Category: Articles

Nothing sucker punches the dopamine goblin quite like dropping your carcass into a chair and wrenching the cap off a frost slick bottle of bubbly brain fuel…

(Iced latte before 8pm is a good idea lol)

Followed by reading, your very own, palm sweat absorbent printed thingamajig…

Magazine, book, ransom note looking love letter…

Anywho…

Being able to touch, clutch, and violently yeet yourself offline, if only for a heartbeat, is crawling back into fashion like I dunno? A zombie in fishnets?

One of my favourite word nerds Chuck Wendig just wrote a love letter about magazines.

Skim it if you dare.

But I’ve been talking about this for years (in emails, on the socials, tattooed on my left thigh, duh)

…nothing beats a slab of atoms you can actually grip, flip, and inhale like weird paper cocaine. Then slink off to your blanket fort and devour words in peace. Your world and your world only.

We used to do that often as kids. Why did we stop?

The thing is. Look around.

Brains = fried courtesy of TikTok jump cuts, Insta dopamine drips, and the looming possibility of WW3

(Politics? Pass me the bleach cocktail)

It’s exhausting and soul sucking-ly depressing to try and juggle all of this bullshit.

Nobody yanks their eyes off the their sadness rectangle long enough to meet another human.

When did we auction off our humanity for infinite scroll?

I hate that we’re all living 0 to 120mph in two seconds instead of taking the scenic route, sniffing a pine tree, maybe getting mildly possessed by forest gremlins and just letting our imagination take us anywhere but here.

Don’t worry. Irony noted. This email is being punched out via keyboard.

But the second I smack SEND.

I’m going back to pen and paper.

Yes. I know a heap of us keep the rent paid by flinging pixels at the internet and charging for it.

But we also need to look after our sanity. Best way? Write something analogue or, bare minimum, snatch a physical mag. Could be The Onion so you can ugly laugh, or a niche zine about cataloguing the 311 species of frogs in Madagascar…

Just do it.

Your dopamine receptors will build a tiny shrine in your honour probably.

Stephen Walker

P.S. Craving something hand written? I gotchu. Drop a reply with your details and I’ll make it happen even if I’ve gotta duct tape the note to a slightly unhinged carrier pigeon.

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Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

Here’s one of my favourite poems by ol’ Bukowski

When you’re really in need of a little kick up the ass. Read this

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start. 



if you’re going to try, go all the
way. this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.


go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or
4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the
worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine. 



if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the
gods
and the nights will flame with
fire. 



do it, do it, do it.
do it. 



all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter,
it’s the only good fight
there is. 

A lot of the times I’ll just sit and go through his work.

He is my favourite poet and I’ve been reading his stuff on and off since I was a teen.

Love is a Dog from Hell is one of my favourite collections and you should definitely add it to your library.

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

I’ve had enough espresso to stun a yak and I’m about to go off. So buckle up.

Today has been a day. And looks like it’s gonna be even MORE of a day with the pending war that’s about to unfold…

Don’t click a way though.

This isn’t another preachy “here’s how you 10x your dopamine” type post you’ll see all over the place.

I’m just going to lightly touch on Maslow’s Hierarchy.

Weird pyramid thingy we learnt about in school, right?

The one every self help bro brings up after their ayahuasca retreat…

Most people lately? They get stuck at the glittery bits. Wants, not needs. Sprinkles, not bread.

And it’s not even their fault, cause we all get suckered in.

IT’S THE SYSTEM or tHe aLgOrItHm

The “Hey, you’re missing out unless you buy this” dopamine drip marketing machine.

Especially the ones that have those massive fake timers that are gonna run out in 30 minutes but if you refresh the page 9 weeks later. Well well well…

It’ starts again lol.

Don’t get me wrong. We’ve all had that weird urge to buy a $97 course on underwater basket weaving because some guy with a rented Lamborghini says it’ll change your life.

Wants are easy. Wants are like sugar.

Needs?

Needs are like broccoli. They kinda try and keep us alive.

They sell wants. Wants are easy, fast, and dead on arrival.

Now like me. You’re a little cynical and with good measure.

That’s just cause we’re smarter than that.

(I mean you’re still here in my world, reading my ramblings and such)

And I know you didn’t come here for another dopamine hit. You came for the real shit…

So I’m gonna give my main man Drew Eric Whitman. The Ca$hvertising legend, possibly also a warlock a little love.

Now he has a little thing called “Life Force 8.”

They’re eight primal needs that actually move the needle.

Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension (aka “Don’t die, maybe even have fun”)

Enjoyment of food and beverages (carbs, glorious carbs)

Freedom from fear, pain, danger (no tigers, please)

Sexual companionship (swipe right, but for your soul)

Comfortable living conditions (not a cardboard box in a hurricane)

To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses (Petty? Maybe. Human? Absolutely)

Care and protection of loved ones (cue the Pixar montage)

Social approval (like this post, validate my existence)

Now, if you’re selling “wants,” what you’re really doing is renting a customer’s attention for six seconds before they bounce to the next shiny thing.

But if you sell to their needs?

You’ve got them.

Not just for a day. Not just for a Black Friday blitz.

You become a staple. You become the bread, not the sprinkles.

Here’s a quick scene:

Customer A: Buys your course because it’s “trending.” Never opens it. Maybe uses it as a coaster for their third coffee of the day.

Customer B: Buys your solution because it solves an actual pain point. They stick. They stay. They tell their friends. (Maybe even their therapist)

You want the second one. The ride or die. The “holy hell, where has this been all my life” customer.

Going after needs wins every time.

You get more retention. Nobody ditches oxygen, right?

You get loyalty. Because you actually solved something real.

You get referrals. Real impact? People talk. (Sometimes too much. But, hey, free marketing and such)

So if I had to slap it together as some sort of writing advice and/or marketing shiz in bullet point list format it’d be something like this:

Wants = fidget spinner.

Needs = running water.

Wants = sugar rush.

Needs = complex carbs.

Wants = one night stand.

Needs = messy, real, “help me bury a body” type marriage.

You get the idea.

So next time you’re crafting your pitch, your offer, your “Hey, buy this thing!” email…

Ask yourself. Are you selling sprinkles, or are you selling bread?

Sell the bread.

Be the bread.

Or at least a damn good sandwich.

Stephen Walker.

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Stephen Walker, Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

I’ve just finished re-watching one of my favourite films with Robin Williams…

And as much as the world is going to hell in a hand basket in real time,

This scene always makes me sit back and reflect

We’re only here for a short time.

We need to find and do what makes us happy.

Order that extra dessert.

Wear that wacky outfit.

Asked that guy/girl out.

Make and share your art.

This experience on earth is beautiful but we have to be willing to risk it all.

Stephen Walker.

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Stephen Walker, Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

Usually when I’m doing any type of writing.

The music I listen to hasn’t got vocals in it at all.

Why?

Cause when I get in the flow of things, then lyrics end up being peppered in and around whatever it that I’ve written.

But today was just a nice chill day going through an absolute gem of an album that I re-listen to purely because of the lyricism and word play.

Generally rap music gets a bad rap (lol) due to the nature of the lyrics and subject matter but honestly it’s just poetry with a beat.

Don’t get me wrong. You can’t slap a 90s boom bap beat on a Edgar Allan Poe poem and call it music but the sentiment is there.

Well. After I turned my brain into fantasy mush by re-watching all of the Lord of the rings and Harry Potter films, I had to just come back down to earth some way or the other.

And so Albert Einstein helped me out

There is no lesson here. It’s just music and something I thought I’d share.

Now go make with the Hip Hop and listen.

Cause when your head is stuck between Platform 9¾ and the dark and desolate realm located in the southeast, east of Gondor and the Anduin River aka Mordor.

And your attention is battling for Middle Earth.

Sometimes you just need a day to appreciate some music.

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

We need to have a talk.

Not the kind of talk where I’m mad.

Though honestly, maybe mad would be easier. Mad burns hot and fast like a shot of cheap whiskey. Mad gets things off your chest and moves on.

No, this is worse than mad.

I’m just disappointed.

The kind of bone deep, soul crushing disappointment plops right down into your stomach.

Yesterday was Friday the 13th.

And not one of you beautiful degenerates made a single Jason Voorhees reference on my timeline.

Not one “ch ch ch ah ah ah” sound effect. No hockey mask emojis. No jokes about avoiding summer camps or crystal lakes or teenage counsellors with questionable survival instincts.

Nothing.

Radio silence from my fellow horror nerds I thought I knew and loved.

You start to wonder if you’re living in some parallel universe where the cultural reference points that make life bearable have just…

Anywho…

The Friday the 13th franchise that taught us valuable life lessons like “don’t have premarital sex at summer camp” and “maybe don’t split up when there’s a masked killer on the loose” and “seriously, why does anyone still go to Camp Crystal Lake when it has a 100% murder rate?”

Jason Voorhees is the persistent bastard who refuses to stay dead.

Which, honestly, is a mood we should all aspire to in 2025.

The man’s been shot, stabbed, drowned, blown up, sent to space (yes, that happened), and dragged to hell, and he still shows up for work the next day with his trusty machete and inexplicable ability to teleport behind unsuspecting teenagers.

That’s dedication to craft right there.

But apparently, we’ve all become too sophisticated for such simple pleasures.

Too busy doom scrolling through man made hellscapes and arguing about AI ethics to pause and appreciate the pure, unfiltered joy of a seven foot zombie in a hockey mask systematically working through a cast of characters who couldn’t make good decisions if their lives depended on it.

We live in an age of manufactured nostalgia.

Every streaming platform is desperately mining the past for content that’ll trigger some warm fuzzy feeling of recognition.

Hollywood’s rebooting franchises that should’ve stayed buried. Social media’s constantly cycling through “remember this?” posts about things that happened six months ago.

But when an actual, legitimate cultural anniversary rolls around…

One that deserves recognition, celebration, maybe a few poorly photoshopped memes.

Suddenly everyone’s too cool for camp.

I’m not asking for much here, okay?

A simple “Happy Friday the 13th” would’ve sufficed. Maybe a gif of Jason emerging from the lake.

Hell, I would’ve settled for someone just acknowledging that today was statistically more likely to result in machete related incidents than your average Friday.

But no. You all decided to spend yesterday posting about productivity hacks and coffee recipes and whatever other mundane Tuesday energy content fills the void where your sense of fun used to live.

So here’s where we stand…

(cause this place here is a dictatorship ya know?)

You’re all nearly dead to me. Not completely dead…

I’m not that crazy.

You could still make up for it.

You could start sneak in a Friday the 13th reference into your next chat.

Develop an appreciation for practical effects and creative kill scenes.

Recognise that sometimes the best way to deal with life’s existential horror is to embrace the fictional kind.

Or you could continue living your reference free existence, blissfully unaware that you’ve let down the ghost of every slasher film ever made.

Your choice.

But know this…

The next time Friday the 13th rolls around, I’ll be watching. Waiting. Ready to judge your commitment to the sacred traditions of acknowledging arbitrary calendar based horror celebrations cause I’m a nerd.

And if we can’t come together as a society to appreciate a good hockey mask wearing, machete wielding, summer camp terrorizing legend, then what’s the bloody point of civilisation anyway?

Jason deserved better from you.

And frankly, so did I.

Ch ch ch ah ah ah, indeed.

Stephen Walker

P.S. This isn’t a serious email. I am paying homage to Jason tonight by watching the OG Friday the 13th. But I will be watching you too…

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

It’s hard to do the things you love when life kicks you in the face.

But here’s a quick little permission slip to do the things you have put aside.

Tonight, just 5 minutes from my place I’m heading to a little gallery where a friend of mine. Rob, will be exhibiting his work for a few days. I’ve known Rob for probably going on 15 years since I’ve been back in the UK.

It boggles my mind that I’ve stopped doing the things I used to love. Which is going on little adventures out to art galleries and supporting the locals.

Maybe it was my GF at the time or some other life handed bullshit.

But I made an active decision this year to follow what I enjoy and love to do.

Be it obsessively write about everything I do. Or my hobbies I’m slowly getting back into.

Way too many people say you shouldn’t do XYZ cause it’s not professional.

Fuck that.

We are human. We need to chase the things that give us meaning and give us that little bit of connection we’ve lost.

I don’t want to be stuck scrolling this sadness rectangle in my hand. I want to go out and experience things like I used to. Make the type of memories that don’t need to be posted on social media (cause let’s be honest. if we had social media when we were younger, we’d all probably be in prison lol)

But the point is this. Do the things that light your soul on fire.

Whether that’s taking yourself out on a solo date to watch a film.

Picking up a hyper niche hobby and going balls deep with it.

Or supporting your local art galleries and artists do cool shit.

Now if you excuse me.

I need to go shower. Be somewhat presentable and go look at paintings while bullshitting others about art, cause hey, that’s what art really is. Standing around. Talking shit. Having a drink and bullshitting about the old masters who pushed paint around on the canvas.

If you want to tell me I’m wrong.

Drop me a message here: https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Repeat after me.

I am a writer.

I am the fury and the fire.

I will finish the damn thing I started.

No pity parties. No snot nosed tantrums. No “oh, the words aren’t coming today” melodrama. That shit’s for amateurs. My resolve is forged from titanium.

These pants? They’re adult pants.

The diapers of my excuses? Reduced to ash. Scorched in the crucible of my own ambition.

I will light the match. I will burn the whole forest down.

And when my excuses come scuttling out like cockroaches on fire, their tiny legs sizzling…

I won’t flinch. I’ll stomp them flat. I’ll smash them with my wordhammer until they burst like overripe watermelons full of lies and self pity.

This blank page? It’s not my enemy.

The blinking cursor? Not my tormentor.

These characters? Oh, they’re mine. They scream when I tell them to scream. They bleed when I say bleed. They kiss, fuck, kill, cry, and collapse because I command it.

And if they give me any lip? I’ll send them to the gulag of forgotten side characters, where the marmots nibble toes and the plot holes swallow you whole.

This plot? Might be passed up as “just a story”

It’s a weapon. A noose. A steel trap.

I’ll use it to strangle my doubts, hang my insecurities, and watch them thrash until they’re silent, until every last whisper of “you can’t” is choked into oblivion.

The words?

Oh, they’re my army now. My mercenaries.

Tiny soldiers, built from 26 letters, carrying ideas too big for their brittle little shoulders. They march in formation, hauling metaphors and similes and bad ass imagery like ants dragging a goddamn mountain. Hell, sometimes they even surprise me, forming sentences no one else has dared to write.

Like:

“Gertrude’s haunted crockpot whispered forbidden recipes for demon soufflés, and every time she ignored it, a cat somewhere spontaneously combusted.”

That’s mine. I own that.

Because I am the captain of this absurd journey. The mad scientist of this laboratory of chaos. And yeah, it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hard.

If it were easy, every latte sipping poser with a Moleskine and a dream would be cranking out Pulitzer winning novels in between Instagram posts. But no. This is the mountain goat’s climb. The gauntlet. The hellish, glorious uphill march.

My hamstrings might snap under the strain and twang like broken banjo strings. My backbone might liquify into Jell-O.

My kneecaps might launch into the stratosphere like rogue champagne corks. And maybe, just maybe, a yeti will descend from the snowy peaks, rip off both my arms, and use them to beat me into a fine paste.

But even then. Even in the face of utter annihilation.

I won’t quit.

I’ll grab one of my severed arms in my teeth.

I’ll slug that yeti in his frosty balls until he howls like a banshee and tumbles into the abyss.

I’ll duct tape my limbs back on.

I’ll realign my spine with a wrench and a prayer.

I’ll puppet my busted legs like a deranged marionette master until I stumble across the finish line, bloody and victorious.

Because I am not weak.

I am not fragile.

I am a writer.

I will finish what I started.

I am the warlord of these words.

The architect of this goddamn chaos.

The ruler of this story.

Repeat after me:

I will write.

I will conquer.

I will burn the excuses.

And when I’m done, when the last word is written, I will look at the smoldering battlefield I’ve created and whisper,

“I did this. This is mine.”

Amen.

And good luck.

You got this.

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

I’m a creature of habit.

And as always. Whenever I’m out and about, I follow my regular route.

On this regular route I always see two cats. At a quick glance they’re identical. Mother and kitten.

Now if you’ve ever seen The Matrix (1999) you’ll remember the scene where Neo sees a black cat meow, shake itself off and walk away.

He then carries on, turns his head and as he looks again, he sees the cat do the exact same thing before saying “Oh, Déjà vu!” which basically means “already seen”

And so here’s the micro lesson for today.

Already seen.

Artists of all shapes and genres, business folk and marketing weirdos ALWAYS worry about being unique and coming up with new ideas, concepts and what not.

They lie awake at 3am, staring at the ceiling, wondering if their latest project is just a rehash of something that’s been done before. They Google their ideas obsessively, searching for evidence that they’re either brilliant pioneers or complete frauds.

But the thing they forget about is that sometimes the audience just needs to see the same thing over and over again, cause they might’ve missed it.

Think about it. You’re consuming content, sucking down information from seventeen different platforms while simultaneously trying to maintain the illusion of productivity. Your attention is scattered across more surfaces than a broken mirror in a fun house.

What are the odds you caught that profound insight the first time it scrolled past your eyeballs?

Zero.

The odds are zero.

Your “groundbreaking” idea? Someone’s probably done it. Your unique angle? It’s been angled before. Your revolutionary approach? There’s a decent chance it revolutionised something back in 1987, and everyone just forgot because the internet wasn’t around to make it permanent.

And you know what? That’s exactly why it needs to exist again.

Because the person who needed to hear it in 1987 was probably in diapers. The audience who would benefit from your particular flavour of wisdom wasn’t ready for it when it first appeared.

They were busy dealing with other crises, consuming different content, living in different headspaces.

Personally I can’t even remember something I read a few days ago, unless I’ve actively saved it for later study.

We need to stop thinking that repetition invalidates value.

Every story is a retelling of older stories. Every business model is a variation on commerce that’s existed since humans started trading shiny rocks for food.

Every creative breakthrough is just someone taking existing elements and rearranging them in a way that resonates with their particular moment in time.

Shakespeare straight up stole most of his plots. Led Zeppelin built their entire catalogue on blues riffs that preceded them by decades.

Every startup pitch deck contains the same twelve ideas that have been recycling through Silicon Valley since the invention of venture capital.

And somehow, mysteriously, these “unoriginal” creators managed to build legacies that outlasted their original sources.

The cats on my route aren’t performing some weird glitch from The Matrix when they repeat their behaviours.

They’re just being cats. Consistently. Authentically. Without apologising for not being the first cats to ever exist.

Maybe that’s the lesson. Maybe the goal isn’t to avoid the déjà vu?

It’s to become the kind of person whose version of “already seen” feels necessary, valuable, and somehow inevitable.

Your voice. Your angle. Your particular way of explaining why the world is beautiful and broken and worth paying attention to.

The person who needs to hear it hasn’t heard it yet. And they’re walking their own route, following their own habits, waiting for their own moment of recognition.

Already seen. About to be seen again.

And thank god for that.

Finding the good stuff and being reminded of it when we needed it is always a good thing.

Unless it’s some asshole phoning us 4353 times a day wanting to talk to us about our cars extended warranty.

Fuck that.

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

P.S. If you have a kitty. Show ’em to me.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

“If your vision told you to choose a different path, then the right opportunity is waiting for you on the new one.” – Yellowstone

I’ve had two existential crises in my life.

​

Real existential crises:

​

Where my sense of meaning completely collapsed, leaving me lost, confused, and feeling like nothing that used to matter to me actually mattered, anymore.

​

It was as though the color had been drained from my world, plunging my reality into shades of grey.

​

These were two of the scariest times of my life.

​

And I’d like to share the first one with you now, in case you’re going through a similar phase of your own life.

​

It happened in 2009, when a career-ending hip injury forced me out of basketball and into a period of total uncertainty.

​

Until then, my life had been consumed by basketball:

​

By early mornings, empty gyms, dusty weight rooms, and the relentless pursuit of mastering my craft.

​

But looking back, it wasn’t even about basketball, for me:

​

It was about the feeling of purpose that came from pressing towards a distant mountaintop…

​

…Testing the limits of my mind, my body, and my will against the highest goal I could imagine.

​

It was about seeing how high I could climb:

​

And, more importantly, who I could become, in the process.

​

Then, all at once, it was gone — and with it, so was my sense of purpose.

​

I tried to keep training, at first.

​

But without clarity on what I was training for, all of my workouts felt flat.

​

So I tried to pursue new goals…

​

(powerlifting, bodybuilding, even academics)

​

…But nothing gave me the feeling that basketball did.

​

Everything felt lukewarm, so-so, kind of interesting but mostly not.

​

Until late one night, sitting in my college dorm room, when I tumbled down the online business rabbit hole, and felt the color rush back into my life.

​

Suddenly, I had a fresh new set of skills to learn.

​

A new mountain to climb.

​

And a new craft to master.

​

This new craft, however, came with benefits that basketball couldn’t offer.

​

Money was the obvious one (and it’s been a damn good one)…

​

But even better than money was the feeling that I was finally in control of my own destiny.

​

No coach could put me on the sidelines.

​

No teammate could hog the ball and ice me out.

​

No scout could decide he likes another player better, and kill my dream cold.

​

It was all in my hands, now.

​

For the first time, I was finally playing a fair game.

​

And I could continue playing that game for as long as I wanted to — for the rest of my life, even, without needing to worry about age or physical breakdown.

​

Of course, business came with it’s own challenges.

​

But those challenges only amplified my sense of purpose, as I forged myself against a new mountain that could be scaled to seemingly limitless heights.

​

Today, 15 years later…

​

…That mountain continues to reveal new vistas, new potentials, and new opportunities that I never knew existed.

​

And I know it will continue to do so, for as long as I continue to climb.

​

If you’re currently standing at the base of that mountain, preparing to make your own journey…

​

…It would be a pleasure to guide you inside FounderLab.

​

We are closing applications at midnight tonight — so, if you want in:

​

​Here’s where you can apply before 11:59pm EST.​

​

I hope it brings new purpose, new meaning, and new color to your life, the way it has for mine.

​

T

​

P.S. If you have any final questions about the program, just hit reply. We’re less than 14 hours away from closing, so now’s the time to ask!

“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.“ – Winston Churchill

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​Unsubscribe | Update your profile | 5-420 Erb St. W, Suite 433, Waterloo, ON N2L6K6

And live by them.

We give up whatever type of power we have over our own lives by giving people full control and access to us when they don’t deserve it.

I mean if you’ve been paying any attention to the clusterfuck of the world in the last 12 months.

You’ll know how bad it is.

Hard pill to swallow?

You don’t owe any anything at all.

The longer you keep bending your knee to other people’s will. The further back you’re going to get pulled.

I want to do great thing and I want you to do great things too.

You can great your own rules one by one and start applying them to your life. They can be in person ones or even ones you use online.

Yeah I might sound like a dick for creating rules like this but if you don’t make ’em. Well. People are gonna walk all over you.

If you’re meeting a client. If they’re late. You leave. Unless they’ve had the hindsight to tell you they’re gonna be late. There’s no need wait. As they say. Time is money and the way you treat your own time is a massive reflection on oneself.

I have a strict no phones rule too (Within reason) we’re out for a meal or drinks or whatever. Be present. If you’re going to be on your phone every 30 seconds. Well… That’ll be the last time I invite you.

This here list. If you’re here. You’re here. If you leave you’re dead to me. No coming back. No oops I accidentally unsubscribed.

Dickish? Of course. Do I have higher quality humans in my life because of it?

Yes.

There are too many time wasters and people who just want to take take take.

That shit needs to stop.

Respect yourself, your art and your love for all the things.

Keep the good ones close and vomit out the ones who just take the piss.

Stephen Walker.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”

Which is a rough quote and an attribution to famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.

I went deep on Russian literature for year and yes. With everything going on in the world via Russia and Ukraine. Anyone who sings any praises about Russia are quickly shunned while being called a Nazi too.

Which is wild but expected, especially in 2025.

However back in 2020 when the world was going to shit.

A young lad. Probably about early 20s asked me how to fix his situation in life. Now usually places like Twitter are known to be a cess pool of epic proportions because there’s no real structure of what is being shared there. So you can easily get sucked into the many sub groups or niches of Twitter.

Anyways. I recommend he strapped himself in and read The Brothers Karamazov.

The sentiment certainly aligns with major themes in his work, particularly in The Brothers Karamazov where characters grapple with finding meaning and purpose in life.

The novel explores similar ideas through characters like Alyosha and Ivan, and their discussions about faith, suffering, and what makes life worth living.

And so the quote about is often also wrapped in the way Dostoevsky saw the world.

Basically what I said was he needs to find a purpose to become attached to. Something that’ll add meaning to his life. I mean when we were raised by our parents we were, unfortunately lied to a lot of the time.

Not by their own faults and beliefs. Just by how everything back then was “sold” to us.

The hardest thing to do nowadays, is to stand on your own two feet while battling through your own demons and going against what society deems “normal”

So if you’re feeling stuck. If people are trying to get you down and belittle your goals and dreams.

Lock yourself away for a few days and read The Brothers Karamazov.

It may not give you all of the answers.

But it’ll wake you up enough to the point where you’ll tell the ones who are trying to hold you back to fuck off.

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

“Find something you love and let it kill you.”

That quote is famously said to have been written by Charles Bukowski.

Bukowski was genius in his own right and it was disputed for decades that he didn’t write it.

Although it does align with his overall philosophy and style.

You can’t do any wrong by reading his work and finding small truths that can apply to your life.

This is something I see all the time.

People complaining about their lives (They’re allowed to) but unwillingly wanting to change things for the better.

It can be hard to make that switch when it’s so easy to look at everything that sucks, but you need to dig a little deeper and find out what you truly love. Then give that your 100% undivided attention.

Even if its something you truly pursue until you die.

Art is art and finding that thing that lights your soul on fire is something a lot of people don’t ever get to experience, cause the people they trusted. Lied to them and told them this is how life should be.

So this is a little love note from me to you. Giving you permission to find that thing and pursue it.

(It helps if that thing can also be sold/monetized) cause then you won’t really work a day in your life. However that saying goes…

But yeah. You need to stop being scared to chase your long lost dreams. Follow your heart, art and soul.

We’re only on this planet for what is considered a blink of an eye.

Might as well have fun, right?

And success will eventually come.

Stephen Walker

P.S. If you wanna go down the Bukowski rabbit hole. I’d start with this…

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

So there’s this thing about human nature that productivity gurus will never tell you in their $497 courses about “optimizing your potential” and it’s this…

We’re fundamentally hedonistic creatures pretending to be rational ones.

Stick with me here. This isn’t going where you think it’s going.

Last Tuesday, I was having one of those days. You know the type of brain fog thick as London smog, motivation flatlining like a heart monitor in a morgue, and the prospect of doing anything productive felt about as appealing as volunteering for dental surgery without Anesthesia…

But then I got a text. Mate’s birthday. Drinks at the local. And despite every fiber of my being wanting to stay home and merge permanently with the sofa, I went.

Today was that day.

Why? Because it felt good. Because I like my friend. Because birthday drinks are inherently more appealing than staring at a blank Google Doc while my cursor blinks judgmentally at my creative inadequacy.

On top of this week being an absolute shit show of epic proportions…

I chose the path of immediate pleasure over the “responsible” choice of forcing myself to work.

But here’s where it gets interesting and this is the bit that’ll make you rethink everything about motivation and goal setting.

That night out? It led to conversations about projects I’d forgotten I was excited about. Connections with people who ended up collaborating on work that actually mattered. Ideas sparked by alcohol lubricated discussions about everything from horror films to the psychology of email marketing.

Yeah it’s not even 10pm here as this email goes out, but all of the effort was made.

Plot twist… Hedonism might be the most underrated productivity hack on the planet.

Think about it. When was the last time you forced yourself to do something “good for you” and it actually stuck?

How’s that gym membership working out? That meditation app you downloaded with such optimism? The morning routine you swore would transform your life?

Now compare that to the things you do consistently without thinking about it. Checking social media. Watching Netflix. Grabbing coffee with friends. Meeting deadlines when there’s actual consequence (and thus actual motivation) attached.

We follow pleasure. Always. Even when we think we’re being disciplined and rational, we’re usually just finding ways to make the “right” choice feel rewarding enough to pursue.

So here’s the radical idea. What if instead of fighting your hedonistic nature, you weaponised it?

The Strategic Hedonism Playbook (Totally not made up lol cause I’ve drank enough Guinness to kill an elephant…)

1. Make the path to your goals inherently pleasurable.

Want to write more? Don’t force yourself to write in some sterile productivity environment. Write in cafes where you enjoy the atmosphere. Write about things that genuinely fascinate you, not what you think you “should” write about.

2. Attach social rewards to solo work.

That friend’s birthday that got me out of the house? It worked because humans are social creatures who derive pleasure from connection. So build social elements into your goals. Join writing groups. Find accountability partners. Make your progress visible to people whose opinions you value.

3. Embrace productive procrastination

You know how you suddenly become incredibly motivated to organise your entire life when you’re avoiding one specific task? That’s not a bug. It’s a feature. Use it. When you can’t bring yourself to work on the big scary project, do smaller adjacent tasks that still move you forward.

4. Follow your genuine curiosity, not your “should” list

The things that naturally capture your attention aren’t distractions. I’d hazard a guess and say that they’re breadcrumbs leading to work that won’t feel like work. That random rabbit hole about Victorian funeral photography might seem unproductive, but it could spark the creative project that changes everything.

5. Make rest genuinely restful.

Stop treating downtime as something to optimise. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is absolutely nothing. But do it properly. Not scrolling-while-feeling-guilty nothing. Actual, unapologetic, restorative nothing.

The beautiful irony? When you stop trying to force yourself into someone else’s definition of productivity and start working with your actual human nature, you end up getting more done and enjoying the process.

Because here’s what the hustle culture evangelists won’t tell you and it annoys the shit out of me…

Sustainable success isn’t built on willpower and discipline. It’s built on creating systems that feel so naturally rewarding that you’d choose them even when you don’t have to.

It’s built on strategic hedonism.

So the next time someone tells you to “just power through” or “find your why” or whatever other motivational platitude is trending this week, remember this…

The most successful people aren’t the ones who’ve conquered their human nature.

They’re the ones who’ve learned to work with it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to follow my hedonistic impulses and grab another pint with a friend. Purely for productivity purposes, you understand. It’s nearly 22:00 and well… I got shit to do.

The work will still be there tomorrow. And I’ll probably be more excited to do it.

Hoping I don’t have a massive hangover on top of it all…

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Bear with me.

I’ve ended my day with a few Espresso Martini-zzz cause this week has been a rollercoaster. There has been some epic wins and some epic losses.

Like I always say…

There is balance in all things.

Now you’ll know I am the one person who will honestly say that they are far from having their shit together.

In actual fact. My shit is far from being together.

(I can’t think of a witty metaphor or analogy right now but whatever. You get the point)

But just to remind you… I’m not your favourite guru who pretends that everything is perfect 100% of the time.

And as always. I choose progress over perfection.

Now I had a short call with an ex client and friend and they wanted to know how I dealt with burnout.

Now there is no magic fix. Or pill, potion or some weird hack that’ll remove it but there are some steps you can follow.

Here’s a little context.

From 2005 to 2010 (When I found myself back in the UK)

I was a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. Well before social media kicked off and well before I knew better. I made my art my whole personality…

Now don’t get me wrong. If you’re learning something new. You’re gonna have to make some sacrifices to get good and in my cases. Going balls deep was the way it had to be done.

Sadly what people don’t tell you, is that there is this thing called burnout which will come for you. Just like DEATH.

Burnout will find you and he will fuck with you in such a spectacular fashion, that he lies to you and makes you believe it’s all your fault.

It’s not though.

We’ve been pre-programmed to give to others and not look after ourselves. You put your family and friends first and well…

You? Meh. I’ll get there eventually.

(Which is the worst thing you can do)

and so when you get close lined by burnout because you ignored the warning signs. The recovery process can takes days, weeks, months or even years and even in some cases decades OR never.

We don’t want that at all.

So how can we stop this little shit from ruining our lives?

It starts with you and you alone.

You need to CHOOSE yourself.

You need to be selfish. You need to say no to everyone and everything else.

You need to step back and do the things that set your soul on fire.

If that means staying up till 4am binge watching the worst shit ever while eating a tub of ice cream for 3 weeks straight. Well then yeah. Do that.

It means saying no to family and friends when they want to suck the energy right out of you.

You don’t have to go out. You don’t have to meet friends for a meal.

The only thing you need to do is pick you.

You need to go back and do the things that weren’t tied to anyone else, your income or any other expectations that society holds you down to.

The all work and no play is true. It’s doubly true for when you neglect who you are as a person.

If you want to finger paint a wall. Do it.

If you want to dance naked in a forest while it’s pissing down with rain. Then do it.

We’ve been boxed in too much and told how to dance and who to serve and that shit needs to stop.

We’re about love and art and all the things that make use uniquely human.

We need to go back and play.

And has my home boy Piccaso once said:

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

So picture this nightmare…

King couldn’t write a better horror novel tbh.

You’re innocently scrolling through Twitter.

Sorry, “X” cause apparently we’re all living in Elon’s mid life crisis now.

Christ knows how the algorithm works its magic but all of a sudden. Right in front of my eyeballs, are literal pages of Alpha Male bullshit.

It’s basically where grown men with profile pics of wolves or themselves in poorly fitted suits spend their days dispensing “wisdom” about how real men should behave.

It’s like stumbling into a self help seminar run by people who’ve clearly never helped themselves to anything except delusions of grandeur.

The urge to punch myself in the face was immediate. And persistent.

Here’s a sample of the profound insights I witnessed during my accidental deep dive into this testosterone soaked hellscape…

“Real alphas wake up at 4am to dominate the day.” Man, you know what waking up at 4am actually means?

It means you’ve got insomnia, a newborn, or you work shifts. It doesn’t make you a wolf pack leader.

And in my case it makes me tired.

“Women are attracted to men who display high value.”

High value? What are we, cryptocurrency? Last I checked, humans aren’t trading cards you collect and upgrade through gym selfies and dubious investment advice.

But here’s the bit that really made my brain try to crawl out through my ears for the second time in the last 3 months…

The endless threads about “female nature” written by dudes who clearly haven’t had a meaningful conversation with a woman since their mom asked them to take out the bins on a Friday night.

These are grown adults.

Presumably with jobs and responsibilities, spending their time crafting tweets about “maintaining frame” and “passing shit tests.” It’s like watching someone cosplay as a human being based entirely on pickup artist manuals from 2003.

There is some tragedy there too.

Some of these guys probably started out just wanting to feel better about themselves. Maybe they were lonely, insecure, struggling with confidence. All completely normal human experiences that deserve compassion, not exploitation.

But instead of finding genuine help, they stumbled into this ecosystem of grifters selling them a fantasy of masculine dominance that’s about as authentic as a three dollar note. It’s self help for people who think emotional intelligence is a character flaw and vulnerability is a marketing weakness.

You want to know what actual confidence looks like? It’s being secure enough to admit when you don’t know something. It’s treating people, all people as complex individuals rather than NPCs in your personal success story.

It’s understanding that relationships aren’t chess matches where someone has to win. I mean I see that all the time and it’s exhausting just watching people fight those types of battles.

What happened to just being a good human?

I can write a lot more about this topic but it’s just mad to see this still being pushed as hard as it is. Between A.I. and Alpha Bro Bullshit, it’s like the cycle is never going to end.

Anyways.

I’m about to go inhale a pizza because that’s the second most Alpha thing you can do.

The most Alpha thing you can do is share this email with a friend and then tell them to massage this link:

https://stphnwlkr.com/list

Stephen Walker

P.S. This is the place where all the cool kids hang out. We still beers from our parents and smoke cigarettes behind the school gym.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

“Be humble or get humbled.” – MindTraps

I got schooled.

​
Clowned, exposed, humiliated — embarrassed as badly as I’ve ever been, in my career…

​
…All while standing in front of a group of the most successful entrepreneurs in my industry.

​
​The year is 2011, and the place is Las Vegas.

​
The setting is a rented conference room at the Wynn hotel, and the group is 12 of the heaviest-hitters in the sports training industry.

​
(including ILoveBasketball, JumpUSA, Alex Maroko, Todd Herman, and several others)

​
​We’re here for a mastermind meeting:

​
To network, cut deals, share what’s working in our businesses, and maybe, if there’s time…

​
(there’s always time)

​
Get a little twisty.

​
So there I am, up at the front of the room, giving a presentation on what I called:

​
​”The ultimate online business model.”

​
What was so ultimate about it, you ask?

​
Well, everything.

​
Literally — it included everything:

​
Paid ads, emails, micro-sites, affiliate marketing, blogging, webinars, SEO, SLOs, OTOs, cross-sells, upsells, front-ends, back-ends, you get the idea.

​
Beaming with pride, I display my brainchild for the room to see:

​

(real screenshot of the funnel I sketched out in 2011)

​
​”I’ve done it,” I thought to myself.

​
“I’ve revolutionized marketing forever.”

​
Never has there been a business model…

​
…Nay, a business masterpiece…

​
…So glorious, so disruptive, so utterly game-ch —

​
— “What the hell are you building, the Pentagon?”

​
My body stiffens.

​
​Who said that?

​
My eyes rapidly scan the room, anxiety welling up and becoming panic as I recognize the voice:

​
​Craig Ballantyne.

​
I don’t even know why he’s here, honestly:

​
​He’s way too big a fish for our little pond.

​
Craig is an OG of the fitness industry, and had been running a multi-7-figure fat loss empire since I was in middle school.

​

He rarely spoke…

​
(no joke, I think he was actually reading a book during my presentation)

​
​…So when he did speak up, the room went dead quiet.

​
The silence hit me like a gut punch.

​
Craig continued:

​
​”I know businesses doing a million a month sending paid traffic to a VSL — nothing else.

​

Do you really think your little 10k/month business needs all this crap?”

​

As the color drains from my face…

​

(probably, I couldn’t actually see my face)

​

…Craig softens — slightly:

​
​”Listen man, all you need is: ​
​

One offer.
One way of getting traffic.
One funnel that converts traffic into customers.

​
That’s it. None of the big boys do any of this fancy sh*t.”

​
​Time moves in slow motion as I thank him for his advice, and drag myself back to my seat feeling three feet shorter.

​
As the weekend continues (along with the “Pentagon” jokes), I begin to digest what Craig said:

​
​One offer, one traffic source, one funnel.

​
And slowly, as the shock of embarrassment gives way to acceptance and understanding, his message begins to sink in:

​
Maybe business doesn’t need to be so complicated.

​
Maybe I’m making this way harder than it needs to be.

​
Maybe trying to be smart is the dumb move.

​
And maybe, just maybe:

​
​Scaling this basketball business can be a lot easier, and a lot more straightforward, than I think.

​
I flew home on Monday morning with renewed hope, and — not quite clarity, not yet…

​
…But the quiet sense that clarity would soon come — and that, when it did:

​
My business and my life would be unlocked in ways I could not yet imagine.

​
I was right.

​
​Tomorrow, Part 2…

​

• T

​
​P.S. It’s almost time.

​
Tomorrow, I will begin accepting applications for FounderLab:

​
​A live, 6-week incubator for early-stage online businesses who want to scale to 10k/mo, and beyond.

​

I am only accepting 15 founders.

​
And the first to apply will get first priority.

​
So if you’d like to join our early-invite list, reply with the word “interested” and I’ll make sure you hear about it first.

​
In the meantime, here’s where you can catch up on earlier parts of this series:

​
​Part 1: This advice could ruin your life​

​
​Part 2: The business I never told you about

​
More to come…

“More companies die of indigestion than starvation.” – Bill Hewlett

​

​

​

​

​Unsubscribe | Update your profile | 5-420 Erb St. W, Suite 433, Waterloo, ON N2L6K6

I’m off to go watch Final Destination Bloodlines again.

Yeah yeah I know. I’m a nerd.

Even though the majority of horror films are considered B rated garbage.

I have always been a fan of horror because of how versatile the genre can be.

I wrote a massive post about this years ago about how you can have everything inside of a horror film from romance, action, mystery and drama. With everything in between and still end with incredible horror and it just felt okay.

Now if you take any of the other books/movies out there and tried to mix some horror into it. It just wouldn’t land.

It’ll feel out of place. Imagine trying to take Pride and the Prejudice and horror-fy it.

Holy shit would it be bad. There’s no swinging that back around into some romantic/drama after people were brutally savaged.

The point is. We’ve all got some horror in our lives. The extent of it won’t be as wild as the movies make it out to be (unless it is, cause damn, you should probably write more about it tbh) but we can always turn it around to share an uplifting message or at the very least. Inspire someone.

And in Bloodlines. Tony Todd did just that. From Candyman to The Crow to Final Destination his presence was felt.

He made those films great, no matter how wild they were at the time.

And while I’m watching it again. I’ll have to try my best to not shed some tears as the dedication from the team and the message he had via his final bit hit hard.

R.I.P to the legend himself.

I’ll catch you all later.

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Pull up a chair.

The slightly wobbly one that makes you wonder if it’s gonna collapse into a million pieces if you lean back too far.

I’m not going to blow sunshine up your ass about how everything’s brilliant and we’re all crushing it in 2025.

Cause let’s be honest, are we? Really?

You know that feeling when you wake up and your brain immediately starts doing that thing where it catalogues everything that’s wrong, broken, or slightly off kilter in your life?

It’s like it’s doing some morning inventory of personal failures and mounting anxieties?

Yeah. That one.

I want to know how you’re actually doing. Not the LinkedIn version where everything’s “exciting opportunities” and “grateful for the journey.” The real version.

The one where you admit that sometimes you stare at your phone for twenty minutes pretending to be busy because engaging with actual productivity feels like climbing Everest in flip flops.

I’ve noticed and tell me if I’m full of shit or if I’m just projecting my own existential nonsense out into the internet…

Everyone’s running on fumes and pretending it’s premium unleaded.

We’re all out here performing competence while internally screaming at the joke of modern existence.

Social media algorithms feeding us the same recycled content and it makes it feel like it’s some super charged Groundhog Day.

A.I. grifters promising solutions to problems they created. Corporate overlords monetising our attention span until it resembles a goldfish with ADHD.

And through it all, we’re supposed to just… cope?

Optimise? Find our passion and turn it into a side hustle?

That’s some bullshit.

Here’s what nobody talks about in the productivity guru circle jerk…

Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is admit you’re tired. Not the cute kind of tired that gets fixed with a good night’s sleep and some expensive coffee. The bone deep exhaustion that comes from existing in a world that treats human attention like a commodity to be strip mined.

So today is about the real talk, no filters, no Instagram worthy wisdom.

How are you holding up?

Are you sleeping?

And I don’t mean the sleeping bit where you just doom scroll tiktok for another 3 hours before your alarm shouts at you.

When’s the last time you felt excited about something?

Are you eating actual food or surviving on whatever requires the least effort to consume?

(I’m a professional 2 day old pizza enjoyer…)

When someone asks “how are you,” do you give them the automatic “fine, thanks” or do you ever tell the truth?

Here’s what I’m learning. The people worth knowing are the ones who’ll sit with you in the messy, uncomfortable honesty of admitting that sometimes everything feels a bit much.

They won’t try to fix you or offer unsolicited advice about meditation apps. They’ll just nod and say “yeah, man, it’s been a weird one.”

Look, I don’t have answers all the answers.

I’m not gonna go all Tony Robbins on your ass and tell you to unlock the power within or some shit.

I’m not about that life.

This is about checking in. Really checking in.

The world’s going to keep being chaotic and overwhelming and occasionally brilliant despite itself.

The algorithms will keep serving up the same bullshit. The grifters will keep grifting. The endless content carnival will keep spinning.

If you’re struggling.

I got you.

If you’re tired.

It’s not a personal failing.

There’s always a reasonable response to unreasonable circumstances. And if you’re just trying to figure out how to keep going without losing yourself in the process, well… join the club.

The membership’s free, the meetings are irregular, and the only requirement is showing up as honestly as you can manage.

So, seriously, how are you doing?

And don’t give me the polite version. Give me the real one.

The wall of text ugly crying as you bite into a block of cheese version.

We’ve got time.

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

“Sometimes our misfortunes are the sails that take us to the shores we are meant to be on.” – Dune Prophecy

I don’t think I’ve ever told this to anyone.

​

(it was so long ago I’d basically forgotten)

​
But my first business was not EGTBasketball.

​
​And it was not a success.

​
The time is October, 2009.

​
I’ve locked myself away in my university dorm room as a party roars outside my door.

​
My eyes are wide as I sit, hunched over my laptop, waves of excitement washing over me.

​
​I’ve just stumbled upon the underground world of online business…

​
…A world that, at the time, was almost entirely unknown.

​
Twitter and YouTube still felt brand new.

​
I hadn’t even heard of Instagram, yet.

​
​And if someone called you a “creator” you’d assume it was slang for “broke art student.”

​
But as I tumbled down the online marketing rabbit hole…

​

…Eyes bloodshot, neck straining, frantically clicking through the 17 open tabs on my screen as I maniacally consumed every back-alley blog post, video, interview and e-book I could get my hands on…

​
…A single question dominated my mind:

​
​”Where the hell do I even start?”

​

Even back then, the number of opportunities was dizzying.

​
One expert maintained that blogging was the holy grail.

​
Another insisted “blogging is dead!”…

​
…And that eBay reselling was the NEW, cool, so-easy-even-your-dog-could-do-it way to make money from your kitchen table in your underwear.

​
SEO was the content play-of-the-day.

​
And selling e-Books and membership sites actually seemed pretty viable.

​
But of all the options available…

​
…The one I chose was…

​
…Wait for it…

​
(God help me)

​

…Affiliate marketing.

​

Yep:

​
Affiliate marketing.

​
It seemed easy enough:

​
Just send traffic to other people’s products, and they’ll pay you for every sale!

​
No need to:
​

Build your own website
Create your own course
Change out of your pyjamas in the morning before going to work.

​
​Fool-proof!

​
​Only, I was a bigger fool than I thought.

​
Affiliate marketing, it turns out, is like doing math for a living.

​
Analyzing numbers, data, spreadsheets, CPCs, CTRs, CPMs, CP-holy-sh*t-this-is-not-what-I-signed-up-for.

​
For a kid who failed 11th grade math…

​
(turns out skipping class to shoot extra shots in the gym is not a good study strategy)

​
…Affiliate marketing was about the worst business model I could have chosen:

​
​One that played to all of my weaknesses, and none of my strengths.

​
Thankfully, the story has a happy ending.

​
After a few months of failing as an affiliate, and feeling like my head was made of cement…

​
…A lucky sequence of events led me to launching my own basketball shooting program (Prolific Shooting).

​
This new model — online courses — played to all of my strengths, and none of my weaknesses.

​
Instead of drowning in data, I was teaching what I already knew, and allowing my natural creativity to flow.

​
​For the first time in my life, work didn’t feel like work.

​
It felt like play:

​
Like something I’d already been doing my entire life, for free — but now I was getting paid (and paid well) for it.

​
The rest, as they say, is history.

​
15 years and 8 figures in revenue later, that one lesson…

​
​Build a business that matches your natural strengths

​
…Has been like a shining light, guiding me through the maze of online business:

​
A labyrinth with endless tunnels, each one shiny and shimmering and full of voices that call to you, insisting their path is the best path…

​
…The one that will finally lead you through the dark, twisting chaos and into the light of lifetime financial freedom.

​
This maze was daunting to navigate back in 2009.

​
​But it is exponentially more complex today, in 2025.

​
The online world has never been noisier, more confusing, or more overwhelming than it is today.

​
​But it has also never been so full of opportunity.

​
And, those who are able to…
​

Cut through the noise and chaos
Find the business model that matches their unique strengths and personality pattern
Focus relentlessly on that one business model, blocking all distractions for as long as it takes to break through

​
​…Will gain access to a world of opportunity that has never been seen before in human history.

​
The question now is:

​
How do you match your natural business strengths to your best-fit business model and growth strategy, so you can finally achieve real liftoff?

​
That’s exactly what we’re going to focus on this week.

​
Stay tuned.

​

• T

​
​P.S. This Thursday, I will begin accepting applications for our FounderLab program:

​
A live, 6-week incubator for early-stage online businesses who want a proven system for scaling to $10k/mo and beyond.

​
However, please note:

​
This is not a passive course, this is an incubator.

​
We aren’t window-shopping business opportunities…

​
​We’re building in real time, using a combination of personal coaching and proprietary AI tools.

​
Since I’ll be giving everyone one on one attention, I’m only accepting 15 founders.

​
So please only consider applying if you’re committed to building, launching, and scaling a real business:

​
​Now, not someday in the future.

​
First to apply will get first priority.

​
If you want to get on our early-invite list, reply with the word “interested” and I’ll make sure you get first crack when the doors open.
​
​P.P.S. If you missed yesterday’s email, please read it now.​
​
There is an important message in it, and I don’t want it to get lost as the excitement builds for FounderLab.

“I have led a toothless life. A toothless life. I have never bitten into anything. I was waiting. I was reserving myself for later on — and I have just noticed that my teeth have gone.” – Jean-Paul Sartre

​

​

​

​

​Unsubscribe | Update your profile | 5-420 Erb St. W, Suite 433, Waterloo, ON N2L6K6

So here’s the thing nobody wants to tell you about mastery, and especially nobody wants to sell you a course about it…

It’s boring as hell.

Sitting here this morning, coffee getting cold while I bash out my thousandth email about whatever’s rattling around in my brain, and it hit me.

This daily grind of putting words on a page, is the least sexy part of writing. But it’s also the only part that actually matters.

You want to know why every guru, coach, and “thought leader” (Christ, I hate that term) is peddling shortcuts, hacks, and “revolutionary methods”?

Because repetition doesn’t sell. Nobody’s going to pay $297 for a course called “Do The Same Thing Every Day For Three Years Until You Stop Sucking At It.”

But that’s literally what works.

Malcolm Gladwell got rich telling people about the 10 000 hour rule, but he conveniently left out the most important bit. Which is those 10 000 hours are mind numbingly repetitive. It’s not 10 000 hours of inspiration and breakthrough moments. It’s 10 000 hours of doing the same fundamental thing over and over until your muscle memory takes over and your conscious brain can finally focus on the interesting stuff.

I’ve watched this play out everywhere. Musicians practicing scales until their fingers bleed. Writers churning out garbage daily drafts until something readable emerges. Comedians bombing night after night with the same material until they find the rhythm that makes people laugh.

Progress feels like stagnation most of the time.

You sit down to write and the words feel exactly as clunky as they did yesterday.

You practice that guitar riff for the hundredth time and it still sounds like a dying cat.

You work on your sales pitch and it’s still awkward as shit.

But somewhere around repetition number 847, something shifts.

Not dramatically.

You probably won’t even notice it at first. But other people will. They’ll start saying stupid shit like “you make it look so easy” or “you’re just naturally talented.”

Natural talent. Right.

What they’re really seeing is the compound effect of a thousand small improvements, each one so marginal you didn’t notice it happening.

Like interest in a savings account, except instead of money, you’re accumulating competence.

The dirty secret of every expert you admire? They got bored. Really, properly bored. And they kept going anyway.

Because repetition isn’t sexy. It’s not marketable. It doesn’t promise instant results or overnight transformation.

It just works.

And now with the world obsessed with hacks and shortcuts, maybe that’s the most radical thing you can do.

Show up. Do the work. Again. And again. And again.

Until you git gud or die. Whichever part comes first.

Here’s Malcolm’s book if you’re interested in it too.

Stephen Walker

If you’re not diggin’ these tasty little emails anymore you can hit the unsubscribe button right here >>> unsubscribe

Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Like a parrot scorned…

Now you know the parrot that so happily runs my life has on a few occasions made a cameo in my emails…

And he is a little shyt. Albeit a cute one. (When he wants to be though)

So today as I waited for my favourite amazon delivery driver to drop off a package I’ve been waiting for.

Not even 30 seconds after placing it on the dining room table, did he swoop down from the top of the cage and viciously attacked it, cause he definitely has some hidden agenda against cardboard or whatever.

I mean as soon as there is a box or anything that is remotely chewable.

He is like “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” and decides to go to town on it.

And so it’s safe to say that he has his own rules he lives his life by.

Which is something we can all take into consideration. Especially with the way everything is going right now.

The world is a dumpster fire.

Yes we might not hate cardboard as much as Alf does but I’m sure there’s things we just can’t deal with.

So this is where the power in picking what stays and what goes will come into play.

It can be habits, hobbies or the way we do things. We need to pick what is a priority and then get rid of what is not.

It’s why even though I use social media within certain limits. I treat my email list like the holy grail.

This is why I ALWAYS tell people to build a list.

Mainly because it’s not as difficult as everyone makes it out to be, but cause it can be a great asset for you in the long run. Whether you’re a creative person who sells their art of services. Or a regular person who just wants to share their thoughts with the world. An email list is what you need.

Yeah it might feel like you’re trapped in the 90s. Yet this is where a lot of people make friends, clients and customers that last a life time…

And just like Alf. I have a few rules that I stick by when it comes to this here neck of the woods.

If you’re in. You’re in. If you leave. Well, you’ll probably be banished for life. (There are exceptions) but this is just the way it is.

I don’t have a hatred for cardboard. I do have a hatred for people who think they can jump in for a little while. Get what they need and then bounce, while later coming back for more…

It doesn’t work like around here.

This little ̶c̶u̶l̶t̶ community has grown pretty quickly again and my promise was always to be upfront and honest about what goes on.

Whether you’re here for the shenanigans, the marketing wisdom, the off the cuff writing advice or the way I’m seeing the world change. I know I’ll keep doing what I do.

As long as you show up. Read the words and take action on the things I suggest. You’ll be cool.

Even if you just want to hit reply and rant, that’s okay too.

I just want you to know that here. You’re not just some random number on the internet. I consider you part of my world and hopefully I’m part of your world in a small way.

Cause when shit goes tits up and social media dies out because it’s overrun with A.I. – Well…

Email and the 90s style communication will come back even stronger before.

I’m not one to say I told you so, but…

I’ll be the first one to do it when it all happens.

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Right, so I did something mental a few weeks/months back.

Deleted all the apps. Cold turkey.

Not because I’ve become some internet based monk who’s discovered the ancient art of mindfulness.

Just because I was tired of feeling like my brain was being slowly liquidised by an endless stream of… well, nothing, really.

12 weeks. That’s how long I lasted before curiosity got the better of me.

You know what I found when I came crawling back to the glowing rectangles of perpetual distraction?

The exact same bloody content. Same videos, same takes, same manufactured outrage cycles spinning like a washing machine stuck on the same setting since 2019.

It’s like the internet pressed pause while I was gone. Waiting for me.

But here’s where it gets properly weird…

And this is going to sound like I’ve been reading too many conspiracy theories at 3am (guilty as charged)

That content wasn’t just similar. It was identical. The algorithm hadn’t moved on. It hadn’t learned anything new. It was just… there. Waiting. Like it knew I’d be back.

You’ve heard of the dead internet theory, yeah?

The idea that most online content is now generated by bots, for bots, with us real humans just caught in the crossfire of synthetic engagement farming. Used to think it was paranoid nonsense. The kind of thing you’d dismiss after your second pint.

Now? Not so sure.

Think about it. When was the last time you saw something genuinely original on your feed? Not a remix, not a reaction to a reaction, not another take on the same twelve topics that have been cycling through the content machine since TikTok learned how to monetise our shortened attention spans.

I’m talking about something that made you stop scrolling and think:

“God damn, I’ve never seen that before.”

Can’t remember, can you?

Maybe that’s because there’s nothing new. Maybe we’re all just watching the same performance, over and over, while the bots in the audience clap politely and the real humans slowly forget what original thought looks like.

Or maybe I’m just overthinking it because I spent 12 weeks in the real world and forgot how to speak internet.

Either way, I’m keeping the apps for now. But I’m watching differently. Looking for the glitches in the matrix. The tells that remind you there are still actual humans behind some of these screens.

You should try it too. Take a break. Come back. See if anything’s actually changed.

(Side Quest: it hasn’t)

Anyways.

I’ve got a Stephen King book that needs finishing.

And if you’re new to these here parts and want to go read past emails…

They’re on the site here: https://stphnwlkr.com/

Also feel free to tell people to go sign up there, cause that’s what all the cool people are doing.

Stephen Walker.

If you’re not diggin’ these tasty little emails anymore you can hit the unsubscribe button right here >>> unsubscribe

Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

“Find the part of yourself that always knows the answer, and let it be your guide.” – The Path

Happy Friday.

​
Before we deep-dive into business stuff next week…
​
(more on that in the PS)

​
…I wanted to share a powerful exchange from our Path community about finding your life purpose:

​

And, why your “purpose” might not be what you think it is.

​
Read below:
​

​
​Original post by @Marek

​
Developing opinion:

​
Our life purpose is not about what we do, it’s about the state of consciousness we bring to what we do.

​
When you live from that state of consciousness, you can do whatever you want.

​
You can be a garbage man or work on Wall Street and still be living your purpose — as long as your actions come from being aligned with the right state of consciousness.

​
It’s about who you’re being, not what you’re doing.
​

​

Taylor’s Response

​

I mostly agree, and your insight is a valuable one.

However, I will add this:

​
The “state of consciousness” you’re speaking of tends to manifest in specific ways, not random ways.

​
So while being is the source, there is a specific doing that naturally arises from each individual’s state of being.

​
This “doing” is what we call a life purpose.

​
Christ was never gonna be a garbage man.

​
Elon was never gonna be a suit on Wall St.

​
Steve Jobs was never gonna be a librarian.

​
We each have our own unique pattern to carry out, and our job is to settle into our “being” (ie. who we most naturally are), let go of the agendas of our ego, and allow that pattern to be carried out through us.

​
The only thing that blocks this process is wanting to be something other than what we are…

​
(ie. wanting to be an athlete when we’re really an entrepreneur; wanting to be a scientist when we’re really a writer; wanting to be a teacher when we’re really an engineer, etc)

​
…And the only thing that wants to be something other than what we are is ego.

​
Once our social / egoic programming is stripped away, no role is better or worse than any other, just more or less aligned with who we are.

​
There is a person for every role, a key for every lock.

​
Our task is to stop trying to jam our key into the lock we think we want to open, and open the one we’re designed for.
​

​

I hope that lands for you 🙂
​
If it sparked any questions, just hit reply.

​
Otherwise, I’ll see you back here next week for the biggest event of our summer calendar.

​
More on that below…

​

• T

​
​P.S. Next week, we will officially begin accepting applications for FounderLab:

​
A 6-week LIVE incubator for early-stage businesses who want to scale to 10k/month and beyond.

​
This is the first time I’ve ever shared the system I’ve used to generate 8 figures in revenue since 2010.

​
(and over $85M collectively between myself and my coaching clients)

​
So, if you’re:
​

Stuck between 0-10k/month
Just getting started, OR started but struggling to gain traction
Committed to making this damn thing work, no matter what it takes

​
​…Hit reply with the word “interested” to get on our early-invite list.

​
I’m only accepting 15 founders, and will be accepting in order of application.

​
Stay tuned.

​
In the meantime, here’s…

​
3 things to make your weekend better

Bangers across the board in this one.

​
​Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years​

A-tier comedian showing his mastery of his craft. So good.

​
​Your Friends & Neighbours (Apple+)​

I was kind of shocked at how good this is. The premise seemed silly to me, at first. But the show turned out to be a powerful, flawlessly-written commentary on the dangers of hollow success. Highly recommended.

​
​Maggie Rogers @ NYU​

Maggie doesn’t miss. Absolute gold.

​

“When the spotlight hits you, and the house goes dark, all you can see are the exit signs.” – Maggie Rogers

​

​

​

​

​Unsubscribe | Update your profile | 5-420 Erb St. W, Suite 433, Waterloo, ON N2L6K6

We need to talk.

(ooof I know hearing that sucks if you’re in a relationship)

You know that feeling when you open your phone and suddenly three hours have evaporated like spilled vodka on hot concrete?

Yeah. That one.

The one where you started checking “just one thing” and ended up doom scrolling through seventeen different flavours of god knows what.

And as one of my close friends have often said to me: “The internet’s on fire, mate. Properly ablaze.”

Social media platforms have mutated into these grotesque breeding grounds for toxicity.

Like petri dishes left under a heat lamp by some sadistic lab tech who really, really hates humanity.

News outlets are cranking the doom and gloom dial to what I’d call “level 32 on the gloom-O-scale”

(and honestly, that scale only goes to 10, so we’re in uncharted territory)

Everyone’s either looking to fight each other or one up each other.

So we need to tackle Intent

Deep breath. This is the important bit and stay with me…

I can confidently say that 95% of people jump on the internet or social media platforms as a form of distraction from the dumpster fire of their own lives. I get it. It’s not like the world’s gotten measurably better since 2020.

We’ve been collectively marinating in uncertainty like some kind of anxiety flavoured I don’t even know.

Misery loves company, right? And don’t get me wrong…

We’re allowed to have a little moan once in a while. We need to acknowledge the suck fest that is modern existence. But there must come a time when we stop.

When we decide, with actual, deliberate intent, that we’re gonna make some changes to our lives.

THAT is the part that’s not easy. Before you know it, you’re binging Netflix for the next 72 hours like some kind of entertainment addicted zombie, shuffling from one auto playing episode to the next.

(I’ve been guilty of this. We all have. Don’t pretend you haven’t)

But what if…

What if instead of using the internet as comfort food (empty calories for your brain), you used it with intent?

What if every time you opened that glowing sadness rectangle of infinite distraction, you asked yourself:

“How is this going to make my day better? My ideas sharper? My business stronger?”

Take my approach as an example. I’ve built a wild audience by being intentionally opinionated, deliberately thoughtful, and strategically entertaining. (some people dislike me, especially in the marketing space but they still read all of my stuff to this day)

I craft silly emails that people like to read because it keeps their brain meats working…

I don’t have some wild content plan. I just write about what I enjoy and the way I see the world and people like. Which to this day is still wild.

That’s intent in action.

With that all being said. Do these things:

Every time you reach for your phone, pause.

Ask yourself: “Am I about to feed the fire, or am I about to build something?”

If you’re scrolling for business intel. Great. If you’re looking for inspiration. Brilliant. If you’re connecting with actual humans who add value to your existence, carry on…

But if you’re about to dive headfirst into another argument about pineapple on pizza (for the 9462th time this year), or get sucked into whatever fresh drama is trending. Just… stop.

Use the internet like a research library, not a entertainment center. Follow creators who challenge your thinking.

I like to read widely, thinks deeply, and share about as authentically as I know.

Which is super not so sexy. It’s just me in these emails and the back and forth I have with you.

I’d say find your version of that. Whether it’s following weirdos who you dig, joining a cul-community, or just looking at what others are doing that you want to do.

If you read something. Make sure it teaches you something fresh, maybe even inspire you a little or even point you to someone who might be able to help you get your thing out into the world.

Use the internet to understand your people, not to escape from them. Engage in conversations that matter. Share insights that help. Build relationships that last longer than an Instagram story.

The internet doesn’t have to be this soul sucking, attention harvesting machine.

But remember it all requires intent.

Curating what you feed your brain takes intent. It’s not easy but it makes a difference if you do it little by little.

The internet’s on fire, sure.

You can choose to be the person who builds something better.

The internet is what you make it and even if that means animal videos and memes, well then that’s cool too.

Make it better.

(Now stop reading and go do something intentional with your day)

Stephen Walker

P.S. No links. Just words. I love you. Go be awesome.

If you’re not diggin’ these tasty little emails anymore you can hit the unsubscribe button right here >>> unsubscribe

Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Now I’ve had a lot of micro conversations about A.I.

Some of them good and some of them bad.

Like I’ve said in the past. I’m not strictly against it. There’s a use case for it and it’s good for crunching data, especially if the people using it have a specialist knowledge in the topic.

Then GenAI side though. The bit where people pretend to do the creative work like writing, making music or art…

That’s the side I have mega issues with. It stems mainly from theft and the fact that these tech billionaires think it’s okay for them to pirate peoples content, their intellectual property and their hard worn, suffered and over time…

Identity because “hey capitalism is fine for the greater good of the economy” or whatever other delusion these clowns are floating on a day to day basis.

But hey. If you’re a regular person who wants to find that niche horror movie that you can’t stream or buy, but it’s hosted on some dodgy website built in 1996…

Well listen here buddy. We know you would’ve bought it but because you’ve pirated it for your own sadistic niche purposes. We’re gonna fine you and potentially put you in prison for 3 years.

Ahhh capitalism…

But see this is only the width of the issue.

But what about the depth and also what do you mean by depth Stephen, I’m confused!

Glad you asked.

Depth is the long term effects (globally) it has on the planet and also the long term affects (human cognition / physiology etc) it has on us meat puppets.

We all know that the growth of the A.I. tech is completely screwing with power grids in some countries. It’s ruining water supplies and even forests are starting to get the brunt of it too. While all of this is turning us into a cooked planet a lot quicker than our other capitalistic adventures.

It’s the mental/spiritual/physical side in humans that is taking the knock.

We all know that we can be lazy as shit. We’d rather do the things that make our lives easier and in this case. Tools like ChatGPT are making it easier by doing the thinking for us. That thinking is not accurate at all, unless you’re able to source the research and cite those ideas to make sure they’re cool.

And so now we’re witnessing in real time. People becoming dumber. People almost losing cognitive control over the decisions in their lives. Hell they’re happily using A.I. to tell them how to respond to their boyfriends, girlfriends, wives and husbands etc.

In the next year or two. If you happen to remove the brain from a human it’ll probably be as smooth as a bowling ball because they’re not thinking at all, on top of that there are even studies that suggest that the brain has the ability to atrophy over time when difficult things are not embraced.

That’s the type of depth I’m worried about.

The depth of what makes us human is slowly getting eroded by all of these tech overlords.

And while I can always argue a good use case for it. That creative side is what keeps you going. Keeps you, well being you…

This also popped up on my feed today and it was an interesting watch, purely because someone took the effort to compile a lot of the crap into a well thought out thinkpiece styled documentary…

Watch it and just head the warning.

Cause trust me when I say this. Once this “tool” takes over every aspect of our lives. The ones who can think and write and discern all the bullshit…

We’ll be the ones ahead of the curb.

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

I had a few replies over the last few emails, especially the last one with the audio and where I just asked how everyone is.

Like some internet vibe check or whatever you want to call it.

Surprisingly. Everyone’s a little tired.

Tired of the uncertainty with all of these grifters peddling A.I.

Tired with all of the divides with politics and wars.

I mean we all know the world is absolutely upside down right now and it almost looks like nothing is going to go back to “normal”

1 humble disciple of yours truly asked me about what I do when it comes to turning off the noise and all that jazz.

And honestly. I really don’t do anything special. I don’t meditate. I don’t do any of these introversion type of spirit animal focus.

All I do. Which is very boring on the front is write.

I sit down and put words on paper. It’s one way I find to just get out all of the crap. The stresses and potential ideas.

Funny thing is though because we’re in an always on society. We’re looking for things online to better our lives. To take us to a place or nirvana where we can be free and all of that.

And when we are looking online on social media and all other platforms, we get lied to.

We compare our chapter one to the others and their chapter 72.

So we spiral and feel deflated on all fronts.

But when you sit alone with no distractions and write. Whether it’s pen on paper (Preferable) or you’ve got a word doc with all your notifications/phone turned off. That’s where you can do some serious soul searching for lack of a better phrase.

And as cliche as I know that answer is. It works like magic. I’ve even said in past emails that writing is the closet thing we have when it comes to magic and manifestation.

The downside is. It takes a fudge load of work. Like having those hard conversations with the gf/bf or husband/wife etc.

It also doesn’t happen over night. It takes weeks/months/years to slowly find out who you are. It’s no TikTok over night fucker-y.

And so it is in the mind of how I figure these things out. One sentence at a time.

Whether I’m selling something with words, or entertaining my fellow nerds. It starts with a page and some thinking.

Appreciate everyone who listened/replied to the last voice tape email. I guess I’m not too bad eh?

Stephen Walker

http://facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

I just read this article and my brain is currently doing that thing where it tries to crawl out through my nose.

I posted about it on FB but I thought eh, you love a bit of my rant-y type posts, but let me re-write it cause why not?

“Nick Clegg: Artists’ demands over copyright are unworkable”

“The former Meta executive claims that a law requiring tech companies to ask for permission to train AI on copyrighted work would ‘kill’ the industry.”

Do I have this right? (With all sarcasm intended)

Some college kid torrents The Mandalorian? PRISON!!!11!

Tech billionaire builds entire empire on wholesale intellectual property theft? “Too complicated to prosecute, uwu”

That’s the take?

Now usually I’d love to speak to someone who makes some stupid statement like that.

Like “I’m gonna need you to walk me through this real slow like because right now my neurons are staging a mass die off event” kind of thing.

You’re telling me. You’re actually telling me, that we should crack down on individuals but when Richie Rich McMoneybags does it at scale, suddenly the law becomes “unworkable”?

Like some kind of legal Schrödinger’s Cat where crimes both exist and don’t exist depending on your net worth?

And this “industry” they’re worried about protecting?

Which one?

The one where:

Regular people get cease and desist letters that read like death threats?

While billionaires get think pieces about how prosecuting them might be “too hard”

Where theft is only theft when poor people do it?

Where “innovation” is just rich people speak for “I took your shit and made money”

That industry?

Because from where I’m sitting (currently in a puddle of my own confusion), it sounds like you’re defending the Theft Industry. The Grand Fucking Larceny Industry. The “Rules for Thee But Not for Me” Industry.

Sir Nick Clegg can get fuxed.

But honestly. Someone explain this to me like I’m five. Or drunk. Or a drunk five year old. Because right the logic is making about as much sense as a meat bicycle in a vegan parade.

If you want to read the article. I’ve slapped it into a google doc cause all of these paywalled B.S. peddlers need to get bent.

Stephen Walker

P.S. If Nick’s next thinkpiece contains the phrase “it’s complicated,” I’m gonna need you to know that my laptop might spontaneously combust from the sheer concentrated bullshit radiation.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Years ago when I was living in London.

Every Friday we’d have what we like to call a Drink and Draw.

Very long story short. We’d go to the local Wetherspoons (back when it wasn’t completely ass) cause we knew the owner.

When the time came to kick everyone else out. A bunch of us would be invited to stay over for a few more hours, go upstairs and push a couple of tables together.

Then we’d roll out this massive piece of industrial sized roll-y paper across the table. We’d grab our drinks and then for then next few hours we’d chat some shit, draw penises and write poetry on this massive wad of paper and have a good old time.

In between that. I’d be balancing a whiskey sour in my hand, after getting up and huddling over the sticky bar top to grab another round, on top of tapping out hints of an email while balanced precariously on a rickety barstool.

(I could swear it was about to collapse, but hey, that’s was half the fun during that night)

Some of us worked in advertising. Some of us were artists and some of us were students. It was one of the best times we had as we all had this thing we were doing. There was chaos and there was shenanigans…

So one night, after we’d thrown back one too many tequila shots. I mentioned Gary Provost’s quote about creating music with your sentences…

The quote went something like this:

“This sentence has five words. … So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. … Write music.”

And a couple of the younger lads in who were fresh in the advertising game were like:

“Why can’t we just do that modern copywriting thing? One line. Then another. Then another. Forever.” Because it’s easy?

Sure I said but it just sounded robotic and the same and because everyone else was doing it. It all blended in.

I suggested a bit of variety.

Don’t get me wrong. Single sentence paragraphs have their place. But it’s sure as hell not everywhere. Jump from short to long. Slip in a mid length drift. Make your reader’s brain cells stand up and do the cha cha instead of lulling them into a trance.

There needs to be a little bit of rhythm.

Sentences can punch like a boxer or roll like an orchestral swell. You get to decide which vibe each paragraph unleashes. One liners are the perfect jab. But follow with a flourish that draws out the tension, letting your words ring in the reader’s ears, building up to that big, satisfying knockout.

And I’ve always been about music, dammit…

If you stick to one repetitive beat, your “song” (a.k.a. your writing) is just a funeral dirge of blandness. You want a soundtrack with cymbals, strings, maybe a moody synth or two. Think of each sentence as a note and you’re the DJ mixing them into a banger.

Now, look, I’m not saying never use single sentence paragraphs. Hell, they can be as cinematically thrilling as an action movie’s final showdown. But like Gary Provost says, you gotta keep things fresh. Turn those words into music, not white noise.

All I’m saying is give this writing approach a shot. Vary your sentence length.

Embrace the short, the medium, and the extravagant. Make the prose sing, dance, and occasionally cackle with unhinged glee.

We’re not about sounding boring unless that’s the way you want to be…

Now if you excuse me. I have to go grab a pint and watch grown men kick a football around for 90 mins…

Stephen Walker

And if you wanted to see Gary P’s famous little quote. Go here: https://stphnwlkr.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/garyp.jpg

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

I’ve taken a pretty decent break from Twitter.

A lot of my writer-ly friends hang there and hidden in the trenches of #WritingCommunity and various other self pub hashtags and crying about being an indie writer, the common thing that comes up is:

“I haven’t sold any books!” or some variation of writing service they offer alongside selling their own warez.

But what makes me want to punch a wall is the whole “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” thing.

If people don’t know what’s on the menu. How are they gonna know what’s available to order?

You don’t want to be seen as one of those video game NPC characters that offer nothing but a “hey” when you talk to them…

And with A.I. taking over every platform with people posting the same old generated bullshit in MASSIVE quantities…

1 meek little post won’t cut it if you want to be seen, heard and bought from. Let alone taken seriously.

I honestly don’t care if you’ve been thinking about starting a thing. Whether you sell feet pics to the degens or want to sell your creative musings to the world.

The most important thing you need to do is show up daily and just be you.

Yeah people are going to start giving you shit, but the cool thing is. Those are the types of people who aren’t gonna support you and would probably never buy from you (Unless they have some weird rage-buying fetish…)

And that’s okay. Not everyone’s gonna be a fan.

I can yap on about this all day but it just needs to be raised every now and then.

You’re an amazing creative human and the world deserves to see, appreciate and buy your art.

So maybe this email will find you well and you’ll decided to get that idea that’s been swirling around inside of your brain meats, throw out into the world and finally get the good humans on your side, while filling your pockets with a few coins…

But for now if you need a little kick up the ass. You know what to do.

Hit reply and I’ll give you the medicine.

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

I was lucky to sit down have a consultation with the man himself, Ben Settle.

Ben is like marmite as they say here in the UK.

You either love it or your hate it and the same goes for him.

His ways are deliberate and they all make sense.

So there’s no secret that I write short stories in a range of genres, across different pen names and it’s something I don’t usually talk about. Mainly because I was never sure where I wanted to take it.

The call I had with Ben today has straightened out where I need to be. Especially with the way the whole creative / writing industry is heading, especially with our A.I overlords…

And to sum up the call it was really like with a lot that he teaches…

You need to do more to build out your world and get the right people in while keeping the ones you don’t want at bay.

And with all the research I’ve done on my market/genre there’s a lot of lack in that industry for someone to step in and be a “guru” figure head.

So yeah. I’ve got the rest of 2025 mapped out and now I need to get to work.

I’d highly recommend checking out his stuff. Jump on his list and learn from him.

It doesn’t matter what you do. His ways make sense because they are rooted in old school principles.

Stephen Walker.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

I gave myself a little talking to today.

“Sit down. Wipe the Cheeto dust off your fingers if you must. We gotta talk.”

Me to my 18yo self basically.

As much as I could go back to my younger self and instil whatever wisdom I have painfully obtained over the years.

It still leads me back to the shitshow of 2020.

Because as much as I hate to admit it. We’re still up to our eyeballs in the same entertainment hell loop we fell into when 2020 rolled around. Remember it?

The world hit pause, and we all hit play.

Streaming became a lifestyle.

TikTok became a verb.

Zoom meetings became the place where your soul goes to die, even to this day.

(I’ve got one tomorrow and it’s the only one I’m actually looking forward to haha)

And somewhere, in whatever online wreckage came about, you and I became… content consumers.

Like rats pushing the dopamine lever. It all started to become weirdly addictive.

Everything evolved. (Like COVID, but less respiratory failure and more terminal cringe)

Now, you can’t just passively scroll, doom or otherwise.

You gotta be a guru.

A Thought Leader™.

A “personal brand.”

Which, let’s be honest, is just a fancy way of saying “the internet wants you to cosplay as Tony Robbins with an Instagram filter and a newsletter.”

But why?

Because the internet is bubbling over with festering A.I. generated slop.

Articles that read like a blender full of SEO keywords and corporate word salad. Shiny LinkedIn posts with zero actual human fingerprints (or, hell, fingerprints at all. Just smooth, uncanny valley language that makes you want to delete your brain for 48 hours)

“Experts” who’ve never done anything except regurgitate ChatGPT’s last meal.

So people…

The real, squishy, flawed, eye twitching people… are hunting for something else.

You can feel it, right?

That hunger for (and as much as I am in deep pain as I type the next word…)

Authenticity…

For the kind of artist who actually gives a damn about the craft, not just the clicks. For someone who bleeds on the page, who cares about the people they influence (even if they’re just yelling into space some days, like me, like you, like all of us)

And the thing is. There’s a craving for connection.

Being a “guru” is just the latest side quest.

You don’t need to be the all knowing oracle on a mountaintop. You just have to be the least bullshitty person in the room.

And if you’ve seen what’s passing for that online. It’s a low bar. So step over it.

Share your screw ups. Your weird hobbies. Your unhealthy obsession with Inbox Zero or Days Gone.

I’m still not over that post apocalyptic video game. It’s a support group at this point…

A.I. is the new gluten.

Everyone’s either allergic to it or pretending they are.

So what do you do?

You write like a human.

You bleed, sweat, and occasionally cry into your keyboard.

You call out the fakes, the flakes, the “look at me, I’m a thought leader because my bot said so” types.

And the real sauce is:

You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be real.

You have to give a shit about the art, the audience, and the impact.

And if you’re worried about being too much, too weird, too honest? Just lean in.

So, yeah. We’re still stuck in the entertainment era. A hamster wheel powered by memes, robots, and the occasional clown with a chainsaw, but now, if you want to survive, you have to be the human in the room.

The one who cares.

The one who creates, not just for the bots, but for the person on the other side of the screen.

Be the anti-bot.

Be the artist.

Be the kind of “guru” who admits they’re full of shit sometimes, but keeps showing up anyway.

TL;DR version:

We’re still in the content circus. Now, more than ever, being a real, messy, passionate human is your only ticket out of the A.I. funhouse. So grab your chainsaw. Let’s go cause some trouble.

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

You know the drill. You’re sitting there, staring at the blinking cursor.

The coffee’s cold, your brain feels like a sad lump of potato salad left out at a barbecue, and the only thing you’re creating is a growing sense of dread.

Then it happens. Your body betrays you.

You blink. Maybe just a little too slow. And BAM. The Sandman sucker punches you, dragging you into the abyss of an unplanned nap.

When you wake up. Disoriented, drooling, and for a minute or two you think you’re either back in 1996 or the middle of an apocalypse…

You think, “Well, that was useless.”

But oh, my sweet, groggy friend, you couldn’t be more wrong…

Nap are the secret sauce to my creativity.

I always think of naps as some sort of mental car wash.

Power washing off all the grime of overthinking. You wake up with that weird, half dream haze, where ideas start connecting in ways they wouldn’t when you’re awake.

(Why does the villain in your story suddenly need a pet ostrich? Who cares. It’s genius. I’m gonna run with it)

There’s also this post nap weirdness.

That foggy, groggy state? Pure gold. It’s like your brain hasn’t quite reloaded all its filters yet, so your thoughts are raw, unpolished, uninhibited. You’re too disoriented to judge yourself, which means you’re primed to create something unexpected.

We don’t want perfection cause that is boring. Chaos is where all the good shit lives.

You know how your computer works better after you reboot it?

Same deal with your brain. That short nap hits the reset button on your mental processes, giving you a fresh perspective. Even if you wake up feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck driven by a drowsy clown.

So keep a notebook handy. When you wake up, write down whatever weird ass thoughts are floating around in your head. Don’t worry if they make sense. “Purple cactus apocalypse” might not mean anything now, but it could be the seed of your next big idea.

People on social media are trying to tell you not to lean into the weird.

I say do the opposite.

That post nap haze is where the good stuff lives. You’d be silly to fight it…

Embrace it. Write the things, draw the things, create the things.

Keep the naps short. Preferably 30-45 minutes. You don’t wanna be dancing with Sleep Purgatory. There is no creativity there. Only grumpiness…

I guess I could say this is some sort of self care routine too.

Self deprivation does the same thing too but that is not something I’d recommend. Unless you want think up some genuine nightmare fuel for your next horror story.

Well. It’s just after 9pm here now and that nap served me well.

Stephen Walker

https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Heading into a nice little sun filled weekend.

I just wanted to take the time to say thank you and how much I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read and reply to my shenanigans.

I’ve made people laugh, cry or irrationally angry over technology, business, psychology and even books, movies and series.

I don’t do it to be malicious. I do it because I care about all of those things that line up in the creative world and all of the shifts that are happening.

And if I can give you a little option to think differently about a topic. I’ll write about it here.

I’ll keep showing up daily as always.

I appreciate you for sticking around and I’ll catch you later.

Time to go soak up the last little bit of Sun of the day…

Stephen Walker

P.S. If you want to keep up with my random memes, shit posts and occasionally wisdom drops. Come say hello over here: https://www.facebook.com/stphnwlkr

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Check this headline out “Netflix will show generative AI ads midway through streams in 2026”

Netflix (and every other corporate shytlord) is doubling down on ways to distract you, monetise your attention, and make “content consumption” your default state.

Meanwhile, social media feeds you carefully curated highlight reels of others…

Making it easy to feel like you, raw, real, and unpolished aren’t enough.

And the crazy thing is. The more the world tries to homogenise, commodify, and shrink you into a “target audience,” the more powerful it becomes to show up exactly as you are.

Authenticity is genuine rebellion, like going back to the punk days.

And consistency is your superpower.

Cause showing up in the way you want is what’ll set you apart.

You remember when we used to sit around the campfire when we were younger and technology wasn’t all in your face?

We’d shoot the shit, tell stories, laugh and even fall in love.

Those were the simpler times. (The better times imho)

And the thing is. People are now slowly looking for it in the online space too.

Blogs, forums and shitty sites built by solo folks and yes…

Email too.

There is a shift happening and when it takes off. If you’re showing up as your weird self every day. People we see you as the “campfire” they want to hang around.

So if you haven’t written that blog post, email or built a terribly shitty site to sell your warez…

Get to it.

Stephen Walker

Obnoxiously super long hyperlink to the article that did this write up if you’re curious to read it…

P.S. The next time Netflix tries to sell you a mid roll ad for something you don’t need, remember this… Your attention is valuable. Spend it on things (and people) that deserve it. Starting with you.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

So a few days ago I wrote about watching some of the classic Final Destination movies.

And tonight I thought I’d treat myself by taking myself on a date to watch the new Final Destination Bloodlines…

Let me tell you. It was equal bits cheesy and great all wrapped into one.

The thing with these types of movies is that yes they may be predictable and the characters easily guessed in terms of the roles they play…

But there is equally a reason behind why such cult fanbases emerge for the genre of these types of films.

Yeah it’s B rated horror thriller trash. But it’s my kind of trash and to be honest it’s a treasure in and of itself…

They’re easily predictible.

They always show up and are consistent throughout their genre and they always keep you guessing.

That is why from a writers POV – I love these films.

If you can show up every day.

Show your imperfections.

And show your audience your true character.

You will always win.

And so it is with these types of films and how it should be with your work.

That is it.

Follow this “pattern” and your audience will love you for it.

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

So we all get caught chasing micro hits of dopamine while doomscrolling our way through another social media hellscape of the day…

Similar to how a rat would inside of a Skinner box except the box is your phone, and the cheese is that glorious, glowing red notification.

And so this whole “you gotta do a dopamine detox” thing pops up every now and then.

No, not the kind where you go live in a cave and eat moss until you hallucinate a spirit animal.

I mean the kind where you pry your eyeballs off whatever internet hamster wheel we’ve created since the 90s and try to…

Wait for it… (In my best Barney Stinson impression)

…be a person again.

The internet is broken. No, not like “404 error” broken.

Like “Twitter is now X, Elon is cosplaying as Emperor Palpatine, and everyone is arguing about whether pineapple belongs on pizza while Rome burns” broken.

Also just a sidenote: Pineapple belongs wherever the hell you want it. Also, stop fighting about it, you beautiful weirdos.

But why you might ask?

Well sometimes your brain resembles a microwave burrito left on high for too long.

Every dumb argument you avoid = one more neuron that survives the gladiator pit of internet discourse.

You might just maybe remember what it’s like to enjoy things without needing 12 strangers to validate you with heart emojis or that obnoxious little fucker cry face emoji.

You get to watch your sanity crawl back from the abyss, middle finger raised at all of those politically bent algorithms trying to mainline outrage straight into your cortex.

Generally speaking. Social media is a dumpster fire, and you’re the raccoon poking around for scraps of validation and memes. (No shame. We all love a good meme. But raccoons get rabies)

You don’t want rabies, right?

You don’t have to quit everything. (cue dramatic Hans Zimmer score)

Because the only thing you’re not allowed by law, by blood oath, by whatever eldritch contract you signed when you landed here…

Is to quit is these emails. My emails. The ones you’re reading right now.

Because unlike the endless scroll of “who wore it better” and “your uncle Gary’s political meltdown,” this is the good stuff. The dopamine you want. Not the kind that makes you want to bleach your brain with off brand tequila.

Stay subscribed, and I’ll keep showing up in your inbox like a friendly poltergeist with stories, rants, the occasional existential crisis, and zero pineapple on pizza debates. (Unless I’m feeling spicy. Then all bets are off)

Unsubscribe? That’s banishment, friend.

Exile. You’ll be cast into the outer darkness, where there is only weeping, gnashing of teeth, and endless TikToks about air fryers.

So again your prescription for today:

Detox from the social media platforms you dont need to be on.

Take a walk. Eat some real pizza. Hug a tree. Scream into the void or whatever.

But keep these emails. This is your lifeline. Your golden ticket. Your permission slip to sanity.

Stephen Walker

Thibaut Meurisse has a slew of productivity books and his dopamine detox book is spot on.

P.S. The unsubscribe button is a trap. Don’t touch it.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Hey you. Yes, you.

The one reading this email instead of working or whatever…

I get asked this occasionally and so I thought I’d just give you the down and dirty way of making coins on the internet.

And like everyone now in this space we’ve all started off by googling something like “how to make money online” only to then be bombarded with penis pills and shitty adverts on shitty blogs selling crap.

I actually miss the early 2000s internet tbh.

Anyways here goes…

You don’t need a degree, a trust fund, or the charisma of a golden retriever. You need a page.

Just like the one that landed you on this email list. Yeah, that one. The sneaky little opt in that promised forbidden knowledge and delivered, well, me. The one with the words and the things and the stuff.

And so it is with step 1.

The Page is the Thing

Call it a sales page, a landing page, a digital mousetrap. The goal? Catch eyeballs. (Not literally. Please don’t go all Cronenberg on your audience)

Write like you’re having a 1 on1 with your reader. Not a speech. Not a TED Talk. More like, “Hey, I see you. You want this thing? Here’s why you need it. Here’s why you’d be a fool not to click buy.”

Don’t overthink your first offer. Ebook? Mini course? Niche templates for left handed underwater basket weavers?

It does. Not. Matter.

Just pick something. Ship it. (Perfectionism is a corpse in a clown suit. Leave it behind.)

And if you see the things that are floating around on the internet now…

There is a market for EVERYTHING.

And so it is with a simple process.

If you’re good at a specific thing you can teach others how to do it. Let’s just for interest say you do Yoga and have done so for years.

You can jump onto Amazon and search for anything and everything Yoga related. Read some reviews, especially the terrible ones and see if there something that is missing. A likely problem that’s not specific.

So you’ve found the problem and you know how to solve it because hey you’ve been there.

So you spend a few hours writing a little guide or a mini book on the topic. It doesn’t have to be hundreds of pages. Just short and sweet and to the point.

So you’ve got your thing and you’re setting up your page to sell that thing. You’re basically in business.

Now you just need to get eyeballs on it.

Where do those eyeballs come from? Anywhere where people talk about Yoga.

Pinterest. Reddit. Facebook Groups and Pages, Twitter etc.

The thing is. It really is this simple. It’s not easy because you have to do a bit of work and learn a whole bunch of new things but once you make that first sale.

That’s when the shift inside happens.

And when you’ve got them on an email list that is just about Yoga and yoga best practices, guess what?

You can talk about Yoga and sell them more stuff about it too.

This is the type of thing I do and it’s fun.

I’ve also recommended this book in the past. It goes more into concepts of direct response marketing which applies to old print styled marketing and selling, but this all applies online too.

Now go make a thing and go sell the thing.

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Here’s how you can build a “voice” so entertaining even your inner critic will shut up and listen…

But first let’s hit a little truth.

Not everyone’s born with the electric charm of a stand up comic.

(R.I.P George Carlin)

And you? Maybe you’re about as riveting as a beige wall at dusk.

Maybe you have the personality of cold oatmeal.

Maybe you’re convinced there’s a secret gene for “entertaining writer” and, oops, you missed the distribution line.

But there is some good news. It’s not the end of the road for you just yet…

The lies you’ve been told are all total bullshit.

Entertaining voices aren’t just something you’re born with. It takes years of being exposed to other people’s parts.

(Woah that sounds a bit pervy lol but I’m not rewriting it cause it’ll make sense in the next sentence)

Mix that in with some weird obsessions, and a dash of unhinged self awareness and you got something that is wildly Frankensteined together that even Mary Shelley would’ve been proud of.

The thing is. You can build yours, right here, right now. No sacrificial goats required (unless you’re into that, in which case, yikes, but also: we’ll need to talk)

How do we do it?

Blatant Outright Theft

Yep that’s right. No we aren’t going to prison but keep reading…

Consume: Read, watch, listen, scroll. Devour writers with voices you wish you had. Chuck Palahniuk, Samantha Irby, that one unhinged TikToker who reviews haunted dolls. It doesn’t matter. Drown in their cadence, their metaphors, their attitude.

Dissect: What makes their voice work? Is it the cussing? The pop culture deep cuts? The way they break the fourth wall and slap you with a joke? (The answer is yes, yes, and hell yes)

Remix: Grab what works. Stitch it together with your own weird quirks. Like that time you ate an entire pizza alone while doom scrolling Twitter. Mash it all up until it sounds less like “carbon copy” and more like I dunno? A casserole?

Sneaky Pro tip in Italics: The only original thing in art is your voice. Everything else is recycled. So steal. Steal with style.

Write Like Nobody’s Watching (Because Nobody Is, Yet)

…and you’re not going to have some writer-ly committee peering over your shoulder and watching you type words…

So get to it.

Break grammar rules. On purpose. Sentence fragments? Do it. Em dashes like you’re fencing with punctuation?

Hell yes. Parentheticals (like this) to whisper secrets to the reader? Don’t just allow it. Use it like a weapon.

(Tbh I used to love a good Em dash, but since A.I. has shit all over the internet while using it incorrectly, I’d maybe give that one a little bit of a swerve for now)

Talk to the reader. Second person isn’t just a POV.

When you think of second person. It’s more of a direct line. A psychic text message, straight into their brain.

“You ever feel like your writing is a cardboard cutout? Yeah, me too. Let’s set it on fire.”

Get weird. Use metaphors that make people squint and then snort.

“My prose was so dry it could sand the paint off a car. Time to lube it up with some personality.”

If you feel slightly embarrassed hitting “publish,” you’re probably on the right track.

Why? Because that shit is entertaining. I’m here to entertain myself firstly and if I’m entertained. You’re entertained.

Turn Up the Volume on You

1) Mine your flaws. Are you anxious? Chronically sarcastic? A recovering perfectionist who alphabetises their cereal?

Good. That’s fuel.

The world doesn’t need another slick, sanitised “personal brand.” It needs the real, raw, slightly unhinged you.

2) Embrace the cringe. Your inner critic is a gremlin that lives under your desk, gnawing on your confidence.

Give it something spicy to chew on. Like a story about the time you peed yourself in third grade.

(No? Just me? Moving on)

3) Make lists. (See what I did there?)

Bullet points and numbered lists are dopamine for the ADHD riddled TikTok internet brain.

Use them. Abuse them. Break up your text like it owes you money.

Bonus Round: Horror, Humour, and Heartbreak. Mix It Liberally

Nobody wants oatmeal. They want something electric, something that makes them laugh, wince, and maybe clutch their pearls. So throw in a little body horror

“My first draft was a shambling zombie, missing half a face. Beautiful in its grotesquery”

A little gallows humour, and a little raw, emotional honesty, bleeding right through your lines.

And if it gets a little messy? Good. Messy is memorable.

TL;DR:

Your voice isn’t missing. It’s just waiting for you to get weird, get real, and stop trying to be “professional.”

Break stuff. Eat the paint chips. Write something so entertaining, your inner critic will slink back into its lair, too stunned to complain.

We only live once, so we better make it memorable and entertaining.

Stephen Walker

P.S. I’m not gonna make you click any links today and do my bidding and if you’ve made it this far. I appreciate you sticking around and reading what pours out of my skull cavern.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

You ever get that itch?

Not the “should probably see a doctor” kind.

But the one where you want something gloriously dumb, gory, and absolutely unapologetic in its pursuit of fun?

Yeah. Here comes Clown in a Cornfield.

Cause sometimes you want a clown with a grudge and a combine harvester and not some prime hollywood masterpiece.

Not everything needs to be high concept.

Not every story needs to be a tortured maze of literary ambition.

Sometimes you need… cheese.

Sticky, neon orange, slasher movie grade cheese.

I want to see Clown in a Cornfield because it promises exactly that.

Kills you can cheer for.

Characters you can root for (or at least bet on in your group chat)

A villain so ridiculous and on the nose, it circles back around to genius.

A plot that’s basically “adults are mad, teens are madder, and somewhere in between, a clown is out for blood.”

Cause if you don’t. You get stuck.

You freeze up, overthinking, overengineering, turning your brain into a lukewarm bowl of mashed potatoes.

You forget that joy is allowed. Especially in horror. Which I know is probably the weirdest thing I’ve said.

Joy in horror.

But having a bit of cheese in a creative sense isn’t the enemy.

Cheese is the glue that holds the slasher sandwich together.

It’s the reason we remember the fun stories, not just the “worthy” ones.

So, yeah, I want to see Clown in a Cornfield. Not just for the blood and the banter.

Cause sometimes the best kind of art is the kind that makes you grin, groan, and fist pump at a well timed decapitation.

Stephen Walker

The silly review is over here if you’re interested

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Pull up a chair. Wipe off the mysterious pub goo first, unless you want to lose a hand to the sticky abyss.

Settle in, because I’m about to drop a couple truth bombs with the grace of a Final Destination premonition meaning, zero grace, and a fuckload of broken glass.

So…

Final Destination: Bloodline. (Holy shit I can’t wait to watch it)

The franchise that’s been teaching us, since time immemorial (or at least since Devon Sawa was a thing), that DEATH is a petty, vindictive bastard with a flair for the dramatic.

You think you can outmaneuver the Grim Reaper?

Please…

You can’t even dodge a pool noodle at your nephew’s birthday party.

Death has rules.

Death has a list.

Death doesn’t care about your feelings, your TikTok, or your self care Sunday.

(Death probably is the algorithm, honestly. The original shadowbanned content creator.)

You know what else has rules?

This email list.

That’s right. Once you’re on, you’re on.

Blood pact. Digital soul-binding-cult-initiation or whatever…

You unsubscribe? That’s it. You’re dead to me.

Not in the “oh, I’ll miss your warm presence” way. more in the “your inbox is now haunted by the ghost of emails past and no, Karen, you can’t come back because you regretted rage-unsubscribing at 2am.”

And so with this here list here are some things:

1. You sign up? You’re family. (The kind that might eat you if the apocalypse comes, but hey, family.)
2. You leave? You’re gone. No zombie resurrection, no phoenix-from-the-ashes bullshit.
3. (Fine, sometimes I let people back in. But only if you bribe me with artisanal gin/whiskey/cheese, a mixtape, and a signed confession that you once cried at a Fast & Furious movie.)

Why so harsh? Because rules are the only thing standing between us and total fucking chaos.

Look at Final Destination.

Every time someone tries to bend the rules, people end up as human origami in a hardware store.

You want that? I don’t want that.

Existential writing advice time (because I’m generous like that)

Death is coming. For me. For you. For that weird guy who always microwaves fish at work.

You can’t unsubscribe from mortality, either.

The universe is a vending machine filled with expired snacks and every slot is marked “SURPRISE BITCH.”

We’re all just meat puppets doing the cha cha at the edge of the void.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret:

If you’re gonna dance with DEATH. Or my email list. At least do it with style. Don’t unsubscribe. Don’t look back. Don’t try to cheat the system, because the system has teeth. And they’re hungry.

You stay, you get the goods. You leave, you get nothing.

And if you come crawling back, well…

Maybe I’ll let you in. Maybe I’ll send you a single, cryptic email: “Too late. DEATH’S already in your inbox.”

Now. Buy me a drink. I’m thirsty, and I hear the bartender’s got a mean existential crisis on tap.

Stay alive,

Stephen Walker

P.S. If you really need to cheat death, try unplugging your router and hiding under the bed. It won’t work, but hey. It’s worth a shot? Here’s the new trailer that dropped yesterday too for Final Destination: Bloodlines. It’s wild.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

When you’re online.

Your life is usually run by some internet algorithms force fed into your eyeballs on whatever platform you use.

They’re cleverly tailored to the posts we interact with, the things we share and where exactly we’re interacting from.

Usually when I’m researching ideas or concepts I’m all over the web. From Youtube to Reddit to Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.

It all gets a bit exhausting sometimes and yes. A lot of people are like “Just use ChatGPT bro”

And tbh the only GPT I will use is the one I’ll leave at the bottom of this email which I know you’ll read because you’re awesome and I’m awesome.

Anywho…

So I’m creating a document of ideas that are linked to what I do. Writing. Copy. Sales. All the creative stuff etc.

Those are the things I’m going to expand and create micro books on that are roughly about 15 pages long (give or take)

But then Youtube hit me with a music set recommendation that just had such a good vibe. It had sound bites from fellow South Africans. A deep house-y mix and it just lifted my mood. The last days have been a rollercoaster but this set came in clutch.

I guess the point of the email is that sometimes things come into our lives, be it algorithms sending us what we need, people or something as silly as a day where the sun is awesome and the coffee is good.

So while I’m doing all this research.

I’m listening to this magical set right here and thought you’d enjoy it…

And if you want to know my GPT recommendation.

You definitely don’t want to click on this obnoxiously long link that will take you to the best tool ever.

Stephen Walker

P.S. The sound bite around 09:00 on that set is true about us Capetonians.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

We’ve all been there…

Brain turned to lukewarm, lumpy potato slop, thoughts dribbling through your mental colander like sad, watery starch.

You’re staring at a blank page that’s staring back with all the silent judgment of a disappointed parent.

The cursor blinks. And blinks. And blinks.

And you? You got nothing.

The brain tank is empty.

That well of creativity doesn’t exist anymore. Well for today at least.

We always talk about muse around these parts and how it’s not true.

But in this case. Your muse? She’s in Tahiti with your ex and they’re laughing at you.

Now usually this is the part where you’ll drown your sorrows in strong coffee or any of your favourite alcoholic beverages of choice…

(Kavalan Ex Sherry Oak Single Malt Whisky anyone?)

But the brain isn’t broken. It’s just temporarily stuck in potato state.

When this happens to me, and sweet crispy Christ, it happens a lot.

I don’t try to force anything from the mashed potato. It’s kind of like trying to squeeze blood from a turnip or whatever the saying is and now you’ve just got turnip mush all over your hands and that’s worse.

But I’ve got this unholy trinity of brain-de-potatoization that works pretty well:

GET WEIRD INPUT: Read something so far outside your comfort zone it makes you itchy. Taxidermy manuals. Medieval cookbooks. Technical documents about sewer systems. The stranger, the better. Your brain needs to be ambushed by weirdness.

NOTICE THE FUCKED UP DETAILS: That weird stain on your ceiling? The way your neighbour always walks their dog at precisely 4:17 PM? The inexplicable noises your refrigerator makes at 2 AM? PAY ATTENTION.

RAID YOUR PAST SELF: Dig through your old notes. Your past self might have had better ideas than potato-you. Steal from that smarter version of yourself shamelessly…

And if you’re like me who likes truth that is wrapped in bacon and deep fried?

Originality is mostly bullshit. Everything’s been done. What makes your work yours is the unique clusterfuck of influences you’ve absorbed and how your particular brain vomits them back out onto the page.

There’s no need to wait around for the perfect idea to descend from the heavens like some divine turd of inspiration. Feed your brain weird shit. Notice weird shit. Remember weird shit you already thought of.

Then write. Even if it’s garbage. Especially if it’s garbage.

Garbage can be composted. Mashed potatoes just congeal.

And now we go write some more, damn it.

Here’s what you can read to level up your weird when your brain isn’t doing the thing…

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

I’ve been on a Hemingway kick again and so I thought I’d write a little prose the way he would’ve…

I think I nailed it but hey, it’s the message that counts.

On Sensitivity

Don’t apologise for being sensitive. It’s not weakness. It’s strength.

A leopard never apologises for sharp hearing, night vision, or keen smell. It uses these gifts to survive.

Leopards weigh less than men but drag prey three times their size up trees. They can reach forty miles per hour from a standstill. They stalk. They outsmart.

Your sensitivity is like this.

The world lies. It says sensitivity makes you emotional, manipulated, broken, burdensome. Not true.

Your sensitivity is night vision in a world of the blind. You notice tone shifts. Family tensions. Beauty others miss.

It’s not just for enduring. It’s for using. While others play checkers, you see the whole chess board. You detect lies. You read rooms instantly.

Don’t hide it. Don’t numb it. Sharpen it.

Sensitivity is dangerous as a black widow in a glove. Dangerous as a knife in darkness. Dangerous as a watching leopard.

It makes you a better friend, lover, artist, human.

When someone calls you “too sensitive,” don’t smile politely. Smile like a leopard before it rips your face off.

Your sensitivity isn’t your burden. It’s your weapon.

Use it.

Stephen Walker

This collection of Hemingway shorts are my favourite and you can learn a lot about writing tight copy and prose if you go through it.

P.S. The most dangerous people I know are the ones who feel everything and have learned not to apologise for it.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

So I’m sitting here in my Vader socks (the ones with the little capes on the back) and my ancient Empire Strikes Back t-shirt that’s barely holding together, thinking about what Star Wars has meant to me over the years.

Not just the movies. The whole damn universe, the fandom, the arguments about whether Han shot first (he did), and that weird period where we all pretended the prequels didn’t exist before eventually embracing them like the problematic family members they are.

(Just kidding about having Vader socks and my old Empire Strikes Back t-shirt, but I needed to give you that visual. They got lost into the aether many years ago but I do still think about them and I really need to get them again)

But when it comes to this thing. Finding something to love this intensely? It’s not just for fun. It’s necessary.

We all need our Star Wars. Or our Marvel. Or stamp collecting. Or whatever weird niche thing makes your heart beat faster when you talk about it for too long at parties. The thing that makes people say “wow, you’re REALLY into that, huh?”

(Translation: please stop talking about lightsaber physics.)

Because these fandoms save us from ourselves.

Remember when I went through that apocalyptically bad breakup in 2019? Who pulled me through? Not therapy (though that helped eventually) It was the Star Wars marathon weekend at mates place where we argued about Kylo Ren’s redemption arc until 5AM. It was the Discord server where strangers became friends because we all collectively lost our minds over The Mandalorian.

Community is everything. It’s oxygen, it’s connection, it’s belonging. Even when that community is arguing about whether Rey’s character development was butchered in Rise of Skywalker (it was)

I’ve seen this pattern everywhere.

Someone falls in love with something, anything and suddenly they’re not alone anymore.

They’re part of something bigger. They have people who get their references, who speak their language.

Who understand why they cried when Luke showed up in The Mandalorian (I’m not crying, you’re crying)

So today.

This holiest of nerd holidays. I hope you’re indulging in whatever fandom lights you up. Whether it’s Star Wars or something else entirely. These passions are lifelines we need to hang onto.

I’m off to rewatch Rogue One for the 87th time and pretend I won’t sob uncontrollably at the ending.

The Force will be with you. Always.

Stephen Walker

P.S. If you tell anyone I got emotional writing this email, I’ll deny it harder than George Lucas denies the existence of the Star Wars Holiday Special.

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

I don’t very often get sucked into vidyagame

But while taking some time off. I got sucked into Days Gone and today I needed to write about it.

And if you know me, you know how I get with these post apocalyptic survival games (obsessive, slightly unhinged, definitely sleep deprived)

Starting off. The game isn’t perfect. The pacing sometimes feels like a drunk guy trying to ride a motorcycle through a horde of freakers. (Zombies for the uninitiated)

BUT…

The storytelling? The characters? That’s where this shit shines.

Deacon St. John could’ve been Generic Gruff Protagonist #457, but instead he’s this beautifully broken mess of a human who somehow makes you root for him while he’s literally setting people on fire.

His relationship with Boozer?

(And when I first heard the name I just pictured some old alcoholic dude sitting at the edge of a smoky bar)

The relationship is pure gold. It’s that ride or die friendship that doesn’t feel forced, you know?

The kind where they’d literally take a bullet (or a freaker bite) for each other.

And just cause my brain works this way. Here few lessons from a writer-ly if you like to spin a story…

1) Imperfect protagonists are your friends. Deacon’s got rage issues, trust problems, and the emotional processing skills of a constipated toddler and it works. Your characters should be messy. They should make decisions that make readers scream “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” at the page. You can do that in your marketing too. The whole when they zig you zag or jump off a cliff. I dunno?

2) Environmental storytelling is underrated as hell. The abandoned Nero checkpoints, the hastily evacuated camps. Days Gone lets the world tell half the story. You don’t need to explain everything through dialogue when a child’s abandoned teddy bear next to an empty bottle of pills can punch your audience right in the gut.

3) Relationships are what hold apocalyptic stories together. Not the zombies. I mean, “freakers.” Not the cool bikes. It’s watching Deacon and Sarah’s love story unfold in those flashbacks. It’s Iron Mike’s stubborn pacifism against the brutal world. These connections give weight to all the throat slitting and molotov throwing. Which is also probably one of my favourite parts to this game. That and I like to watch things burn in person and in a vidya game too.

Remember how we talked about my zombie fatigue in the past? This game somehow made me care about another fucking zombie apocalypse in 2025 which is basically a storytelling miracle.

The way they handle the biker culture stuff is surprisingly nuanced too. You get this whole code, this brotherhood thing that’s simultaneously toxic and life saving.

(Side note: I would 100% die within the first 15 minutes of any apocalypse scenario, but playing this game made me briefly consider whether I should buy a motorcycle “just in case.”)

Anyways. You playing anything good lately? I need something new before I start a second playthrough and completely destroy my sleep schedule again.

Check it out over here on steam or if you’ve got one of those fancy console types I’m sure you can find it on their own store or whatever…

Stephen Walker

P.S. Now I’m about go indulge in a fancy IPA and watch that new MobLand series on Paramount+

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

“To anyone I’ve offended, I just want to say: I re-invented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship. Did you also think I was gonna be a chill, normal dude?” – Elon Musk

Normally, I like to think I’m a pretty chill dude.

​
Agreeable. Easygoing.

​
Even downright pleasant, on a good day.

​
And I think the entrepreneurs I coach would agree.

​
​Normally.

​
But sometimes…

​
Once in a while…

​
Easygoing just don’t get the job done.

​
​Sometimes, the only answer is violence.

​
Here are three of those times, pulled directly from real client interactions over the past few months.

​
(coaching clients in bold)
​

​
​”My team is pissed at me, Stripe just held a huge payout, and a client just quit. I feel really overwhelmed.”

​
“You gonna pack it in and go back to school?”

​
​”Hell no.”

​
“Then shut the fxck up and get back to work. This ‘aint cuddle-your-feelings time, this is war.”
​

​
​”I’m doing well but my mind keeps saying ‘oh shit this could blow up at any moment.’ How do I get rid of those thoughts?”

​
“You don’t. You listen to them.

​
Your business could blow up at any moment, and it likely will, unless you patch the vulnerabilities that could make it blow up.

​
Your mind is telling you something you need to hear…

​

…And just because it doesn’t feel good doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
​

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​”My family has been calling me all week, asking me to stop because they know I’m really stressed out.”

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“Get out of here with that family shit.

​
If they’ve never run a business, they don’t get a seat at the table.
​

Men in the arena don’t take advice from spectators.”
​

​
​I share these examples for two reasons:​
​

I find them entertaining.
Most people radically underestimate the violence involved in high-level entrepreneurship.

​
I’m not saying you need to Goggins yourself.

​
(you don’t, and you shouldn’t)

​
But I am saying that if you enter the arena:

​
​Be prepared to fight.​

​
I hope these examples help fuel your own fight, whatever it may be.

​
Happy Friday.

​

• T

​
​P.S. In case you missed it earlier this week, here’s…

​
​How To Build A Business While Working 9 to 5​

​

And, here’s…

​

​

3 things that will make your weekend better

What to read, watch and be inspired by this weekend.

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​Lamb: The gospel according to Biff​
The story of Christ, as told by his childhood best friend… Who also happens to be a hilarious twat who punches angels in the face, hits on Jesus’ Mom, sleeps with the concubines of one of the Three Wise Men, and much more. A damn good time.

​
​Naval on Modern Wisdom ​
Finally making my way through this beast of a podcast episode, now that I’m out of my solo retreat. Naval’s first appearance on Rogan (in 2019) is often called “the best podcast episode of all time.” I have no doubt this one will hit just as hard, if not harder.

​
​OCEAN: John Butler (66M Views)
So glad I stumbled back across this video earlier. This song carried me through some wild backpacking adventures in my mid-20’s, and is one of the best displays of mastery of a craft I’ve ever seen (wait ’till you hit the ~5 minute mark).
​

​
​”Children see magic because they look for it.” – Christopher Moore, Lamb

​

​

​

​

​Unsubscribe | Update your profile | 5-420 Erb St. W, Suite 433, Waterloo, ON N2L6K6

“You did it. You’ve finally scaled the Everest of modern technobullshit…

Inbox Zero.

And not the fake kind, where you just archive everything and hope no one notices.

No. You fought the beast. You unsubscribed. You purged. You deleted.”

This was the my day. I kept telling myself some wild heroes journey story like above.

At first, it was simple. A couple of newsletters I vaguely remember signing up for when I was a little drunk.

“Oh, I should really read more about productivity hacks,” was a thought I had six months ago…

Just put all of those bullshit emails in the bin.

Then the whole “We Miss You! Here’s 20% Off That Thing You Looked at Once in 2017.”

No, you don’t miss me. You don’t even know me. Delete.

Next was the:

“Your Horoscope Says You Need This Essential Oil Set!”

My horoscope says I need less stress, not a lavender scented pyramid scheme, Barbara.

And don’t even get me started on the brands that think every single click is grounds for a lifelong relationship.

You bought one pair of socks, and suddenly they’re acting like you owe them joint custody of your inbox.

Fuck that noise.

The best though…

Were the ones that played dirty. “Are you sure you want to leave? We’ll stop sending emails, but we’ll miss you!” Oh, spare me the guilt trip, Brenda. You’re a bot.

Okay well it’s not really a love story but I’m sure you get the drift.

I’ve actively been looking for cool people and cool brands to subscribe to, cause who knows? In the future we might do a little joint venture or even just shoot the shit.

This was probably the most adult thing I’ve done on a Friday before sinking a bottle of whiskey.

And I’m going to be extra mega blatant.

Forward this email to someone you know who might like to read some words from your favourite unhinged bearded hobo and tell them to click on this super mega obnoxiously long link here.

They may learn a few things about:

Life

Marketing

Psychology

Writing

Bare knuckle honey badger boxing

Cheese

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

Today your favourite degenerate is in mourning over Twitter.

POLITICO wrote a magically glorious meltdown piece about about Elon Musk’s hostile takeover. Sorry, “acquisition” of Twitter.

Some people call it “X,” if they’re feeling masochistic.

But holy mother of slow motion funeral marches, it’s like watching a once mighty beast, now wheezing and dripping social media gunk all over the place, especially in Europe. They lost 11 million European users.

That’s like the population of a small country, all sprinting away and leaving Musk to scowl forlornly at his rocket ships.

And here’s where I’m going to get on my high horse again…

Which I’ve preached a thousand times. From the mountaintops of righteous marketing mania…

Never trust your entire brand, your sweet lifeblood, to a platform that some random shitlord can gut in a hot second. Because right now, that’s exactly what’s happening.

It’s like someone microwaving leftover sushi at 3AM and hoping it doesn’t become sentient and eat them first.

Europe’s saying “Au revoir” and “Auf Wiedersehen” and “G’bye, ya wankers” to Twitter, and Musk is sacrificing the golden goose for a stack of rancid memes.

Anyway, I still love that bird err, X and maybe I’m just a masochist who enjoys those sweet, sweet micro dopamine hits of retweets. But you can practically smell the decay, can’t you? Like rotting fish heads wrapped in day old newspapers. Because, my fellow email friend, I can’t say it enough…

Own. Your. List.

Start hoarding those email addresses like they’re precious glow-in-the-dark Pokémon cards from 1999.

Build your own ding dang list that no rich overlord can nuke from orbit. Because someday, maybe tomorrow, maybe next Tuesday at 3 PM. Elon might push the big red button (likely labelled “CHAOS?”) and poof, your entire audience disappears into the vapour.

Consider these bullet points (because yes, that’s how outraged I am, I’m bullet pointing my inner meltdown)

Twitter: Slipping deeper into Musk’s rabbit hole, shedding European users like a wet dog shakes off fleas.

You: Laughing maniacally from the safety of your own email fortress.

Email lists: The real superhero no capes, just open rates and good words.

Musk: Possibly too busy fuelling midnight rocket rides to notice his platform hemorrhaging folks.

I swear, time to get out the metaphorical defibrillator and jolt procrastinators into building that newsletter, that blog subscription thing, those monthly digital whatevermajigs, whatever it takes.

In a year, the only folks left on Twitter might be Elon’s bots and that one uncle who thinks everything is a conspiracy (and that birds aren’t real, ironically)

Anyway, if you see me scuttling around the charred remains of that once bustling social birdhouse, feel free to nudge me (gently) I’ll be the one whispering “Gather your emails, gather your loyal minions, run free from the meltdown.”

The article is here if you’re keen

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom

It’s that time of the year when I get some blood work done.

Just to make sure everything is ticking over and still working.

One thing I never tested before was Testosterone.

And so today I found out that the reason for my sleep issues aka not being able to sleep properly is cause my body is pumping out 1097ng/dL of this sauce.

They said it was high but not dangerously high. They asked stupid questions like “Do you take steroids?” and I told them I just take regular vitamins and supplements. Nothing wild. Copper/Zinc/Magnesium and I do eat a fair amount of steak. I’m not a gym nerd and I do spend a lot of time hiking and I’m also not against smashing a large pizza while binging a new favourite series.

All in all, just a regular dude who likes to talk some shit on the internet and write stuff.

So maybe it’s genetics and luck but hey I’m not dead. My body seems to be working but they want me to do another test in 6 months and see where I’m at.

Now if only I could bottle this excess sauce like Bell Delphine did with her bathwater and sell it to the angry men on the internet who are always raging at something stupid. I could change the world…

On that note though…

I’m gonna go for another hike now as it’s 23c degrees out or 73.4f for my friends who use freedom metrics, cause I’ve got some research and ideation to do for a micro business I’m going to build using Instagram and reels.

So I’ll keep you posted once it’s all in motion and you can either follow along on the adventure and watch many micro failures happen.

Stephen Walker

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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom