
Blog
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I lost more than just basketball…
“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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Create your own rules
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 -
This email will find you if you’re feeling really stuck
“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 -
A philosophy for success
“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 -
How being selfish may actually save you
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…)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
On burnout
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
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
The wasteland that is alpha male twitter
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:
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 -
The most embarrassing moment of my career
“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
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B rated greateness
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 -
The vibe check nobody asked for but everyone needs
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
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
The business I never told you about
“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
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The dirty little secret about getting good at anything
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
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
Hell hath no fury
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
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
When you come back and everything is still exactly the same
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.
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
Your life purpose isn’t what you think it is
“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 betterBangers across the board in this one.
Bill Burr: Drop Dead YearsA-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 @ NYUMaggie 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
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The internet’s on fire and you’re holding the matches
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.
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
Going wide and not deep
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
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Poole
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