Blog
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Just a little bit of doom, sir
Emotions are uncomfortable.
And there seems to exist this habit online that when people experience or display an emotion that makes us uncomfortable we feel the need to either, minimise it, challenge it or even correct it.
No platform is removed from this. Not Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or even in Email.
So when you express something, let’s say a doomy feeling.
…someone might show up to chastise you for that attitude.
No sir, You can’t be doomy. Doom is bad. Doom is how they win, they’ll tell you. Doom is what they want so you mustn’t feel doom!
Doom gets us nothing, you fool!
Don’t you see what you’ve done?
YOUR DOOM IS CONTAGIOUS!
But there’s always a ying to the yang.
Opposite scenario…
If you express anything that makes you happy or gives you a little glimmer of joy. You know? That thing you love that helps keep the blackness out of your stare so you don’t lose yourself? That type of joy…
It’s like if you said “I love pancakes” then some clown will reply: “so what you’re saying is you hate donuts?”
Like that shit doesn’t even make sense.
But we need to remember that we live in a world where our emotions have no utility to the world. They’re just emotions.
Yeah we display them, often and people will challenge it or even worse try and make it so that when you do show it. That it’s going against and minimising things like democracy, climate change, economy, future existence.
I mean I don’t know how me sharing my emotions will fix those problems but expressing them will help me balanced and explore me as a person.
We’re messy as humans. And the world has gone to shit in many respects, so what’s wrong with sharing our emotions and feelings?
It’s natural.
You don’t need to correct someone’s feelings, because feelings aren’t facts. If they’re happy about something and expressing joy, you also don’t need to correct that joy. I mean, how messed up is that?
You can put your own feelings on your own timeline, that’s fine. If you feel like doom is bad, and you have something to counter it, put it out into the world. That’s you getting to feel how you feel, and that’s okay, too.
It’s hard not to feel doomy right now.
It’s also hard not to desperately seek small, significant things of joy…
I guess my point to this is on the days where you feel like there’s nothing but doom and gloom.
Express it.
If you’re feeling happy about something that might seem small to someone else.
Express it.
Just don’t chop someone down if they’re doing the same thing.
If we don’t express it. It’ll consume us and we don’t want to become an empty husk of a person devoid of emotion.
Cause if we do, then how are we gonna create our art?
Stephen Walker
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
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United Kingdom -
A Map Of Your Mind
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly – you usually don’t use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease. You believe that you are your mind. This is the delusion. The instrument has taken you over.” – Eckhart Tolle
I recently shared a “Map of the Mind” inside our Path community.
It can be applied to your business, your work, your relationships, your performance, your health, your social life…
Everything you use your mind for, which is (hint) everything.
Super powerful.
Take a look:
The first four levels of mind can be divided into:
Impulse Emotion Thought Intuition And, even though they are interconnected, the real magic happens when we observe them as separate parts.
Here’s a (simplified) starter guide…
Impulse is the least intelligent form of mind:
Driven by our “lizard brain” (the brain stem), which seeks survival and pleasure.
Emotion is slightly more evolved:
Driven by our “monkey brain” (limbic system), which seeks status and social connection.
Thought is still more evolved:
Driven by our “human brain” (neocortex), which seeks understanding and meaning.
And then there is intuition…
A phenomena not fully understood (and, often misunderstood) by science.
Intuition exists on a higher order of intelligence than thought or emotion:
It is the gut, the heart, the little voice inside, the part of us that simply knows, even why we don’t understand why we know.
Getting these signals criss-crossed…
(for example)
Mistaking impulse for emotion (ie. the horny dude who thinks he’s in love with the girl he just met)…
Following emotion over rational thought (ie. an investor panic-selling during a market dip, instead of following his long-term strategy)…
Mixing emotion with intuition (ie. staying in a toxic relationship when you know it’s not right for you)…
Using thought to justify impulse (ie. “I deserve this ice cream, I had a stressful day”)…
Or, following thought over intuition (ie. remaining in a career you hate, instead of following a deeper calling)…
…Is the source of much human error.
Which means, learning to:
Notice the signal Discern which level of mind it is coming from Follow the higher, and override the lower
…Is a critical skill in the human development game.
Just keep in mind, this is a skill:
Which means it takes time and practice to develop.
Here are some simple rules to help you along the way:
Override impulses when they do not align with your higher goals. Feel your emotions fully before you make decisions or take actions. Take your thoughts into consideration, but do not mistake them as facts. Follow your intuition, even when it doesn't make sense.*
- just make sure it’s really your intuition (and don’t be so sure you know…)
If this feels confusing, at first, that’s because it is confusing.
You’re developing a higher-level human capacity, and that sh*t don’t come for free.
But make no mistake:
It will transform every dimension of your life, if you master it.
When you have a moment, I’d love to hear what insights this sparked for you:
Do you have trouble feeling intuition, or getting it mixed up with a different signal?
Do you have trouble overriding lower signals (impulse / emotion) to follow higher signals (thought / intuition)?
This is a new model I’ve been playing with, so your feedback is appreciated.
- T
P.S. To the keen eyes who noticed I said “first four levels of mind”…
…Yes, there are levels beyond intuition.
And maybe we’ll talk about them, someday.
But not today 🙂
If you’re still hungry for more, click here.
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An open letter to young entrepreneurs
Today’s email is a throwback to one of our greatest hits, originally sent in September, 2024. Enjoy 🙂
During a talk I gave at WLU business school last night, a student asked:
“How do you know which business model will work when there are so many options?”
And, whether you want to start a business, or just have a successful career (or a successful anything, for that matter)…
…There is only one honest answer:
Damn near all of them can work.
Building an organic following through social media can work.
Running paid ads to a sales funnel can work.
Podcasting and monetizing through sponsorships can work.
Service businesses can work, online courses can work, software can work, agencies can work, even fxcking Skool communities can work.
They can all work.
The catch?
They all take time to work.
Time as in years, not weeks or months.
(even Rogan didn’t make money until year five of his podcast)
Which means you’re gonna have to choose one and stick with it…
And then keep sticking with it…
Ignoring the urge to jump ship to whatever shiny new business model the gooroos are peddling this month…
Allllll the way through the slow, stubborn startup phase, showing up day after day, feeling like nothing is happening and you’re pushing a rock up a mountain with the wind at your face and the summit nowhere in sight…
Not knowing if you’re ever going to make it, wondering if all of your work will ever someday finally pay off, or if you should just pack it in…
…And maybe you should pack it in because there are no guarantees of success but also maybe you shouldn’t because other people have done it and if they’ve done it then dammit it’s possible and why not you?
There is no shortage of bodies on the way up that mountain.
But make no mistake, some have reached the top.
And if you talk to any of them, they’ll all tell you the same thing:This s#*t takes time.
And every time you jump ship from one model to another, you reset the clock.
So, choose your path…
(preferably one that you enjoy, that feels natural to you and suits the skill set you’re developing)
…And stick to it.
For years.
Godspeed.
- T
P.S. Two notes:
- The same principle applies to career success, relationship success, even success in training and/or spiritual practice.
- Choose one and stick to it doesn’t mean “blindly put your head down and keep doing the exact same thing even if it’s not working.”
It means continuously improving and optimizing and course-correcting within the model / path you’ve chosen…
…And, only switching streams when it the current is very clearly flowing in a new direction (not when a shiny new opportunity catches your eye).
Hope that helps.
P.P.S. In case you missed it yesterday, here’s:
How To Avoid Ego Games In Dating & Relationships
5-420 Erb St. W, Suite 433, Waterloo, ON N2L6K6
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The Jack Reacher school of consistency
It’s not a secret that I love Lee Child and his writing
And today I spent the day binging the Reacher series to get ready for season 3 that’s out on the 20th of this month…
Now today I didn’t want to do any work or writing or whatever and frankly didn’t want to exist to anyone in any capacity.
I just had one of those days and I know we all get them
But after binging the whole of season 2 in one sitting and honestly becoming an couch potato
I rediscovered a lesson that needs to be focused and applied by everyone…
Doing the things that need to be done regardless of how you feel or the outcome might lead to
The whole of season 2 was based on small bits of drama that got flung into Reacher’s direction and he didn’t complain, he just kept on moving
I’d love to share more detail but I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t watched it or plan on watching it
And that’s it, that’s the major revelation I had today
Nothing magical
Nothing sexy
Nothing “ninja”
It’s painstakingly boring
So boring that you won’t see any guru’s in the online space talk about it cause it can’t make ’em money
So when you have those days where you want to crawl into a ball and do nothing at all, try stay consistent to what it is you’re trying to build…
Like for me it’s this here little community of misfits who enjoy my emails
Or it could be that book you’re writing, songs you’re producing or those drawings that need to be painted or whatever…
If it’s good enough for Jack Reacher to keep going when he doesn’t want to
Then it’s good enough for me to keep writing these emails and growing my list.
Stephen Walker
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
Fastest entrepreneur wins.
“Money loves speed.” – Dan Kennedy
Last week, I launched a one on one coaching program for entrepreneurs.
And within a few days, it was full.
Here’s how it happened:
On Friday night, inspiration to start coaching entrepreneurs one on one came to me in the shower.
On Monday morning, I sent an email announcing the coaching program.
That’s it.
Total time from idea to implementation:
About two days.
After 14 years in business, generating 8 figures in revenue and launching nearly 100 offers, one principle has remained consistent:
Speed wins.
Not perfection, not intelligence, and not even skill.
Speed.
Look around:
There is no shortage of squishy, Prime-drinking, Skool-community-building mfxckers making absurd amounts of money right now…
Not because they’re smarter or more skilled than you, but because they’re more savage:
They’re less willing to wait around for something to happen, and more willing to hunt it down and make it happen; failure irrelevant, fear be damned.
They’re not making plans to sit down and make plans, or scheduling meetings to talk about when they should schedule their next meeting.
They’re not waiting until they’ve read six books, taken three courses, and consulted with their astrologer to identify the exact moment Mercury will align with Saturn and bless their first Twitter post.
They’re not waiting until they know all the steps and can see the path to success laid out for them like a red carpet:
They’re turning ideas into material reality immediately if not sooner, yesterday if possible, and recklessly, if necessary.
They’re launching, testing, collecting data, iterating, and re-launching as fast as technology will allow.
And that is why they win.
- T
P.S. This just dropped…
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You can’t outrun the debt, Garrick.
I’ve been knee deep in my notepad today writing story intro after story intro.
Noodling around with words on paper seem to be one of the most cathartic things to do.
The boring part is the mechanical part and that’s just re-typing it for others to read.
So if you wanna pop the trunk of what operates inside of my brain 99% of the day.
Give it a little read and tell me what you think. It’s rough as toast but I’ll massage it into something better.
Mack Garrick spits a wad of chewing tobacco into the dirt and watches it steam in the rain. The woods around him smell like wet ash and diesel. His pickup truck, rusted, one headlight dead, idles on the shoulder, coughing smoke. The shotgun under the passenger seat hums a low, familiar song. Come on, it whispers. Let’s dance.
The girl in his backseat hasn’t spoken in fifty miles. She clutches a stuffed rabbit missing an ear. Eight years old, maybe. Blonde hair matted to her skull. Mack doesn’t ask why she was standing alone on Route 9 in pajamas at 3 a.m. Doesn’t ask why her bare feet left no tracks in the snow. Doesn’t ask why the dog tags around her neck read HENDERSON, J. – same as the soldier he watched burn alive in a Kabul ditch twelve years ago.
“You see it too, don’t you?” the girl says, voice like radio static.
Mack’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel. The trees lean closer. Shadows pool in the ditches, thick and oily. He’s seen this before. In the desert. In the mirror after too much bourbon.
“See what?” he lies.
She points at the road ahead. The rain twists into shapes as it falls. Not drops anymore, sinews, tendons, tiny bones clattering against the windshield. A deer carcass lies mangled in the road, ribs cracked outward like wings. The girl’s rabbit twitches in her hands.
Mack floors the gas. The truck lurches forward, tires screaming. The deer’s corpse scrapes the undercarriage, and for a heartbeat, the radio crackles to life. A man’s voice, sandpaper rough, rasps through the speakers… “You can’t outrun the debt, Garrick.”
The girl laughs. Not a child’s laugh. Something older. Hungrier.
Mack’s hand drifts toward the shotgun. The woods are gone now. Just endless road, bleeding oil-black under the headlights. The stuffed rabbit’s remaining eye glints silver in the dark.
“Almost there,” the girl says.
He doesn’t ask where.
Stephen Walker
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
Marinating in anger sauce
It’s like everyone lost their damn minds today…
I wonder if it’s cause of the Super Bowl?
Could be Mercury doing backflips in whatever space based juice box it’s swimming in this week.
Hell, for all I know, the space gods are playing marbles with planets and we’re all catching the fallout…
It’s like every conversation I’ve seen today has been some sort of a cage match.
If your neighbours dog looked at you funny?
It’s like it was time go to back home, make some coffee and write a stupid 12 page manifesto about the decline of canine manners.
Stop. Just stop.
Imagine waking up one day and you know that day is your last, what’s your legacy gonna be?
“Here lies Bob, who spent his final days arguing with people on the internet about pizza toppings on the internet?”
We’re all stuck on earth. Breathing the same air.
Dealing with the same type of shit thrown our way.
That person you don’t like cause their political leaning also puts the pants on one leg at a time like you do.
That person who cut you off in traffic? Probably just trying to make it to their kid’s school play on time.
Life’s too short to spend it marinating in anger sauce.
Yeah, the world’s messy. Yeah, things suck sometimes.
But walking around like everything’s a personal insult from the universe isn’t fixing anything…
It’s just giving you heartburn and making your face look like a constipated gargoyle.
So maybe, just maybe, we could all collectively decide to dial it back from DEFCON 1 to something more reasonable. Like DEFCON “This is annoying but not worth having an aneurysm over.”
And I’m no expert, but when the Grim Reaper comes knocking, he’s not gonna care about how many internet arguments you won or how righteously angry you were about everything.
He’s just gonna ask if you lived a life worth living.
And “I was mad about everything, all the time” isn’t gonna cut it as an answer.
Wake up. Breathe. Pet a dog. Eat a sandwich. Whatever.
Just stop being so damn angry about everything. The sky daddy or universe is weird enough. We don’t need add our own rage to the mix.
Right. Time to get off of my Sunday Soap Box. I’ve got a coffee machine to shout at…
…which is different cause the coffee maker and I have an understanding.
This is also one of the best books I’ve read that helped melt away anger, worry and everything else in between…
Stephen Walker
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom -
£12.99 for Mediocrity?
The man sat in the dim light of his small apartment. The television glowed. It was the only light. He watched the screen.
Netflix. Always Netflix.
It was his escape, his distraction, his ritual.
He paid for it. Every month. Ten pounds, then twelve, now more.
Always more…
The email came. He read it. Price increase. Again. The numbers were there, cold and unfeeling.
Standard plan: £12.99.
Premium: £18.99.
Even the ad-supported plan, the cheap one, was up to £5.99. He stared at the screen.
The words blurred. More value, they said. He wondered what value meant. More shows? More movies? More of the same?
He didn’t know. He only knew he would pay. He always paid.
He thought about the money. What it could buy. A meal. A drink. A book. But no. It went to Netflix. Every month. Like a tax. A toll for the privilege of forgetting. For the luxury of not thinking. For the comfort of the familiar.
He didn’t cancel. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. The ritual was too ingrained. The habit too strong.
He scrolled. The titles flashed by. Stranger Things. Squid Game. Wednesday. He had watched them. He would watch them again. He didn’t know why. He just did.
The algorithm knew him. Knew his tastes. Knew his weaknesses. It fed him content. Endless content. He consumed it. Like a man in a desert drinking sand.
The comments section was there. He read it. Anger. Frustration. Resignation. People were angry. People were always angry.
But they paid. They always paid. He wondered why. He didn’t have an answer. He only knew he was one of them.
A cog in the machine. A number in the ledger.
Netflix didn’t care. Why would they? They had millions of users. Billions in revenue. They were a giant, towering and indifferent. They raised prices because they could. Because people would pay. Because he would pay.
He thought about cancelling. Just for a moment. But the thought passed. It always did. He reached for the remote.
He pressed play. The screen lit up. The show began. He watched. He forgot. He paid.
The man sat in the dim light of his small apartment. The television glowed. It was the only light. He watched the screen. Netflix. Always Netflix…
But here’s the thing, the man didn’t have to be just a consumer. He could be a creator. He could be the one sending out the emails instead of receiving them. He could build his own list, his own audience, his own empire. He could send out daily emails, filled with value, filled with insights, filled with stories. And those emails?
They could make him money. Real money. The kind of money that could pay for Netflix ten times over.
Think about it. Every email is a chance. A chance to connect. A chance to sell. A chance to build a relationship that lasts. Netflix raises prices? Fine. Let them.
You now have a little something going on. Your email list. Your people.
Your tribe. And they’re worth more than any streaming service could ever be.
So start building. Start emailing. Start creating. Because while Netflix is busy taking your money, you could be busy making it and we’d prefer that story any day of the week…
HERE’S ONE OF THE MANY SILLY LITTLE ARTICLES THAT MY FELLOW BRITS ARE UP IN ARMS ABOUT…
And I thought it was apt to write a little story about it.
Stephen Walker
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom
