Steven Bartlett sits down with leading podcast host and thinker, Chris Williamson, to unpack the psychology of New Year's resolutions, behavior change, and goal setting. The conversation is raw and reflective, threading through personal challenges, societal pressures, and unteachable life lessons. Together, they explore why most resolutions fail, how to design a year for true personal growth, the myth of the “perfect life,” and what actually matters when pursuing happiness and meaning. The dialogue is a practical guide and a philosophical provocation for anyone at the threshold of a new year, aiming to not just set goals, but to set the right goals with the right mindset.

Main Themes

• The Nature of Change: Understanding why so few New Year’s resolutions last, and tools for more sustainable transformation.
• Goal Setting and Subtraction: The importance of choosing fewer, more meaningful goals, and making space for growth by subtracting commitments.
• The Deferred Life Hypothesis: Letting go of the myth that happiness and meaning await only after certain milestones.
• Reflection & Self-Interrogation: Using the year-end lull for honest review, facing uncomfortable truths, and asking transformative questions.
• Productivity, Enough-ness, and the Type A Trap: Breaking from overachievement syndrome, recalibrating expectations, and learning to “rest harder.”
• Well-being Basics: Foundational habits (sleep, movement, sobriety) as the essential first dominoes in personal change.
• Relationships & Meaning: What to look for in a partner, the lonely chapter of growth, and finding meaning through responsibility and agency.
• Cultural Critique: Reflections on UK versus US mindsets regarding success, risk, and tall poppy syndrome.
• Unteachable Lessons & Regret Minimization: The perennial wisdom that success doesn’t fill internal voids, and how to future-proof life choices.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power & Pitfalls of New Year’s Resolutions

[03:30]

• Many people quit their New Year’s resolutions within weeks.
• There is no special magic in January 1st, but it is a culturally sanctioned opportunity to reflect.
• We are always unconsciously planning and regretting — the value of this time is to use it deliberately.

CHRIS:

“This is a culturally appropriate moment, like a scheduling appropriate moment for you to just step in and think, okay… You’re already in a little bit of a reflective mode. There is no special magic super Secret squirrel source in January 1st. But it is a good moment to check in because life tends to slow down a little bit.”
([03:51])

2. Designing Better Goals

[05:37–09:51]

• You can become anything, but not everything.
• The “addition bias” leads us to stack more and more goals, rather than subtract from commitments.
• Use the question:
  "What would have to happen by the end of 2026 for me to look back and consider it a success?"
• Subtract before you add: in order to pick something up, you have to put something down.
• True improvement comes from focused subtraction as well as addition.

STEVEN:

“We don’t think about subtraction at this time of year. Typically, we don’t think, I’m going to spend less time with my friends, I’m going to cut out Netflix. We think of addition, but logically, there’s still just the 24 hours in a day.” ([07:59])

3. Life as a Movie: The Audience Test

[09:55 / 12:10]

• If your life was a movie, what would the audience be screaming at you to do?
• The obvious answers (e.g., leave the wrong relationship, quit the job) are often already clear, if uncomfortable.
• Reflection exercises: If you wanted to make 85-year-old you as miserable as possible, how would you spend your days? What is the advice you’d give your 12-months-ago self (and do you need to hear it now)?

CHRIS:

“If your life was a movie and the audience were watching up to this point, what would they be screaming at the screen telling you to do with your life?... The killer’s hiding in the cupboard.” ([12:10])

4. The Deferred Life Hypothesis

[12:18–15:38]

• Many people are stuck in a “prelude” — a holding pattern, thinking life will start after X is accomplished.
• Problems are constant; meaning and happiness can only be found now, not after the next milestone.
• Striving is natural, but can easily mutate into “not enoughness” and chronic dissatisfaction.
• Chris and Steven both acknowledge working hard to outrun an internal void, only to learn (the hard way) it can’t be filled by achievements.
• Quote:

"You don't fix internal voids with external accolades… but it’s an unteachable lesson." (16:19)

5. Reflective Frameworks

[20:48–22:39]

• Chris advocates using structured annual reviews.
  • E.g., “What went well/badly and why? What systems fueled my success? What are the thoughts I repeated too many times? Who do I need to become next year?”
  • Free template at chriswillx.com/review

6. The “Hidden Metrics” of Success

[23:19–25:27]

• Observable metrics like job title & salary often come at the expense of less visible (and more valuable) metrics like commute time, relationships, and peace of mind.
• Success is personal and can’t be borrowed; aligning it to others’ models will eventually chafe.

CHRIS:

“Lots of people would trade a longer commute for a higher salary or a better job title… the length of your commute is one of the most correlated stats with your happiness. Longer commutes reliably make people more miserable.” ([23:45])

7. The Parable of the Mexican Fisherman

[25:29–27:36]

• Illustrates the folly of chasing more for its own sake, only to realize what you wanted was available from the beginning.
• Some lessons can only be learned through experience; telling others isn’t enough.

8. High ROI Habits (& The Four-Quadrant Matrix)

[33:09–37:28]

• Habits with high return/low effort (e.g., no phone in bedroom, morning walks, no alcohol, no caffeine within 90 min of waking) have the biggest impact.
• “Never miss two days in a row” – a practical rule from James Clear’s “Atomic Habits.”
• Focusing on “the first domino” (foundational behaviors like sleep) unlocks the cascade for other improvements.
• STEVEN:

“What I choose to eat is heavily impacted by my hormone balance today, and my hormone balance is impacted by my sleep, my emotional regulation… a lot of people aim at domino number nine…” ([42:07])

9. The Psychology of Productivity

[48:55–50:54]

• Productivity dysmorphia: high achievers struggle to see they’re productive enough— “ambition’s alter ego.”
• The best daily clarity question:
  “If I could only achieve one thing today, what would that be?”
• Most procrastination comes from either not knowing the next action, or not knowing how to do it.
• Be humble and patient; real progress begins with the “embarrassingly small” first step.

10. Agency, Belief, and The Region Beta Paradox

[69:04 / 71:04]

• Instead of waiting for confidence, generate evidence through small, consistent action.
• The region beta paradox: people tolerate “okay” circumstances for too long because they’re not bad enough to prompt change. Real progress often comes from crisis, but you don’t have to wait for things to get worse.
• Life is defined by relationship to uncertainty and the willingness to jump into the unknown with sufficient (not perfect) conviction.

11. Relationships, Family, and Modern Malaise

[75:36–91:29]

• The checklist for a strong partner: emotional stability, conscientiousness, agreeableness, moderate openness.
• The crisis of low rates of family formation in modern society is mimetic, cultural, and made worse by too many choices.
• Responsibility and dependence bring more meaning than unchecked freedom.

12. The Lonely Chapter

[101:27–107:15]

• As you grow, you may find yourself between social worlds—no longer fitting with old friends but not yet having new ones.
• This “lonely chapter” is a feature, not a bug, of transformation; most stories skip over it, but it’s where true change happens.

13. Work, Rest, and Knowing When Enough Is Enough

[124:51–127:18]

• Type A strivers are rarely told to chill out—but sometimes rest, joy, and play are what’s needed for wholeness.
• Productivity is not the only metric that matters; enjoying the ride is essential.

Notable Quotes

On Goal Setting & Subtraction

“You can change anything you want. Not everything you want… The single best question to work out what you should be doing next year: What would have to happen by the end of 2026 for me to look back and consider it a success?”
– Chris Williamson ([05:37])

On The Deferred Life Hypothesis

“Stop whipping yourself into submission, thinking that your happiness sits on the other side of the next set of goals… Problems are a feature, not a bug.”
– Chris Williamson ([12:18])

On The Big Life Choices

“If you're succeeding at a job that you hate, imagine how great you'd be at one that you loved.”
– Chris Williamson ([78:00])

On Unteachable Lessons

“You don’t fix internal voids with external accolades… but it’s an unteachable lesson.”
– Chris Williamson ([16:19])

On The Importance of Agency

“The belief that you have the ability to impact your surroundings… You happen to life, life doesn’t happen to you.”
– Chris Williamson ([143:43])

On Rest & Enoughness

“Type A people with Type B problems often get little sympathy because a miserable but outwardly successful person always appears in a better position than a content but lazy one. I think for a perhaps minority of people, they actually need the opposite message… We need to teach people to give themselves a fucking break.”
– Chris Williamson ([124:51])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00–03:30] — Opening reflections on mortality, meaning, and the value of year-end planning
• [05:37–09:51] — Goal setting, the problem with addition bias, and subtraction as strategy
• [12:10] — “The movie test”: would the audience be screaming for you to take action?
• [16:19–18:39] — The curse of striving and the lesson that cannot be taught
• [20:48–22:39] — The structure and value of Chris’s annual review template
• [33:09–37:28] — High-ROI habit interventions: no phone in bed, morning walks, stretching, and the sleep/movement/caffeine loop
• [42:07–44:53] — Foundational habits vs. chasing the ‘ninth domino’
• [48:55–51:20] — Productivity dysmorphia and the hidden costs of never feeling enough
• [69:04–71:04] — Agency, self-belief, and the region beta paradox
• [101:27–107:15] — The “lonely chapter” in transformation: when growth means outgrowing old environments
• [124:51] — Type A problems and the forgotten virtue of rest
• [127:32–129:15] — Modern malaise: existential problems as a luxury, not a curse

Closing Wisdom

• Stop waiting for “real life” to begin — most regrets come from deferring life until later.
• Embrace subtraction, not just addition, when planning a new year or a new self.
• Ask the five key annual review questions:
  1. What would have to happen by the end of next year for you to call it a success?
  2. What is 85-year-old you begging you to change or focus on?
  3. What problem or emotion have you repeatedly avoided?
  4. If this were a movie, what would the audience be demanding you do?
  5. If you were advising yourself 12 months ago, what would you say?
• Remember the “lonely chapter”—growing may mean outgrowing.
• Use discomfort and dissatisfaction as initial rocket fuel, but switch to self-compassion for long-term sustenance.
• Take agency: life won’t happen for you automatically; shape it, one small, embarrassing step at a time.
• Above all, as Chris closes, “Stop taking life so seriously. Enjoy the ride. In three generations, no one will remember your name — so now is the time to live.”

For more: Download Chris Williamson’s annual review template at chriswillx.com/review, and consider the featured episode with Naval Ravikant for deeper wisdom on life and agency.