Remembering 1999
I had the cruelest dream. It’s 1999. Saturday morning. Sun’s slicing through the blinds like it’s got nowhere better to be. I roll out of bed, boxers half mast, hair
Get your guard up
This is the tech-y email you need to pay attention to. Fraud and identity theft is at an all time high right now. “But Stephen, I’m good. My security is
The power of disgust
And why feeling like shit can save your life. Now I know the self help sunshine brigade is going to hate this, but here’s a truth that’ll make them clutch
Profits over people
Time for one of my regular soap box rants… Yes I’m still sick, but I’m miles better. I’ve somehow magically recovered my ability to think and put words down again.
How To Beat The Money Game Forever
Hey, this just went live: How To Beat The Money Game Forever It’s a complete map for beating the financial game, so you never need to work to make
The power of nostalgia
Saw a Dragon Ball Z ad on YouTube today and suddenly I’m eight years old again, racing home from school to catch the latest episode, arguing with friends about whether
Be aware and stay safe
I’m not much of a news fan. But the last few days have been insane. I won’t go into detail, but here in the UK it just seems to be
Me vs Hormozi
“You and I are not like cows. We’re not meant to graze all day. We’re meant to hunt like lions. This idea that you’re going to have linear output just
Protect Ya Neck
Now if I could bust out some bars like the Wu-Tang clan. I wouldn’t be writing emails to you, my number one fan… That said. I fell asleep in what
Hawk eye and eagle sight
PREVIEW chapter from upcoming book on animal spirits JERR Hawk Eye and eagle sight There will be times when a man will feel weighed down by the circumstances of his
Mike Tyson was right
“Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.” Probably one of my favourite sayings from ol’ Iron Mike. The
We need hobbies
This is gonna be a straightforward one. What hobbies do you have or have neglected this year? I need something fresh to dive deep into, so I’d love to see
Godspeed, Ben Bader.
A longtime coaching client of mine, Ben Bader, passed away on Thursday night. He was 24. I won’t get into the details, because that’s not what’s important right
Customer service ghost town
It’s very rare for me to get annoyed at anything. But customer support is where most businesses go to die. Whether you’re a solo business owner or some corporate behemoth,
The Lee Child school of prose
Hey you. Yes you. Put down that copywriting book. Stop reading another blog post about “the secret to high converting headlines.” Quit circle jerking with other copywriters who all learned
The lifestyles of the chronically online
We’ve created a generation of chronically miserable shitweasles who feed on outrage and sustain themselves entirely through online conflict. You know the type. You present them with factual information. Complete
sometimes you need to talk about absolutely nothing
As much as I want to brainwash myself into being a productivity machine… Optimising my morning routine, tracking my habits, measuring every fucking minute for maximum efficiency, sometimes I just
Read Moresometimes you need to talk about absolutely nothing
Am I the only alien in town?
“The game rewards the player who needs no reward other than the game itself.” – DeepGame Last night, I started watching season 2 of the Netflix show Starting 5.
Check your head, check on your people
It’s that time of the year where everyone talks about mental health. The thing is. Your mental health isn’t some weird optional maintenance. You need to truly look after it.
A perfect page is a creative graveyard
Purity and perfection are entangled together like lovers who can’t let go. A romantic metaphor right? When you sit down to tackle that blank page. You look at it and
The bastards who steal hours
Three thirty in the afternoon and I’m sweating into my third cup of coffee at some godforsaken strip mall type of coffee shop just off of the corner of a
Your brain is decomposing
And you probably don’t even realise it. I’m not going gentle into this Friday night. The thing is. It’s not even your fault. Friends and family are trying to rope
The art of strategic half -assery
Sometimes you just need to half-ass things. Could people liken it to failure? Sure. I’d probably just say it’s some sort of survival mechanism in the creative and human sense.
I missed a day but have a list…
It’s rare for me not write anything. Yesterday was one of those not writing days and well, as much as I preach daily emails for all the various reasons and
I almost became Ed Gein’s next lampshade project
So I caught whatever plague is making the rounds… Could be a cold, could be the flu, could be the opening act of the next global pandemic. Who knows anymore?
Check your locks twice
Ed Gein was a monster. But you might take his side after being given a psychological masterclass in horror. (Or so I’ve been told by a friend who has just
Why I don’t lose my shit when someone pirates my work (and maybe you shouldn’t either)
The French have this saying… C’est la vie. More aptly put; “That’s life.” Those two words carry the weight of centuries of human experience, wrapped in what I’d call a
Read MoreWhy I don’t lose my shit when someone pirates my work (and maybe you shouldn’t either)
How the French accidentally perfected the art of not losing your shit
The French have this saying… C’est la vie. More aptly put; “That’s life.” Those two words carry the weight of centuries of human experience, wrapped in what I’d call a
Read MoreHow the French accidentally perfected the art of not losing your shit
Sundays are for books, not scrolling.
Put the phone down and pick up a book (After you’ve read this email obviously) And no. Not an audiobook. Not a Kindle. An actual, physical book with pages you
The madness of saying the same thing 47 different ways
Sometimes I feel like I’m losing my fucking mind writing these emails. Not because the ideas are bad. I still believe everything I’m telling you. But because I’ve written about
Read MoreThe madness of saying the same thing 47 different ways
You’re still here (and why that means more than you know)
You’re still reading my words. We all know attention spans have been chopped up and fed to those robot overlords like some sort of sacrifice. Yet you’re still here reading
Read MoreYou’re still here (and why that means more than you know)
Everything happens for a reason
You know that phrase, right? Sure. Absolutely. I’m totally on board with that universe wisdom type shit. …except for the part where the reason is apparently that the universe has
The conversation that’ll save your relationship
or burn it to the ground, both outcomes beat slow death. So you’ve got words stuck in your throat like broken glass. The conversation you’re not having. The one that
Building an antidote to internet poison.
The internet feels like a dumpster fire that someone keeps pouring gasoline on. Every platform is optimised for outrage. Every algorithm rewards anger. Every comment section turns into a battlefield
A manifesto for a burning world
The world’s on fire. Again. Still. Forever, it seems like, and you’re sitting there scrolling through the ninth circle of social media hell wondering if maybe, just maybe, you should
For the Boys
[A love letter to myself] Listen up, brother. We need to talk. You and me. Man to man. Human to human. Whatever the fuck to whatever the fuck. Society’s been
It starts with one
That’s right. One decision. The decision that moves the needle forward in whatever it is you’re pursuing. I was asked last year what it mean to me, when it came
What fallout’s vault-tec taught me about the darkest copywriting truth
Been binge watching the Fallout series and there’s this scene that made me pause mid bite of my sandwich. I mean it was a damn good sandwich and I rarely
Read MoreWhat fallout’s vault-tec taught me about the darkest copywriting truth
Cake day
‘Tis my Birthday. I’ve survived another year. As I’ve gotten older I just have a grateful appreciation to still be here on this earth. Today has been a day of
Breaking my macbook made me write better
Sometimes the best productivity hacks come from pure accident and desperation. Just over 12 months ago, I did something spectacularly stupid. Closed my MacBook lid down on the charger cable.
It felt like the hunger games today
Something was definitely in the water this morning. I wake up, grab my coffee, make the classic mistake of checking Facebook while my brain’s still soft and undefended. Big fucking
Audiotape – Process Prolific
As promised. I’ve always said I’m going to do some more quick audio snippets. So here’s the next short little ramble. It’s more about my process and how you can
Her stubborn Southern soul
John Kennedy Toole put a bullet in his brain in 1969. Thought his manuscript was garbage. Thought the world didn’t want to hear about Ignatius J. Reilly… This sweating, farting,
Rock bottom is just the foundation for your comeback story
I came across this quote and if you let it. It might slap you across the face and give you a different way of looking at things… “What a beautiful
Read MoreRock bottom is just the foundation for your comeback story
Headlines matter more than everything else (including audio)
This is basically about how I accidentally proved headlines matter more than everything else. Which strangely also includes audio. So yesterday I screwed up so spectacularly that I accidentally proved
Read MoreHeadlines matter more than everything else (including audio)
You are me and I am you
You are a detective. Your mission is to document and observe the world around you. As if you’ve never seen it before. Take notes. Collect things you find on your
$500 mistake
One thing I’ve become addicted to over the years is collecting domain names. Not to flip them. Just to collect them for potential projects in the future. Unfortunately today has
The best bearded dude I know.
This isn’t going to be a massively long email. I’m just giving a shoutout to the man whose book dragged me out of the darkest place I’ve ever gone to.
Your world needs bouncers and velvet ropes
You need rules. Real rules. The kind that make people uncomfortable. The kind that separate the wheat from the chaff and leave the chaff standing outside in the cold wondering
Don’t take it personally…
Whatever happens around you. Don’t take it personally. Nothing other people do is because of you. Deeply… It’ because of themselves. Situations might feel so personal. It honestly has nothing