Smash Notes
Chris Williamson
Related people
Episodes
Notes
Modern Wisdom · The Only 12 Lessons Buried In Every Self-Help Book - Spencer…
-
Why Does Spencer Greenberg Say Reading Self-help Will Not Change Your Life?
Spencer Greenberg says the least sexy, highest-impact part of self-help is that you cannot just learn techniques. You have to sit down, make time, and do them. Many people read self-improvement books and do nothing differently afterward. Reading will not change your life until you put the ideas into action.
Chris Williamson says it is better to read one chapter and then go away, or to follow a single strategy. Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits keep you on one track, so you are still doing a thing while you learn how habits happen. Chris Williamson contrasts that with a 500-page collection of disparate protocols. He says reading the material is not doing the work, and reading can hand you a simu
-
Why Does Spencer Greenberg Swap Phone Scrolling for Documentaries?
Spencer Greenberg calls them glad you did it activities. Afterwards, you are glad you did the activity. People often scroll on a phone or watch too much television instead. Replacing all downtime with something productive denies your own needs. Coming home from work tired means you need to relax, which is why the phone scroll happens. Swapping the scroll for more work denies the need to relax, and Spencer Greenberg says it is not a very healthy thing to do.
Spencer Greenberg loves documentaries and still has many unseen. Instead of doing whatever bullshit to relax, Spencer Greenberg pulls up a documentary long wanted. Watching it feels like a meaningful use of time. The documentary stays me
-
How Does Spencer Greenberg Use Worry Time?
People with a lot of anxiety hold beliefs about worry that work against them. Worry feels urgent, so it has to be handled now. They believe they cannot do anything except worry, as if they are not capable of stopping. They also believe worry is valuable, because something bad would happen if they stopped.
The method Spencer Greenberg loves is worry time. Pick one time of day, for example 5 p.m., and do not pick a time before bed. Through the day, write each worry down once. The example is not knowing whether a project will go well tomorrow. When the same worry returns, leave it off the list and wait until 5 p.m. The wait is batch processing: defer the worry, and if it comes back, say it has
-
How Does Spencer Greenberg Say Cold Water Snaps an Emotional Spiral?
When people are highly emotionally dysregulated, Spencer Greenberg says grounding outside the body helps. Look at three different things outside the body, notice three things that can be heard, then notice three things in the body, and switch between them. Chaos is going on in the mind, and getting out of the mind is what temporarily feels better. Chris Williamson puts the same sequence as a focus outside the body, a focus on the body, and a focus inside the body.
When the grounding does not work, a stronger shock can. Not electricity. A brief splash of super cold water can suddenly shock a person out of an emotional disruption. Chris Williamson asks whether the splash sits next to the mamm