
16 Lessons from The School Of Life - Alain de Botton - #1015
Modern Wisdom
11/03/25
•89m
About
Comments
Featured In
Alain de Botton is a philosopher, author, and founder of The School of Life.
How can we truly understand ourselves? Most of us either ignore our emotions or overthink them, turning simple feelings into complex puzzles. So how do we navigate the minefield of emotion to grow and become better?
Timestamps:
(0:00) The Hidden Trap of Self-Esteem (9:52) Discovering What We’re Actually Capable Of (16:43) How Friendship Protects Us From External Criticism (23:30) Why Men Need to Be Vulnerable with Each Other (31:08) The Deeper Need Behind Status-Seeking (45:35) How Can We Find Meaning in Art? (50:43) Why Thinking Deeply Feels So Uncomfortable (54:28) The Importance of Letting Fleeting Thoughts Breathe (01:01:43) Are We Trapping Our Emotions Through Intellectualisation? (01:13:53) Relearning the Skill of Hope (01:18:17) What Modern Society Really Teaches Us About Love
Sponsors:
See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals
Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom
Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom
Get Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D, and more from AG1 at https://ag1.info/modernwisdom
Get $100 off the best bloodwork analysis in America at https://functionhealth.com/modernwisdom
Extra Stuff:
Main website: https://www.theschooloflife.com/
Newsletter sign up: https://www.theschooloflife.com/signup/
Shop: https://shop.theschooloflife.com/
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
-
Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
-
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Previous Episode

The Life-Changing Skill of Emotional Regulation - Dr Marc Brackett - #1014
November 1, 2025
•90m
Dr. Marc Brackett is a professor at Yale University, the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and author.
Why is it so hard to actually feel our emotions? In a world that tells us to “be more vulnerable,” many of us don’t even know what that really means. Are we being unregulated when we express emotion, or are we finally being human? How can we reconnect with what we feel so we can actually understand ourselves better?
Expect to learn why only 1 in 5 adults can name more than three emotions they feel regularly, what emotional intelligence actually is, why we were taught such few emotional skills, how we can tell the difference between real regulation and repressed emotion, if it is possible to be too self-aware, how you can learn to reframe uncomfortable emotions—like anxiety or envy—into signals instead of shame and much more...
Timestamps:
(0:00) How Can We Recognise What We’re Feeling? (5:02) What Does it Mean to Regulate Emotion? (10:21) Why Were We Never Taught How to Regulate Our Emotions? (18:56) Why Does Emotional Suppression Come So Naturally? (24:40) Are People Truly Anxious? (34:14) How to Build Emotional Regulation (47:54) The Real Advantage of Becoming Emotionally Intelligent (01:01:32) The Difference Between Feeling Emotions and Processing Them (01:05:13) Why Being ‘Too Sensitive’ Is a Myth (01:19:15) Is It Possible to Be Too Self-Aware? (01:24:02) The First Step Toward Mastering Emotional Regulation (01:26:58) Where to Find Marc
Sponsors:
See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals
Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period from Shopify at https://shopify.com/modernwisdom
Get a 15% discount & free shipping on Manscaped’s shavers at https://manscaped.com/modernwisdom (use code MODERNWISDOM15)
Get the brand new Whoop 5.0 and your first month for free at https://join.whoop.com/modernwisdom
Check our Dr Marc Brackett's book here: https://marcbrackett.com/dealing-with-feeling/
Extra Stuff:
Get Marc's book: https://marcbrackett.com/dealing-with-feeling/
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
-
Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
-
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Next Episode

Is Having a Boyfriend Cringe Now? - Rob Henderson - #1016
November 6, 2025
•87m
Rob Henderson holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Cambridge and is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
When did having a boyfriend become cringe? For as long as men have been men and women have been women, finding a partner to share life with has been one of humanity’s oldest goals. So what changed? Why has wanting connection become something to mock, and what can be done to reverse it?
Timestamps:
(00:00) Is Having a Boyfriend Considered Cringe? (13:15) The Vicious Rise of Female Intrasexual Competition (26:40) How is Modern Culture Affecting Fertility? (35:43) The Difference Between Male and Female Intrasexual Competition (46:09) Are Successful Women Limiting Other Women’s Reproduction? (54:04) The Reason Women are More Against Abortion Than Men (01:01:01) The Swag Gap: How Confidence and Status Shape Modern Dating (01:16:22) Is Female Solidarity an Illusion? (01:23:25) Where to Find Rob
Sponsors:
See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals
Get Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D, and more from AG1 at https://ag1.info/modernwisdom
Get up to $50 off the RP Hypertrophy App at https://rpstrength.com/modernwisdom
Get 60% off an annual plan of Incogni at https:/incogni.com/modernwisdom
Extra Stuff:
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
-
Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
-
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted




