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I do this once a year and they’re in no particular order but I’m a firm believer in re-reading great work.

From non-fiction to fiction there might be something in here that’ll tickle your brain soup.

Let’s go…

PSA by Rob Ulitski
(A short story with a pretty cool style and the layout of it is interesting too. It’s a short story and free. Give it a read. I enjoyed it a lot.)

ZombieCop by Ben Settle
(Fellow copywriter and all around grinch, my boy Ben writes a lot of weird and wonderful shit. Plus he’s one of my favourite marketers and copywriters)

Zen in the art of writing by Ray Bradbury
(Essays about the craft of writing and how Ray became as prolific as he did. Up there with Asimov as one of my inspirations in the sci-fi realm)

The Boron Letters by Gary C. Halbert
(If it wasn’t for Gary, a lot of writers turned copywriters wouldn’t be able to craft ideas, offers and sentences to the extent we did. I re-read this at least two times a year)

Me talk pretty one day by David Sedaris
(I can’t say much about David cause I don’t wanna spoil it but he humour infused essays are just great. The way he tells a story just sucks you in)

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
(Most people know Chuck for Fight Club, which is a great book and film, however he writes some twisted shit. I challenged you to sit through GUTS and if you come back and unsubscribe and block me, that’s totally cool too.)

The Acid House by Irvine Welsh
(Anyone who has seen Trainspotting (1993) knows that Irvine Welsh is an absolute insane genius but what people don’t know is that in The Acid House, his short stories hit ten times as hard. I also learnt a lot about how to write dialogue and incorporating local language / slang to write more express sentences)

Storm for the living and the dead by Charles Bukowski
(It’s not secret that I love poetry. From stealing my first Bukowski book from my uncle at the age of 13. I’ve read his work ever since. The low brow look at the world and how everything is intertwined is what makes his work so impactful. Not for the feint of heart but great nontheless)

Make ’em laugh & take their money by Dan S. Kennedy
(Dan is a legend in the direct response world and is as old school as it gets. This will make your writing a lot more entertaining.)

Scrappy little nobody by Anna Kendrick
(Just a little insight into the life of Anna, she’s an amazing actress and her humour in Hollywood goes unmatched. She shows that being a celeb wasn’t always glitz and glam, especially in her super early years.)

Sex, Drugs & Cocoa puffs by Chuck Klosterman
(I’m annoyed that I didn’t use that title for a book or a story although I’ll give it to Chuck. His low culture manifesto is top tier and funny)

The Pulp Jungle by Frank Gruber
(One of my inspirations to write the way I do. Going back to the dime novel era. Where every word pays rent and the rent is due tomorrow. You had to have written well, or you’d starve. The depression era of writers were cerebral and methodical in their output cause if they didn’t perform, they’d get replaced.)

Ca$vertising by Drew Eric Whitman
(If I woke up tomorrow and lost my memory. This would be the first book I’d hope to stumble on. This taught me more about humans and persuasive writing than anything. Ain’t no guru this far ahead of the game.)

This isn’t your typical “best books of 2024” list.

And there’s no particular reading order or anything.

It’s what I’d deem a masterclass in writing that spans from Ray Bradbury’s zen-like wisdom to Chuck Palahniuk’s stomach-turning brilliance (seriously, don’t read GUTS before eating).

From direct response legends like Gary Halbert and Drew Eric Whitman teaching you how to sell ice to penguins, to Irvine Welsh and Bukowski showing you how to punch readers in the gut with raw authenticity, this collection is basically a war chest for anyone serious about putting words on paper that actually mean something.

And if you’re wondering why this list jumps from Hollywood memoirs to marketing manifestos to horror fiction well, that’s exactly how your writer’s brain should work. Absorbing everything, questioning everything, and turning it all into your own beautiful concoction of chaos.

Stephen Walker

P.S. Yes, I read all these without pants. It’s called method reading, look it up.
P.P.S. If anyone asks why your writing suddenly got weird after reading these, blame me. I accept full responsibility and you better send them here so I can infect their minds with similar chaos. I’m recruiting people for 2025…
P.P.P.S. Seriously though, Don’t watch Chuck read GUTS right before dinner. You’ve been warned.

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

So today in the endless parade of what-the-fuckery that is our modern hellscape…

Funko. Yes, those merchants of dead-eyed vinyl nightmares decided to go full HAM on itch.io because their broken-ass AI copyright system can’t tell its digital ass from its algorithmic elbow.

I’m not anti-ai in a lot of respects. They’re great tools for research amplification and idea generation, however in a lot of the cases…

It’s like giving a toddler a hammer and expecting them to perform brain surgery.

Sure, the toddler might hit something, but that something isn’t gonna be what you want, and somebody’s definitely gonna end up crying or dying. (Probably both)

These corps keep implementing these systems like they’re some magical fix-all solution, like throwing AI at a problem is gonna make it better, when in reality it’s like trying to fix a leaky pipe with bubble gum and thoughts and prayers.

(Pssst. Thoughts and prayers absolutely do not work btw)

And who gets caught in the crossfire?

The indie devs. The little guys. The actual humans making actual things with their actual meat-hands and meat-brains.

You want to know what AI is really doing? It’s not “getting smarter.” It’s getting better at being confidently wrong while wearing a tie.

It’s like that one guy at every party who won’t shut up about cryptocurrency and keeps trying to sell you on his NFT collection of procedurally generated squirrels wearing monocles, and honestly I may even be partial to it cause, well… You’ve read my most recent emails.

Anywho…

“But Stephen,” you say, “AI is the future! It’s learning! It’s evolving!”

Yeah, so did velociraptors in Jurassic Park, and we all know how that turned out.

(Spoiler alert: Badly. For everyone. Especially the guy on the toilet.)

The cold hard and hilariously championed AI-Bro truth is: These systems aren’t protecting art or artists. They’re protecting corporate interests with all the precision of a drunk rhinoceros in a china shop. And every time one of these companies implements some half-baked AI solution, it’s like watching someone try to perform surgery with a chainsaw. (Imagine giving a toddler a chainsaw in this situation lol)

Sure, you’ll remove something, but probably not the thing you were aiming for.

So if I’ve got any indie devs reading this and to all the indie devs caught in this garbage fire…

I see you. We see you. And to Funko and every other company thinking about letting AI be their bouncer or menace to others.

Maybe try using actual humans with actual understanding of actual creative work instead of the digital equivalent of a bloodhound that can’t tell the difference between a legitimate game and a picture of a ham sandwich.

Robots aren’t coming for our jobs. They’re coming for our sanity and we all know it’s a pattern of automated fuckery.

[As always, this is Stephen, your friendly neighbourhood doom-prophet at stphnwlkr.com, reminding you that the future is now, and it’s wearing a dunce cap.]

Stephen Walker

I know you totally want to follow the rabbit hole of drama cause I mean you’re here and you’re like me and I’m like you so check it out.

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

I’m about to get uncommonly sincere for a minute, so brace yourselves.

Maybe grab a tissue. Or a bourbon. Or both. No judgment here.

So there I was, having my usual 3 AM existential crisis about deadlines and word counts, when something weird happened.

No, I didn’t get visited by three ghosts. That’s a different story, and frankly, those ghosts still owe me money for writing consultation.

I started thinking about George Bailey (you know, from “It’s a Wonderful Life” yes, I watch old movies, fight me), and how that poor bastard had to literally almost die to realise he wasn’t actually a failure.

And it hit me harder than that time I tried to caffeinate my caffeine.

We’re all so busy building our little writing empires, cranking out words like we’re being chased by zombified literary agents, that sometimes we forget about the actual humans who put up with our weird-ass creative processes and our own wild personality.

You know who I mean…

The partner who brings you coffee while you’re mid-chapter-crisis

The friend who still invites you places even though you’re “almost done with this draft” (narrator: they were not almost done)

The family who pretends to understand why you need to talk about your fictional characters like they’re real people

The dog who sits at your feet while you rant about plot holes

The cat who only walks across your keyboard MOST of the time instead of ALL the time

The thing is, your words matter. Your stories matter. But so do the people who make it possible for you to tell them.

So as we wrap up this dumpster fire of a year (2024, you’ve been weird, man), maybe take a minute. Look around. Thank the people who deal with your creative chaos. Hug them if they’re huggers. Send them a weird gif if they’re not.

Because while we’re all out here trying to create worlds and birth stories and fight the good fight against what ever big tech will throw at us in 2025, these people are creating something too…

A space where we can be our strange, creative, possibly unhinged selves.

And that’s worth more than any wordcount.

Don’t worry. I’m not going soft on you. Tomorrow I’ll be back to my regular programming of caffeine-fuelled rants about proper semicolon usage and why squirrels are probably government spies. But for tonight, maybe just… appreciate your people.

And if you’re feeling lonely in your creative cave, remember. You’ve got me and this whole community of equally weird word-nerds right here.

We might be disaster-pandas, but we’re YOUR disaster-pandas.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ve got something in my eye. Probably coffee grounds. Definitely not tears.

And again. I really do appreciate you for sticking around and reading these emails. I’m glad you find them interesting, entertaining and educational. I’ll be back to the regular scheduled anarchy soon…

Stephen Walker

It’s a wonderful life – which I’ve probably watched every Christmas for the last 25+ years

P.S. Yes, I wrote this without pants, but I did put on a festive hat. Growth eh?

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

“The universe needs to know what you want before it can give it to you.”
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So, it looks like we’re a go 🙂

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Yesterday’s email about our upcoming workshop…

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​”The Most Productive Day Of The Year”

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…Generated a ton of interest, and rightfully so — but we’ll talk about that in a moment.

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First, I want to talk about this:

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A few hours after I sent that email, 8-figure entrepreneur and OG Path member Mason Vranes sent me this text:

“I think this is a dope idea.
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I see a ton of posts from people saying this is their year to ‘lock-in’ and make it big.
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Then around June/July, they say they haven’t progressed at all and only have a few months left to lock in.
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Endless cycle of posts like that.
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Basically you’re making 2025 the year they actually break through.”

“Endless cycle” is right:

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Motivation spikes around the new year, and we charge out of the gate ready for war.

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Then it wears off, because motivation is a set of chemicals, not a set of character traits.

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And when motivation recedes, and our (lack of) strategy begins to fall apart…

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…We feel ourselves slowly sinking back into the rut of our old habits, as yet another year fades into the past….

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…While our confidence — our trust in ourselves to do what we said we were going to do — fades with it…

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…And that familiar nagging feeling takes root in the pit of our stomach, because deep down, we know:

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Every time we let ourselves down, and let another opportunity die in our hands…

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…We groove the pattern even deeper.
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So the next time we feel that spark of motivation, it will be accompanied by an even darker cloud of doubt…

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…And even slimmer odds that we’ll finally — finally — be able to turn our vision into a reality.

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Whew.

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​That hurts.

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I know I’m twisting the knife here, but pain is fuel, and fuel is what we’re looking for.

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What we’re also looking for:

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​Clear, precise, detailed, intelligent, all-the-way-thought-through Strategy:
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​Strategy that transforms our motivation into dynamic, targeted action — and action that transforms our vision into a reality, once and for all.

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So that’s what we’re doing in our workshop next week.

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Here’s the plan:

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Registration will open on Tuesday, Dec 17 and run until midnight on Friday, Dec 20.

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​The workshop will be held live, Saturday, Dec 21, from 9 am EST until around 5 pm EST.

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The recordings will also be made available for anyone who can’t attend live, so all you’ll need to do is sit down one day during the holidays and follow along.

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Plus:

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​I’m going to open up a private coaching group for the month of January (at no extra cost)…

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…Where I will be available for open Q & A, accountability, and additional live calls to help keep you on track.

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Our goal:

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To guide you through the all-important first month of 2025, until your habits are locked in, your strategy is running smoothly, and momentum has taken over.

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Because — and let me make this clear:

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​This is your year.

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This is the year you finally break through, and finally — finally — bring your vision to life.

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You do your part, and I will damn sure do mine.

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So rest up, have an amazing weekend, and get ready.

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2025 starts next week.

​

• T

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P.S. Remember…
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I need to tell you about the time I got into a fistfight with Santa Claus.

Yes, THE Santa Claus. No, I wasn’t high on mushrooms. This actually happened. (wink)

So there I am, 3 AM, typing away in my murder shed like any normal person would be, when this red-suited jackass literally slides down my non-existent chimney (I HAVE CENTRAL HEATING, YOU PRESUMPTUOUS PRICK) and has the absolute AUDACITY to tell me I need to “slow down and embrace the holiday spirit.”

“Stephen,” he says, all jolly and shit, “you’re working too hard. Take a break. Watch some Hallmark movies.”

I look up from my seventh cup of coffee and fourth deadline of the day. “Listen here, you seasonal home invader, these words aren’t going to write themselves.”

“But it’s Christmas!” His elves chime in from somewhere behind him. (Side note: elves are assholes.)

“Christmas doesn’t pay the mortgage, you toy-making terrorists!”

That’s when Santa made his fatal mistake. He tried to unplug my laptop.

Next thing I know, we’re throwing down in the Mcdonald’s parking lot at 3:45 AM. A crowd of insomniacs and third-shift workers gathered around us, placing bets.

“Ho ho h- OOF!” Santa wheezes as I connect with his jolly belly.

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND,” I yell, ducking a surprisingly quick right hook. “THE INTERNET NEEDS MY UNHINGED RANTS ABOUT PROPER COMMA USAGE!”

“But the magic of Christ- JESUS, THAT’S MY SPLEEN!”

“THE ONLY MAGIC I BELIEVE IN IS CAFFEINE AND CONSISTENCY!”

Twenty minutes later, we’re both sitting on the curb, bloody and bruised. Santa’s nursing a black eye, I’m holding a bag of frozen Mcnuggets to my jaw, and we’re sharing a plate of lukewarm mozzarella sticks.

“You know,” Santa says, “you could at least take Christmas Day off.”

“Look, Kris,” I say, dunking a cheese stick in marinara, “Here’s the thing about writing. There is no magic. No muse. No mystical Christmas spirit that’s going to write these emails, stories and books for me. It’s just ass in chair, hands on keyboard, day after fucking day.”

“But-“

“Discipline trumps motivation every time. You think I always WANT to write? Hell no. But I do it anyway. Because that’s how you get better. That’s how you build an audience. That’s how you keep the promises you make to your readers.”

Santa sighs, steals one of my cheese sticks. “You’re not going to take time off, are you?”

“Nope. But I’ll make you a deal. I’ll leave out bourbon instead of milk this year.”

“…deal.”

So listen up. There’s no magic formula. No special time of year to take off. Just you, your words, and the daily grind. Feed the beast. Keep the momentum. Write when you don’t want to. Write when the world tells you to slow down. Write when Santa himself tries to unplug your laptop.

Because at the end of the day, the only person who can write your stories is you. And they’re waiting to be told.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to ice my knuckles and finish this chapter before the sun rises.

Stephen Walker

I’m sure you’ve also seen this film and honestly I have never watched it up until a few weeks ago and now it’s one of my favourites…

P.S. Yes, I fought Santa without pants. As one does.

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

“The first step to success isn’t hard work. It’s clarity.” – Path member Adan Maldonado
​

Last weekend, I was having breakfast with entrepreneur and long-time Path member Mason Vranes.
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Mason’s business will do more than 15MM in revenue this year, and is one of the most successful online education companies in the world today.
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​My advice to Mason:
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Sometime during the holidays, spend a single day doing nothing but:
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1. Reviewing 2024
2. Organizing, Planning & Strategizing 2025
3. Implementing systems to execute that strategy.
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   By the end of the day, you will have:
   ​ Total organization of all aspects of your life
   A deep sense of completion and clarity on the lessons you learned in 2024
   Specific, precise goals for 2025, and a clear strategy for hitting every single target
   Systems and processes for executing your strategy without friction

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As soon as I shared this process with Mason, his eyes lit up:
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​”Damn. That’s so powerful. It could literally make the difference of millions in revenue.”
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And I agree.
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In fact:
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​I consider this the single most important day of the year…
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The day that sets the stage for everything that will happen in the year to come.
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This is how elite performers in all domains run their lives:
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With complete clarity.
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Total organization.
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Precise strategy.
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And systematic, relentless execution.
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I’ll be performing this process for myself, as I do every year — and I know our most successful members will be doing the same.
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So I thought:
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​Why don’t we do it together?
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Here’s the idea:
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Next weekend (December 21st), I’m thinking of running a one-day workshop, tentatively called:
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​The Most Productive Day Of The Year
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It won’t be no cost, but it will be low cost…
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…Just enough to make sure everyone involved is serious and committed.
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We would also make the recordings available for those who can’t make it that day, but want to follow along with the process in their own time.
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I haven’t decided if I’m going to do it yet, so let me know:
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​Are you interested in this type of one-day workshop?
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If there’s enough interest, we’ll open it up next week.
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And, whether or not we do:
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I strongly (strongly) recommend performing a clarity – strategy – execution day for yourself, no matter what.
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Like I said:
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​This is the day that sets the stage for the entire year to come.
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What you sow on this day, you reap throughout the rest of 2025.
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Hit reply and let me know if you’re interested in joining us.
​
T
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P.S. Meanwhile, on X…​
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So you’ve written some words, and somehow people started following you like you’re holding the last coffee bean on Earth.

Congratulations!

You’ve accidentally started a cult.

Here’s how to lean into that power without becoming an actual megalomaniac:

CREATE AN ALTERNATIVE REALITY (AKA YOUR BRAND VOICE)

Every good cult needs its own reality tunnel. Lucky for you, you’re already living in one. It’s called your writer’s brain. That weird-ass perspective where you see story possibilities in everything from your neighbour’s suspicious garden gnomes to that one squirrel that keeps flipping you off? That’s your reality. Share it. Make it infectious. Let people see the world through your caffeine-addled eyes. But instead of making them drink suspicious Kool-Aid, you’re just making them drink whatever’s in your questionable coffee mug.

ESTABLISH SACRED TEXTS (YOUR CONTENT STRATEGY)

Regular cult leaders have their manifestos. You? You’ve got your blog posts, your newsletters, your tweetstorms about the proper way to fight a goose (you can’t). The key is consistency in your madness. Create content that’s recognisably YOU. Make inside jokes. Build running gags. Create a vocabulary that only your followers understand. Soon they’ll be speaking in your metaphors, and that’s when you know you’ve won.

DEVELOP RITUALS (ENGAGEMENT PATTERNS)

Every cult needs its rituals. Instead of midnight chanting, you’re creating hashtag games. Instead of secret handshakes, you’re building comment threads that turn into beautiful disasters. Make your followers feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. Because they are. They’re part of your shared delusion, and it’s GLORIOUS.

CREATE HIERARCHY (COMMUNITY BUILDING)

Real cults have levels of devotion. Your cult? It has readers who become commenters who become guest posters who become moderators who become… actually, let’s not go full Scientology here. The point is…give people ways to level up their involvement. Create spaces where they can connect with each other. Let them build their own little subsects of your madness.

PROMISE SALVATION (DELIVER VALUE)

Here’s where we diverge from actual cults. Instead of promising enlightenment through isolation and bank account drainage, you’re actually giving people something real. Writing advice that doesn’t suck. Stories that make them feel seen. A community of equally weird humans who get their obscure references. You’re not selling snake oil. You’re sharing your genuine, unfiltered, possibly concerning perspective on the craft.

Remember this. Real cults isolate people. You’re building connections. Real cults demand blind faith. You’re encouraging critical thinking (just with more profanity and coffee). Real cults take. You give your knowledge, your experience, your questionable wisdom about fighting waterfowl.

Side mission: The Stand by Stephen King

(A lot of his books have subtexts and subtle hints at cult psychology and it’s incredibly fascinating to go down that rabbit hole)

Stephen Walker

P.S. Yes, this entire manifesto was written without pants. As all sacred texts should be.

P.P.S. If anyone actually starts a real cult based on this, I’m blaming the squirrels.

P.P.P.S. The squirrels are always watching. Always. I saw one taking notes yesterday. IT HAD A TINY NOTEBOOK.

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

“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all… The risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” – Randy Komisar
​

A lesson that took me way too long to learn:
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​The finish line you think you’re chasing does not exist.
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The entrepreneur who thinks he’s perfected his business model soon sees the market shift, and his revenue drop.
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The athlete who rests at the top of the mountain is soon knocked off by younger, hungrier competition.
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The husband who stops courting his wife soon finds himself in a monogamous relationship with his own right hand.
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​As soon as you stop moving forwards, you start falling behind…
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…Because the target you’re trying to hit never stops moving.
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So, instead of asking:
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“What can I do now so I can stop doing it later?”
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Ask:
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​”What do I never want to stop doing?”​
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Curious to hear your answers.
​

• T
  ​
  P.S. In case you missed it…​

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“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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Aggressively slurps coffee while typing this from said murder shed

It’s not a shed. It’s just a kitchen counter top but murder shed sounded cooler tbh.

Okay so I woke up a little spicier than usual. Mainly because I’ve seen a lot of my creative friends panicking at the current state this world is in while we inevitably spin towards the sun and cease to exist.

You know what? The world’s a dumpster fire powered by rich assholes who think they’re playing SimCity with actual human lives.

We’ve got wars sprouting up like mushrooms after rain, billionaires playing space cowboys while telling us to eat cricket protein, and tech bros trying to convince us that their algorithmic word-vomit is somehow “creative disruption.”

But you know what? FUCK THAT NOISE.

I’m sitting here, pantsless (as is my natural state), writing stories about space wizards and murder hornets because that’s what humans DO.

We make shit. We’ve been making shit since we first smeared berry juice on cave walls to draw dicks. It’s in our DNA, nestled right between our need for tacos and our ability to anthropomorphise literally anything with eyes.

(And when Tumblr was the thing. Oh lord did I read some VERY out there stories that were anthropomorphised.)

Anyways…

These Silicon Valley vampires can shove their “AI-generated content” up their venture-capitalised assets. They’re trying to McDonald’s-ify creativity, turn art into some assembly-line bullshit that hits all the right metrics but has all the soul of a corporate team-building exercise.

You want to know what matters? The weird-ass story burning a hole in your brain. That poem that makes no fucking sense but feels like a punch to the solar plexus. That painting that looks like your cat threw up a rainbow but MEANS SOMETHING.

Make your art. Make it badly. Make it weird. Make it yours. Because while they’re all trying to optimise and monetise and sanitise everything, we’ll be here in the trenches, covered in ink and paint and coffee stains, creating REAL shit.

Because that’s what we do. We’re storytellers, not content generators. We’re artists, not prompt engineers.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go yell at some cats down my back alley and write about apocalyptic bee colonies like the old man that I am.

Stephen Walker

Ernest Hemingway on Writing

P.S. Did I mention I’m not wearing pants? Because that’s important to the creative process.

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

“The path of true learning is strewn with rocks, not roses. Anyone who insists on taking the easier way ends up in a fools paradise.” – Jed McKenna ​ Welcome back. ​ I just arrived home from running a intensive weekend retreat for a small group of practitioners in — of all places — Vegas. ​ ​It went the way these retreats always go: ​A rocky, bumpy ride; not-smooth sailing over deep waters and unpredictable waves… ​ …Until finally, somewhere around day three, sunlight broke through the clouds, the sea became calm, and our journey resolved into clear, open space. ​ That’s the way it goes, and it’s the only way it goes: ​ To build up we must first break down. ​ To move forwards we must first overcome what is holding back. ​ ​To find the light we must first go through the darkness.​ Those who wish for a smooth, easy ride find themselves white-knuckling the steering wheel when the road inevitably gets rough…​ …Redoubling their tension and anxiety instead of their grit and resolve, in turn making the road rougher and the ride slower. ​ Meanwhile, the veterans — the warriors — enter the arena ready for battle, meeting the oncoming storm with relaxed, focused intensity. ​ ​Instead of flinching in fear, they roll smoothly with each punch before returning fire. ​Instead of running from the dragon, they aim for it’s throat, blade drawn. ​ Instead of expecting a hill, they prepare for a mountain.​ And that’s why they reach the peak. ​ T ​ P.S. This just dropped…​​​

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Okay, so here’s a little bit for my fellow inkmonkeys…

I’m about to tell you a story that’ll prove why pure, unfiltered GRIT matters more than your fancy MFA when it comes to slinging sentences.

This tale might just be the difference between you cranking out masterpieces or crying into your keyboard while refreshing your Twitter mentions.

Here’s the deal…

There once was a writer who took more hits than a punch-drunk boxer at last call…

We’re talking about Octavia Butler, who Stephen King called “a master of science fiction” and who proved every doubter wrong. She worked as a dishwasher, a telemarketer, a potato chip inspector. Basically any job that would let her write between shifts. She’d get up at 2 AM to write before work, scribbling stories while other people slept.

She heard “no” more times than a toddler at a knife store.

People told her Black women didn’t write science fiction.

THEY TOLD HER WRONG.

She went on to become the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur “Genius” Grant, won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, and set fire through the sci-fi landscape.

The takeaway?

Writing isn’t about waiting for the muse to descend from her golden tower with a pumpkin spice latte in hand.

It’s about:

1. Writing like someone set your pants on fire. Every. Damn. Day.
2. Treating your craft like it’s a bar fight. You go in swinging and don’t stop until you’re done.
3. Reading everything you can get your hands on, even if it’s the ingredients on your cereal box.
4. Finishing your shit. Half-finished manuscripts are just fancy doorstops.

And as legendary infomercial pitchman Ron Popeil would say…

“But wait, there’s more…”

I’ve got a whole arsenal of writing techniques that’ll make your prose punch readers in the face (in a good way.)

I know you want the sauce

So here it is:

• Write in blood. Metaphorically. Use metaphors and analogies. Spice up your writing. You don’t need to go overboard. Just don’t make it boring (Please don’t actually write in blood. That’s weird and unsanitary.)
• Kill your darlings with extreme prejudice. Great writing is re-writing. Bang out that first draft, let it sit for a few days or even a week and the come back to it. Be ruthless. Every word pays rent and the rent was due yesterday.
• Embrace the chaos of first drafts like it’s your long-lost drunk uncle. Sometimes being structured sucks. Just let it flow. Pour it out. It’s easier to organise when you’ve got a shit load of words down.

I mean we’re made of rejection letters and fuelled by caffeine and spite.

And if anyone tells you you can’t?

Write anyway. Write harder. Write until your keyboard begs for mercy.

Because that’s what real writers do.

Now excuse me while I mainline this coffee and wrestle with all of these google docs.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Stephen Walker

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

Once considered to be simply “bean counters”, accountants now play an important role in the defence, investigation and protection against cybercrime.

Modern cybercrime includes stealing personal information, hacking into systems, spreading viruses and tricking people into giving away money or data via their business email addresses.

In Australia, the average cost of a single cybercrime report in 2022 was A$39,000 for small businesses, $88,000 for medium businesses and $62,000 for large businesses.

In New Zealand, direct financial losses from cybercrime reached NZ$6.6 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Although there is general guidance on cybersecurity, there is limited information about the specific role accountants can play in its detection and prevention.

Traditionally focused on financial elements of a business, accountants are often now the frontline of responding to cybercrime.

Our research examined the role of accountants in cybersecurity and how professionals in these roles can protect businesses from online threats.

From safekeepers to data gardeners

As the keepers to sensitive data, including tax records, payroll information and business transactions, accountants can play an essential role in reducing the impacts of cybercrime.

We conducted 21 interviews with management accountants, cybersecurity experts, legal professionals and senior executives in Australia and New Zealand.

Our findings highlight the following roles accountants can take.

Safekeepers

We found accountants are on the frontline of protecting their organisations from various forms of cybercrime, such as business email compromises.

Many interviewed accountants described how they carefully reviewed email content and attachments, verified the legitimacy of senders, and checked domain names to prevent fraud. They also reported confirming details with email contacts before taking action.

Beyond emails, accountants controlled access to sensitive systems and data. For example, interviewees said their jobs involved ensuring only authorised employees had access to financial records or payroll systems.

By integrating cybersecurity practices into their daily work, accountants helped reduce the risk of cybercrime.

Architects

Accountants didn’t just protect data – they helped strengthen cybersecurity through strategic decisions.

According to our interviewees, accountants often worked with their organisation’s IT team to decide on cybersecurity investments. Using their financial expertise, accountants conducted cost-benefit analyses to ensure limited budgets are spent wisely.

Additionally, they played a crucial role in strengthening cybersecurity by making strategic decisions in areas such as risk identification, risk management strategies, risk coverage and premiums for cyber insurance.

Cyber insurance helps cover costs such as fixing systems, notifying customers about the breach and even dealing with legal claims.

As one research participant explained, accountants can assist the business leadership in answering crucial questions posed by insurers. These can include queries such as:

What risk you are trying to mitigate? And what sort of risk management you have for cyber security. What kind of risk management in cybersecurity have you got? Have you got proper encryption and do you know whether it is hardware or software encryption?

Data gardeners.

Accountants play a key role in helping organisations develop data policies. These policies establish rules and guidelines for managing data, such as how long to retain information, how to protect it and when to delete it.

Why is this important? Retaining unnecessary data increases the risk of a data breach.

Accountants leverage their financial expertise to demonstrate how reducing stored data can minimise risks while still retaining valuable information. For example, they might recommend deleting outdated payroll records or customer data that no longer serve a business purpose.

Importantly, data policies also help organisations comply with privacy and data security regulations, which are becoming increasingly strict across Australia and New Zealand.

Staying vigilent

As cybercrime evolves, accountants must stay up to date. Interviewees recommended several ways to do this, including participating in training courses, forums and seminars.

Courses on cybersecurity, programming and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) were highlighted as particularly valuable. These courses help accountants better understand how to manage systems, protect data and respond to new forms of cybercrime.

In-house training tailored to accounting and finance teams is also crucial. Simulated cyberattacks – like phishing emails or fake invoice fraud – help accountants recognise and respond to threats in real-world scenarios.

To remain effective in this changing landscape, accountants need to keep learning. By building their technical knowledge and participating in tailored training, they can continue to protect their organisations from the ever-evolving world of cyber threats.

“I never wrote a story in my life. What I did was, I would get an idea, and then I would put it on a piece of paper—a paragraph—so I wouldn’t lose it. And another idea would come, and I would write it down.” – Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury up there with Isaac Asimov are two of my favourite science fiction writers of all time.

They crafted worlds and stories way ahead of their time and the majority of sci-fi films play homage to their concepts.

Ray was one of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers. He wrote fantasy, science fiction, horror while dipping his toes into mystery and realistic fiction.

I’ve found myself on my 3rd reading of Dandelion Wine.

It’s a poetic, semi-autobiographical novel set in the summer of 1928, following 12-year-old Douglas Spaulding in the fictional Green Town, Illinois (based on Bradbury’s hometown of Waukegan)

If you’re looking for some profound realisations about your own mortality and time. I’d 100% recommend it.

I’m a sucker for metaphors and his story is based on the preservation of memories and experiences of summer, bottling them up like the sweet golden wine Douglas’s grandfather makes from dandelion petals.

The reason I dig on this one hard are some of the lessons I’ve pulled from it and I try incorporate it into my own work:

Sensory Details and Atmosphere

Each chapter is overloaded with descriptive and specific details about smells, sounds and textures. It’s that which immerses you in the story.

The open scene describes the morning air as “a great freshness…like a clean bed”

Writing from Memory

The thing with trying to pull from memory is that we can’t get every single detail down, but it’s a springboard for ideas which we can build on and the beauty of writing from memory. You only need to write a few words and sentences and then all of the other details magically appear.
They add an archetypal significance and it shows you can embellish the writing while mixing fiction and autobiography.

Emotional Truth

I’ve also found in his novel it prioritises emotional resonance over strict plot, while the characters and situations capture fundamental human experiences.

It’s a very easy read because each chapter tickles your emotions a little and it just sends you on a journey.

I’m hoping on this 3rd reading I’ll pick up some more insights that I can pull from. Check it out when you get the chance.

Dadelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

Stephen Walker

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

Haliey Welch aka Hawk Tuah aka spit on that thang girl is in some hot water.

Now I don’t care much for crypto shenanigans and I can almost tell from this going out, that your eyes are rolling around the back of your skull – clanking about.

But there be lessons in here and I’ll break it down…

So quick little context add if you don’t know what’s up.

Haliey went viral when a clip of hers found its way on youtube some months ago.

She was asked “What is one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?”

…and so her reply was “You gotta give em that hawk tuah and spit on that thang…”

(I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that onomatopoeia is one of my favourite literary devices)

Now that is the most wholesome description of a sex act I’ve ever heard and what can I say?

She’s go the cute little accent to go with it too. Here’s a shortened version of the clip if you’re interested Hawk Tuah Clip

Now she’s had way more than her 15 minutes of fame. It’s been roughly 7ish months. Her life has changed with the mass amounts of followers gained, interviews had and on top of that she’s even got her own podcast.

It takes a turn for the worst though and when you have that type of influence thrown at you in such a quick time.

That’s when the dark side of influencer economics gets put on full display.

The main point of this is the parasocial bonds we can form with our favourite artists/actors and persons of high influence.

We get that blind trust and throw ourselves deep into their world without fully understanding what can happen.

Now I’m not saying that everything is bad but there’s always potential for it. This is where your own morals and ethics come into play.

Plus you see this with any big fanbase. Swifties Vs Stans Vs Potterheads etc.

Although the Cult of Hawk Tuah went wild when her meme-coin went live.

The market cap hit $490 million, but within a few hours 90% of its value was lost.

Now I’m not great at math but I can tell you that is a shit-show-omega-gigantic loss…

People are pissed and some have had their lives ruined. Taking out second mortgages to finance this crypto coin.

That whole crypto space is filled with shit like this, but usually it’s orchestrated over a long period of time.

This has gone from “She’s cute and wholesome” to “She belongs in prison” real fast.

Now is it her fault or her team’s fault. Was she puppeteered into doing this due to this rise in fame so fast? I really dunno.

The final point to this little bit of drama is the type of bond you want with YOUR fans as a creative.

As a writer I want people to tune in and consume my emails every day.
I want them to become raving fans or get pissed off with me that they bail.
I don’t want lukewarm fans. I want the die hard ones who stick around.
I want them to be able to share their wins and losses with me so we can figure it out together.
I want them buy my books/stories/warez when I share it with them.
I want brutal feedback because that’s how we all learn and grow.
I want them to look for my emails when the hit the spam box.

I’m sure you’re getting what I mean.

Die hard fans versus lukewarm fence sitter fans.

And the only way you can do that is to treat then the way you want to be treated. You want to take out a little bit of time to reply to them when they do send you a message. You need show that you’re human just like them. You don’t want to abuse their trust like in Hailey Welch’s case.

The world in its current state is a cold place. Everyone’s fighting a battle we can’t see and community is more important than ever.

And if you want a little more context to the whole Hailey Welch drama. Coffeezilla dropped a little expose. He’s the internet detective for all types of online scams that these influencers throw out.

Stephen Walker

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

Sadly no drugs and no rock ‘n roll.

Although as a ghostwriter I have “participated” in some of the weirdest markets out there.

From adult toys, to niche gifts/vinyls that would get you cancelled, to what salad do you eat so that you have maximum energy.

(I’m not a fan of salad tbh)

Ghostwriters are the brains behind a “guru” figure, brand or small business and everything in between. We get paid a handsome fee…

But the biggest down side is you don’t get your flowers. You’re forever in the shadows collecting the cash. Nobody will know that you’ve had your hand in a massive project.

And so it is.

I don’t regret it one minute and if I’m in a pinch I get that type of work easily.

The celebrity life ain’t for me though, but I do want to own my words while either terrifying you with them or inspiring you with them.

So with 2025 around the corner I’ve decided to become my own Publishing House.

Traditional publishing sucks ass. Unless you’ve got a mega established audience like Stephen King. If you wrote a banger of a novel, it would get edited down to what they want.

They will sanitise it. They will rip from it your very soul you’ve bound to it.

I’m not about that life and I’m sure you’re not either…

(So this whole publishing house thing, I’ll figure it out) and I’m going to be writing what I love, which is Sci-Fi / Horror and overall pulp styled dime novel content.

Frank Gruber who wrote The Pulp Jungle was one of my inspirations.

I know this year is nearly done and I’ll finish off this email with this;

Mega thank you for those of you who have stuck around when “The Silly Goose Society” was a thing. It was short lived unfortunately (Cause guess that British law doesn’t realise that Parody and Satire law is a thing…) Anywho…

And I’m glad you stick around and read about my day to day shenanigans.

If I’ve made you laugh, cry or irrationally angry. Hit reply and tell me.

Let’s make the last month of 2024 awesome.

The Pulp Jungle – Frank Gruber (Archive dot org)

Stephen Walker

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

Today’s email is a remix of one of our all-time greatest hits, originally sent on June 24. Enjoy.
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Make your move or pass the ball.
​
Speak up or sit down.
​
​Sht, or get off the damn pot. ​​ Those moments of lukewarm effort, of kinda doing the thing but really not… ​ The work hours spent flicking around social media instead of in deep, unbroken concentration on your most critical task… ​ The workouts half-assed, the sets stopped short of failure, the exercises skipped, the days missed… ​ The meditations spent lost in thought, sitting without practicing, never generating the diligent focus required for self-mastery… ​ The activities completed as checks on a to-do list, done just to say you did them, showing up without being fully present… ​ The time spent doing work you hate without also working towards doing work you love… ​ The years that pass by with no tangible results, no material progress, no dynamic movement towards your greater vision… ​ The hesitation, the indecision, the fapping and farting and taking it way too damn easy for no good reason other than fear, laziness, and that foggy, cloudy, not-sure-what-it-is that seems like it’s blocking you but evaporates the moment you take action… ​ ​…Those moments are the very building blocks your life is made of.​ ​ And when time all-too-quickly runs out, your life as you know it will be the end result of those moments: ​ The moments you either sat there doom-scrolling with your pants down around your ankles… ​ …Or put your phone down, put your boots on the ground, sht, and get off the damn pot.
​
Happy Thursday.
​

• T
  ​
  ​P.S. If you’re still hungry:
  ​
  ​These 8 rules for life pair nicely with today’s email.​

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” – Chuck Close
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​Unsubscribe | Update your profile | 5-420 Erb St. W, Suite 433, Waterloo, ON N2L6K6

Yep, you guessed it.

I got asked a gem of question by some weirdo on Twitter.

“If you get caught out in a snow storm and you were wet through and had no option of drying off but you had to keep going. Do you reckon you’d get frostbite on your balls?”

I am definitely not qualified to answer that question and please tell me if you are cause I wanna know.

(Definitely not gonna google and research that till 4am…)

The point here is that people are curious by nature.

And I can tell you this. I have asked some really really weird and stupid questions, but it’s also for me it’s just entertaining to see people’s responses.

I’m sure you’ve played that “Would you rather?”

“Would you rather wipe your ass with coarse grit sandpaper or lick a cheese grater?”

I’d rather lick a cheese grater to be honest.

I mean that’s a tame question, but if you want to spice it up a little.

Just jump on to reddit…

So yeah. We’re curious by nature and as much as we might have a visceral reaction to something, we do enjoy a bit of a shock factor as well.

That’s why after getting caught out in the cold today, piss wet through while grabbing a coffee…

I’m going to be planting my rear in a hot bath and read some Zombie Cop from my boy Ben Settle.

Everything Ben writes is dripping in curiosity and his shock factor is just chefs kiss

Stephen Walker

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

I’ve just finished watching Saving Private Ryan again. Honestly still one of the greatest war films of all time…

I’m still on the medical war-hound metaphor / analogy kick.

So if you block or unsubscribe it’s cool. Casualty of war or whatever eh?

Anyways, let’s get cracking…

The one thing people forget about is how they’re going to suck someone in to their world.

Why?

There’s a constant fight for eyeballs on your work and what you do

That’s why…

So it brings me to THE HOOK (AKA THE OPENING)

Your opening isn’t a gentle handshake, none of that floppy I can’t be arsed grips everyone gives.

You need it to feel like someone is jumping up and down on your chest like a full compression to get that heart beating again.

So you’d hit them with something like this;

“Your business isn’t struggling. It’s having a fucking cardiac arrest. And while everyone else is suggesting chamomile tea, I’m bringing the paddles.”

Why does it work?

Because nobody browses WebMD when they’re bleeding out. They want the doctor who’s seen some shit.

Plus browsing WebMD will ALWAYS give you the wrong info.

When you’ve go their attention you slip THE EVIDENCE right in there.

Although you don’t just show your scars, you need to show how you got them through all of the pain etc and how you made it out alive.

“I’ve watched 537 businesses flatline from this exact wound. Want to know why I can spot it? Because I was patient zero. Here’s what cardiac arrest looks like in slow motion…”

The Pattern:

Show the battlefield ( The market )

Count the bodies ( The problem )

Reveal your dog tags (Your credentials and solution )

THE SOLUTION (AKA THE COMBAT MANEUVER)

No time for PowerPoints in a firefight. This is war.

“Stop the revenue bleeding NOW: [Immediate Action Step]”

“Stabilise your customer base HERE: [Tactical Move]”

“Prevent future hemorrhaging INSTANTLY: [Strategic Plan]”

CLARITY VS. CREATIVITY:

Bad: “If gardens were a business, sometimes our dreams need careful pruning…”

Better: “Your profit margins are bleeding out. Apply pressure here. NOW.”

Best: “Here’s the tourniquet. Here’s where it goes. Pull hard. I’ll explain why while you do it.”

WHY THIS WORKS:

Your readers don’t need:

Your clever metaphors (Although I do use them to teach)

Your writing awards

Your extensive research

They need:

The solution, delivered clearly. Right fucking now.

When someone’s bleeding out, they don’t care about your style. They care about not dying.

The emergency protocol (Aka template) will look like this:

Identify the wound.

Show the scar.

Hand them the sutures.

Guide their hands.

Stop the bleeding.

THEN tell the story.

Here’s a final example for this point as someone who is currently writing a set of horror stories which will be turned into a novel or 10.

This is the type of story or insight I might share into my world if I was getting people in.

Three manuscripts. Eighteen rejection letters. The latest one sitting in my inbox like a death sentence.

“While your concept is interesting, we don’t feel it’s quite right for our list.” The translation? Not scary enough to make anyone lose sleep.

I remember the exact moment I realised I was writing ghost stories when I should’ve been performing an exorcism. It was 2 AM, reading Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary,” when my cat jumped onto my lap. I screamed so hard I spilled coffee all over my own lifeless manuscript. That’s when it hit me. My stories weren’t making anyone spill their coffee. I started dissecting my nightmares instead of my imagination. That recurring dream where my teeth don’t just fall out, they crawl back in while I’m sleeping? That went into Chapter One. The time I saw my reflection blink out of sync? That became Chapter Two. My protagonist stopped being a vessel for clever plot twists and became the thing readers fear becoming. She didn’t accidentally discover the monster. She realised she’s been one all along, wearing human skin like a borrowed coat.

Every scene that didn’t raise my heart rate got cut. Every “spooky” description became visceral. The haunted house wasn’t just old. The walls warped and it breathed when nobody was watching. The shadows didn’t just move. They whispered your name. Now? That manuscript that used to collect rejection letters makes beta readers check their locks twice. One reader wrote: “I had to put it down at 2 AM because I couldn’t convince myself my bathroom mirror was safe.”

The secret wasn’t writing horror because I loved it. It was writing horror because it terrified me first.

And yes, I still check my reflection every morning, just to make sure it blinks when I do.

Want to know what happened when I finally stopped trying to write the next best horror novel and started documenting what keeps me awake at 3 AM?

That’s a story for another sleepless night and this is why you should follow me and grab my books.

(Notice how we turned personal failure into psychological warfare?)

So if you’re a writer who is sharing your journey with the world.

YOUR story is just as important as the story you’re writing. You need to connect with people so they can connect with your work.

If you get that part of the psychology down. You’ll have fans for life.

I’m off to go pull some more ideas from Cashvertising…

Stephen Walker

I’m off to go pull some more ideas from Cashvertising…

Stephen Walker

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

I’ll be using Drew’s menacing ways…to illustrate a few more ways to think differently when it comes to writing for yourself to get your words seen and consumed by your fans.

Most writers/artists are stuck in the literary friendzone because they’re treating their words like precious little snowflakes instead of the weapons they should be.

The thing is, we don’t want to be stuck in survival mode. Your readers aren’t “looking for content” they’re bleeding out, searching for a tourniquet. Give them that, or watch them flatline.

This isn’t your typical “write good content” bullshit sermon.

Your readers are bleeding out and it feels like a battle zone for attention. They’re not casually browsing. They’re desperately searching for solutions while their problems are turning their lives into a slaughterhouse.

Here’s a down and dirty autopsy of reader psychology:

LEVEL 1: THE HEMORRHAGE

They’re not just “having a problem.”

They’re:

Watching their business flatline

Seeing their relationships rot from the inside out

Watching their dreams die in real-time

Drowning in a sea of mediocrity while their competition thrives…

LEVEL 2: THE DESPERATION

Every click, every scroll, every search is leaving a trail of blood. It’s chum in the waters.

They’ve:

Burned money on snake oil solutions

Wasted years on “expert” advice that failed

Lost faith in their own judgment

Started believing they’re the problem

LEVEL 3: THE TOURNIQUET OF TRUTH

This is where you slip into their world, you’re a combat medic but with words, ideas and that perfect outcome.

Your content needs to:

Stop the Bleeding IMMEDIATELY

Give them a quick win in the first paragraph

Show them you’ve seen this wound before

Provide instant, applicable triage

Stabilise Their Condition

Validate their pain without wallowing in it

Map out the path to recovery

Show proof of others who’ve survived

Begin Emergency Treatment

Deliver step-by-step survival protocols

Provide field-tested solutions

Give them tools they can use while still bleeding…

Although this is getting a little long of a post, you’re still gonna need to go grab Ca$hvertising if you want to ground yourself in this concepts I’ll be drilling down on…

Until tomorrow, you won’t want to miss the next instalment.

Stephen Walker

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

“What is to give light must endure burning.” – Victor Frankl
​

In the game of human development, one of the clearest signs of progress is crisis.
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If it feels like your world is melting, everything you used to care about feels hollow, everything you used to believe now seems like kindergarten nonsense, and life itself feels empty and meaningless — lucky you:
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You’re on the right path.
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(how’s that for a Monday morning pick-me-up?)
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If that doesn’t make sense to you, ask yourself:
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​How could it be any other way?
​​
We’re born into the world with no idea who, what, or where we are…
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With nobody to teach us but a handful of others who just barely got here before we did.
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So we grow up believing what everyone else believes, chasing goals everyone else chases, thinking what everyone else thinks, and following the trail most-travelled, because, honestly — what else would we do?
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Nobody even tells us we have an option, because nobody knows options exist.
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And so our lives lock onto the well-grooved tracks of social conditioning, destined to coast smoothly from cradle to grave without so much as a bathroom break…
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…Until one day, a faint voice inside of us starts asking the question nobody thought to ask:
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​”What in the fxck is going on here?”
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That’s when crisis hits:
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When we finally begin asking deeper questions, demanding answers, and striking out into the great unknown to find them.
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As we hack and cut and bushwhack our own path, we drop old, shallow goals like empty baggage, in search of something higher.
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But those goals gave our lives a sense of meaning, and without them, our life — and life itself — feels meaningless.
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​Empty.
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But we continue to empty ourselves out, letting go of the beliefs and attachments that used to shape our world…
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…Until our world is empty of everything that was dumped on us before we were old enough to stop it.
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Our lives become a clean slate, a fresh canvas — an open space where we can finally create whatever is meaningful to us.
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​That’s when our real life begins.
​​
To those in crisis, I salute you.
​
What you’re looking for — true, genuine, authentic meaning — exists.
​
It exists.
​
It is real, and the process you’re going through right now is the only way to find it.
​
You must empty out before you can feel truly full.
​
Godspeed.
​

• T
  ​
  ​P.S. I just did something I thought I would never do:
  ​
  ​I started writing on X.
  ​​
  This should be interesting…
  ​

​

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

People can smell insincerity just like that.

You NEED to build trust without coming across like a sleazy car salesman who bathes in cheap cologne.

It reminds me of that scene from Matilda when Danny DeVito rolls back the odometer.

We don’t need to do any of that shady shit to get our warez out there and make people fall in love with our stuff.

So what we need to do is:

Front-Load the Good Stuff

Don’t make your readers dig through seventeen paragraphs of your life story to find the nugget of wisdom they came for. That’s like hiding bacon in a salad. Just give them the bacon first. (Immediate Gratification Bias…we’re all impatient bastards.)

Off the back of that we can Show Our Battle Scars

“I made six figures by following these simple steps!” Bullshit.

Tell them about the time you ate ramen for three months straight and cried into your keyboard at 3 AM. Did I do that last night? I don’t know. You tell me…

(Social Proof + Vulnerability Effect = Trust Goldmine)

Sometimes you need to just give them a truth sandwich, so layer it like this:

Painful truth they know + Solution they need + Another painful truth they suspect…

(Confirmation Bias + Loss Aversion = Reader nodding so hard their neck hurts)

It’ll be better if I give you an example:

Bad: “Learn to write better!”

Better: “Your first draft probably sucks donkey balls. Mine did too. Here’s how to fix it, but warning…it’s gonna hurt like hell, and you’ll hate me for a while.”

Remember the Reciprocity Principle? Give value first, ask for nothing, then watch as readers stick to you like lint on a black sweater.

Want to know more about specific psychological triggers that make readers trust you faster than their own mother?

(See what I did there? That’s the Curiosity Gap principle)

One of my favourite books on the psychology of selling which can be applied to our art is Ca$hvertising by Drew Eric Whitman

If you’re not re-reading that book at least once every 3 months. You should start right now.

Stephen Walker

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

I’m not saying we should commit grand theft auto

Although it would be cool if we didn’t have worldly responsibilities to stick to.

Listen, I’m talking about your writing, not your neighbour’s Prius (though Mrs. Henderson really should stop parking in your spot.)

This is one of the truths a writing mentor of mine tried to spearhead into my frontal lobe.

I’ll paraphrase it cause I always like to spice things up. After all, that’s what writers do.

Most writers treat their work like a delicate orchid when it should be treated like a rabid wolverine. You need to let that beast loose and watch it tear through your self-imposed limitations.

There’s this odd tier list that I’ll use as an example to illustrate it…

Tier 1: “I write stories about people dealing with life.”

(Yawn. That’s like saying you breathe oxygen for fun.)

Tier 2: “I write about people who set their lives on fire just to feel the warmth.”

(Now we’re cooking with gas.)

Tier 3: “I write about people who torch their entire existence, dance in the ashes, and build monuments to their own destruction using the bones of their former selves.”

(Holy shit, pass the fire extinguisher.)

See the difference? Each level pushes further, digs deeper, bleeds more truth onto the page. Writing safe is like using a flamethrower to light a birthday candle. You’re missing the whole damn point.

Will you offend people? Fuck yes.

Will some readers clutch their pearls and write strongly worded emails? Count on it.

That’s the secret though: Those same pearl-clutchers will keep reading because you’re giving them something real, something raw, something that makes their safe little world tilt on its axis.

I’ve always said that a story that offends no one probably moves no one either.

I’m heavily inspired by the pulp novels from the 20s 30s etc.

The Pulp Jungle by Frank Gruber will get you thinking right. I’ve seen it on Amazon for for a few hundred bucks. eBay though, maybe 30 or 40.

Stephen Walker

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

I’m not gonna make you jump some hoops like you’re donning a robe.

I mean robes cool and all that but personally I prefer comfort.

Sweat pants and a shirt are my go to get up.

Anywho.

As creatives we are all doing the same thing in one way or the other.

Whether we’re writing books and stories, making music or sharing our drawings and paintings with the world.

There’s nothing unique about it and if you look at it from that point of view. It might even be considered sad.

But the world needs us. Humans need that creativity to connect and feel for lack of a better phrasing;

…Human.

So when everyone is doing the THING it ends up being the whole Signal V Noise and a lot of the time it’s all noise.

Signal is your unique sauce. It’s what you add to that meal you’re making that gives it the kick.

And in the creative world, what I liken to personality.

You need to be cultivating your personality and it’s easier than you think.

You need to share your unique ideas, your hobbies etc.

So you need to sit down and defining your unique voice that ties you to your work and makes you stand out…

And I’ll use my writing and my world as an example:

I’m always sharing my writing process and creative journey.
I try to develop a consistent tone of writing between serious and simple with humour thrown in the mix.

I share incredibly specific topics/themes I’m passionate about beyond just writing.

I mean I can talk about writing all day, but I always throw in glimpses of psychology and human behaviour that is sprinkled in with my marketing and sales background.

I’m the typical book nerd.

So I’ll write about my favourite authors and books and take what I’ve learnt and share it in my unique way.

I spend a lot of time outdoors, hiking and just being out in the wild.

I also like to troll people who have politics as their whole personality on Twitter.

It’s a mixture of education and entertainment and that’s just the way it should be.

Another little thing I’m starting to do more of is base my work and writing around creating;

what I call Content Pillars which are basically things that anchor me to my work…

Which are basically behind-the-scenes glimpses of my writing life.

Which include writing tips and craft discussions, personal experiences that shaped my stories and ideas, commentary on books/media in my genre and field of expertise and even snippets of my work-in-progress.

So take what you want from this and adapt it to whatever it is that you’re doing.

Future-creative-you will thank you for it and before you know it. You’ll have more people knocking at your metaphorical door wanting what you offer.

Stephen Walker

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

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” – Aristotle
​

It’s almost time:

​
​Precision Thinking Closes At Midnight

​
You’ve heard me say this all week, and I’ll say it again now for emphasis:

​
In 14 years of teaching, I consider Precision Thinking the single most important course I’ve ever taught.

​
Thinking is not a skill we’re born with, and it’s not a skill we learn in school.

​
​But it is a skill that can be learned, and mastered.

​

And in the modern world, there is no skill more critical — more mandatory — to master than the skill of clear, accurate, precise thinking.

​
Our career, business, and financial success depend entirely on our ability to think…

​
(business is a game that is played with the mind; our earning potential is determined by the quality of our thinking)

​
Our speaking and communication is a direct expression of our thinking…

​
(which means the strength of our personality, charisma, and influence depends on how well we think)

​
Even our attractiveness is signalled by our intelligence, and our intelligence is a direct reflection of our ability to think…

​
(which means the quality of our romantic relationships, and ultimately our life partner depends on the quality of our thinking)

​
As the Buddha famously said:

​
​With your thoughts you create your world.

​
There is nothing our thinking doesn’t touch, which means there is, arguably, nothing more important than mastering our ability to think.

​
And in Precision Thinking, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

​
​Here’s where you can join us before the doors close at midnight tonight.​

​

• T

​
​P.S. This was fun 🙂

​
Thinking is one of my favorite topics to teach, and without you — curious, open-minded, mastery-committed students like you — I have nobody to teach it to.

​
So thank you.

​
Whether or not you join the full course today, I hope this series has sparked insights that will bring benefit to your life for a long time to come.
​
More fun below, just ’cause…

“Being a not-smart thinker is much better than being a smart non-thinker.” – Jed McKenna

“Your entire life runs on the software in your head – why wouldn’t you obsess over optimizing it? … And yet, not only do most of us not obsess over our own software, most of us don’t even understand our own software, how it works, or why it works that way.” – Tim Urban, Wait but Why

“As one man said, “I got a pretty good education. It took me years to get over it..” – Anthony de Mello

“The dangers of not thinking clearly are much greater now than ever before. It’s not that there’s something new in our way of thinking — it’s that credulous and confused thinking can be much more lethal in ways it was never before.” – Carl Sagan

“Trust no one, not even yourself.” – Elon Musk

“Your first thought is what everyone else thinks. Your best thought comes after you’ve thought long enough to forget what everyone thinks.” – Shane Parrish

“There is only one cause of unhappiness, the false beliefs in your head.” – Anthony de Mello

“Be careful with what you know. That’s where your troubles begin.” – 3 Body Problem

“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” – Charlie Munger

“We suffer more in our mind than in reality.” – Seneca

“The difference between good and exceptional isn’t hours worked – it’s the depth of thought applied to the right problems.” – Shane Parrish

“The mind acts like an enemy for those who don’t control it” – Bhagavad Gita

“Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” – Carl Jung

“The most profound experiences arise from questioning the obvious.” – Peter Ralston

“To say to authority “I’m dumb please think for me” is like saying “I’m thirsty please drink for me.” – Anthony de Mello

“Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.” -Bertrand Russell

“To find yourself, think for yourself.” – Socrates

​Join Precision Thinking Before Midnight Tonight.​

​
​
​
​

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It’s not every day that I watch a series and my eyeballs are glued to the screen, not wanting to miss a beat.

But I’m the type of nerd who will sit and break down what makes an episode of a show, a movie or even a few sentences in a book stand out like a freshly amputated thumb. Bloody gore and all.

But in ol’ nerd-fashion I reveal all these little juicy psychological triggers and overall story concepts that suck us in…

All while trying to figure out how to use it to make us write better and sell more of our own warez.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Stephen King.

I mean… We share the same name. So it must count for something.

The thing is. I stumbled across a crime novel he wrote and it’s good. I mean real good.

It’s by his own admission his first hard-boiled detective novel.

Now I didn’t find it googling. I found it on amazon prime cause low and behold.

It’s a damn series.

I watched the first episode and all I can say is that it is pure mayhem.

I’ve picked up the book though so far. It doesn’t disappoint.

The style of writing is way different than King’s usual work.

And in that vein, the message or lesson would be. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

Writing doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be done.

Whether it’s an email or a tweet or you’re sending a friend a snippet of your life via text.

Mix it up. Write it a different way. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

And if you want to get whisked away by some weird and wonderful prose. Mr Mercedes will do it.

Stephen Walker

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

“Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” – Carl Jung
​

Before Precision Thinking closes tomorrow, I want to share a few of my favorite mental models:

​
Simple principles that will guide your thinking to deeper clarity, accuracy, and creative power.

​
Let’s begin.
​

​
​1. Don’t believe your mind.

​

“Trust no one, not even yourself.” – Elon Musk

​

The ultimate, never-to-be-forgotten rule of thinking:

​

Our mind lies.

​

Whenever you feel certain, sure of yourself, or locked in your point of view, ask the magic question:

​

Why is this not true?

​

Our thoughts are not facts, and certainty is the death of thinking.

​

Everything must be questioned, especially your own mind.

​

​

2. Break it into parts.

​

“The difference between good and exceptional isn’t hours worked – it’s the depth of thought applied to the right problems.” – Shane Parrish

​
There are two steps to thinking:
​

Deconstruct
Reconstruct

​
First, break the problem, question, or situation down into it’s components.

​
Next, break the solution down into clear steps.

​
Then, get to work.

​
No problem is too big to solve when broken down into enough parts.
​

​

3. Never think emotionally.

​

“Fear weaponizes your imagination against you.” – Jed McKenna

​

Emotion clouds judgement like rain clouds a windshield.

​

Always let the storm pass before you decide what to do about it.

​

​

4. Seek simplicity.

​

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Steve Jobs

​

Beware of complicated answers and extreme points of view.

​

The simplest answer is usually the right one.

​

​

5. Spot the problems.

​

“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” – Charlie Munger

​

Our mind evolved to look for threats in our environment, which means we are better at finding problems than solutions.

​

That’s not a bug in the system, it’s a feature — and you can take advantage of it by asking:

​

How could this be wrong?

​

Why might our plan fail?

​

What dangers might be waiting for us up ahead?

​

Spotting problems in advance is the only way to protect yourself from them.

​

Plus:

​

Within every problem there is a solution — once you spot the problem, flip it upside down and the solution appears.
​
Powerful.

​

​

6. BONUS: Think in writing.

​

Fundamentally, thinking is asking and answering questions.

​

Doing this in writing — on the page (or computer screen), where you can see it in front of you — is exponentially easier than doing it in your head.

​

The process is simple:

​

Write the question
Answer it

​

Repeat often.

​

​

Okay, that’s all for now.

​

Much, much more inside Precision Thinking, available until tomorrow at midnight.

​

​Here’s where you can join us before the doors close.

​

• T
  ​
  ​P.S. Okay, one more:
  ​

​

7. Keep thinking.
   ​
   ​”It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
   ​​
   Your first answer is rarely your best answer.
   ​
   To find gold, you gotta dig for it.
   ​

​
Alright, now I’m done 🙂
​
​More here. ​
​

​

​

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It’s in the way your cat’s whiskers twitch while she plots your murder when you’re fast asleep.

It’s in that mysterious stain on the ceiling that looks like Abraham Lincoln making out with a dolphin.

What am I talking about? How to come up with unlimited ideas and all of that fancy stuff…

The prose. Your words. They are everywhere…

Shrieking to be noticed, humping your leg like a desperate chihuahua.

The room you do your writing in, isn’t just a room.

It’s a crime scene of potential stories. See that spider web in the corner? That’s not just accumulated dust and dead bug parts, that’s a goddamn silk-spun memoir of eight-legged murder.

The prose is in the way your chair squeaks like it’s having an existential crisis every time you shift your ass.

It’s in the way your neighbour’s bass-heavy music vibrates through the walls like a cardiac arrest in progress.

It’s in that houseplant you’ve been slowly torturing to death because you treat it like it’s either dying of thirst in the Sahara or drowning in the Pacific.

So here’s a little prompt to get you going and get you writing: PLANT YOUR ASS AND PAY ATTENTION

Shut that door. Lock it. If you don’t have a door, imagine one, and then imagine locking that imaginary door because you’re a writer and making shit up is your job.

Now open your eyes so wide your face hurts. Look around like you’re casing the joint for a heist. (I had to throw that bit of language in there cause I’ve just finished playing a Mafia game and it’s so damn good)

What do you see? What smells are assaulting your nostrils? What sounds are crawling into your ears? Don’t just observe. WITNESS. Take that sensory information and vomit it onto the page like you’re purging after a bad taco Tuesday.

Where are you? No, where are you REALLY? Don’t give me that “I’m in my room” weak sauce. Tell me about the way the afternoon light cuts through your blinds like a serial killer’s smile. Tell me about the dust motes dancing in that light like tiny drunk angels at a rave. Tell me about the pile of laundry in the corner that’s achieved sentience and is planning a coup.

Spit it out. Make it raw. Make it real. Make it bleed.

Because if you can’t see the stories screaming from every corner of your own space, you’re not looking hard enough.

And in this business, not looking hard enough is the kiss of death.

Writers block is a myth. So get to it. Write some words.

Stephen Walker

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

I didn’t give Irvine Welsh the love he deserves yesterday, so I’ll open with little quote from his short story The Acid House

“— Skanko n Leanne’s suppose tae be gittin engaged, she said, — that’s what ah heard anywey. This statement, though it elicited no response from Coco, sparked off an interesting line of thought for Kirsty. If he could remember nothing, he might not remember the status of their relationship. He might not remember what a pain in the arse he could be when it came to talking about their future.

— Irvine Welsh. The Acid House”

And I’m glad I didn’t. Tech was being a pain in the arse and eh, well. I got there in the end.

Now I know you’re not only here for my ramblings…

I kinda do this writing thing and so now I’m gonna give you the break down as to why you NEED to study Irvine Welsh’s writing.

Hash tag writing community on twitter can kiss my ass…

So if you’d like to write and learn to write well. There’s something you need to start doing in your prose. This can apply to your advertising copy too but that’s a whole different nuance so I’m skipping that for now.

The thing is. We want writing to be addictive and hypnotic and we want to truly feel what the characters are feeling.

We’re not chasing Ernest Hemingway today. We’re bareknuckle boxing against Welsh.

Here goes:

Phonetic Dialect Writing

Welsh famously wrote in Scottish dialect, transcribing how his characters actually speak. This shows how “write like you talk” can be taken to an artistic extreme. He captured the raw authenticity of Edinburgh’s vernacular.

Now I’m not saying that has to be something you do all the time, but slipping a bit of local dialect and vernacular into your dialogue can do magic for the reader. We don’t want to overcomplicate the reading but we also want our brain meat to do some work and “get” how they sound.

Cultural Immersion

His work stems from deep cultural understanding and lived experience. Rather than trying to force a voice, he wrote from what he intimately knew. In this case, we might not all live and breathe the same life. However, like many have said… Great writers are great readers and in this case you need to consume EVERYTHING. Books, movies, shows, podcasts and even conversations in person. The more you throw yourself into the world, the better the “voice”

This doesn’t just apply to the whole cultural immersion but also a more rounded assimilation of ideas and conversation.

Commitment to Authenticity

Welsh never sanitised his writing to make it more “marketable” or accessible. He maintained his distinct style even when it challenged readers.
He is one of the few working writers to this day that don’t care about the PC-brigade. If he’s referencing the 70s, 80s and 90s. He is using the language, references and words of the time.

This whole getting offended at words and sentences still blows my mind. What happened to sticks and stones eh?

Starting with Short Forms

With The Acid House being a short story collection. It demonstrates how shorter pieces can help develop voice before tackling longer works.

Each story allowed experimentation with different tones and styles.

Let’s be honest. Who wants to commit to a 50 thousand+ word novel and then hate the way it “sounds” or reads.

It’s also why I choose to write and share my ideas via email or a concise blog post.

We want something short, snappy and quick to digest so we can crack on with our day.

And with all that being said. Grab his book/s and treat yourself to great dialogue and insane short stories.

They’re not for the feint of heart, but damn they are written well.

Stephen Walker.

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

I promise.

There’s been some fish activity with some of the links I’ve sent.

But looks like they’ve all been fixed.

My new ESP dropped me a message after I replied

I wasn’t trying to steal your information.

I was only looking to highjack your brain and indoctrinate you into some other books I’ve been reading.

The acid house is a wild ride…

So I’m just making sure it all works again.

Stephen Walker

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

“The difference between good and exceptional isn’t hours worked – it’s the depth of thought applied to the right problems.” – Shane Parrish
​

During my first meditation retreat, Zen master Shinzen Young told a story I’ll never forget.

​
In it, he described two lumberjacks.

​
The first is a young man who is in such a rush to cut down trees that he never takes time to sharpen his axe.

​
Soon, his blade is dull and blunt…

​
…Doubling, and then tripling the time and energy it takes to cut down a single tree.

​
Before long he is frustrated, exhausted, and weary, and wonders why swinging his axe at a tree feels like swinging a bat at a wall.

​
​The second is an older, more seasoned logger — a master of the craft.

​
Each morning, when the young man races off into the forest…

​
…The older man stays behind, taking his time to sharpen his blade to a razor’s edge.

​
And so, when he finally swings his axe, his blade pierces the wood in a smooth, unbroken stroke:

​
Clean, efficient, effortless.

​
Shinzen went on to say:

​
​Our axe — the axe of the modern world — is the blade of our mind…

​
A blade that everybody uses, but almost nobody takes time to sharpen.

​
And so almost everybody lives in a state of chronic, frustrated overwhelm:

​
Confused, unclear, uncertain…

​
Hacking at the questions and problems of their lives with a blunt hammer instead of a precision blade.

​
Of course, it doesn’t need to be this way.

​
But school never taught us how to think (only what to think)…

​
…And society doesn’t even want us to think (only to follow along).

​
So if we want to train our mind to a razors-edge, so that we can:
​

Guide the critical decisions of our lives with fearless accuracy
Pierce through problems and transform uncertainty into radical clarity
Access the deeper levels of our intelligence
Transform the tangled patterns of our mind into streamlined thinking systems
Open expansive new possibilities in our work, our businesses, our relationships, and the direction of our lives

​

…We need to take it into our own hands.

​
And next week, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
​
Here’s how:

​
This Tuesday (November 26th), we’re releasing a course I taught during our summer retreat called:

​
​Precision Thinking

​
In it, we will:

​

1. Finally learn how to think, and master the fundamental mechanics of original, organic creative thought.

​
(a lesson we should have been taught on our first day in school, but never were)

​

2. Install a powerful system of mental models; reliable frameworks that filter and refine our thinking with razor-sharp accuracy.

​

3. Dismantle the mental traps (ie. cognitive biases) that create blind spots and wreck havoc on our thinking process.

​

4. Unlock higher intelligence; intelligence that operates beyond thought, and acts as a gateway into your own unique genius.

​
​After more than 14 years of teaching, I consider Precision Thinking the single most important course I have ever taught.

​
And this Tuesday, its yours.

​
Stay tuned…

​

• T

​
​P.S. Of course:

​
Even if you’re not able to join Precision Thinking next week, we’ll have plenty of no-cost email and video lessons for you.

​
(including a can’t-miss clip that will drop Monday morning)
​
In the meantime, here’s where you can catch up on the earlier parts of this series:

​
​How To Think (Part 1)​

​
​How To Think (Part 2)
​
​How To Think (Part 3)​
​​
Enjoy 🙂

​

​

​

​

​

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Here I am, slipping and sliding on the ice outside.

The mercury has dropped below 0 during the time of me writing this.

My hands in my hoodie pockets balled into fists so tight you could see the whites of my knuckles.

If I was squeezing any tighter I’m sure the flesh would’ve torn as I hobbled along outside.

I’ve been listening to some weird podcasts about parasites and fungus that take over their hosts.

I remember seeing a video online not so long ago of some zombie fungus that highjacks a snail and turns them into a psychedelic zombie looking vessel.

So here I am. Outside and freezing my ass off and thinking that my next short story needs to be something zombie related.

I guess I’m gonna go re-watch and re-read some classic zombie trope series/books I’ll share them in here too.

Yes I’m a zombie nerd.

You can talk to me about zombies and apocalypses all day and it’ll hold my attention.

Honestly though I’m just taking advice from one of my all time favourite ad men Victor O. Schwab. which I’m applying to the stories I write.

This is what he said:

“1. Read…the comics, newspaper, and magazine features, stories and books which have the largest popular following. Also read the truly great books which bring ordinary people to life before your eyes and make you understand them.

2. See…the smash-hit movies, television shows, and plays whose entertainment values attract millions of people.
3. Listen…to those particular radio programs which hold the interest of countless people week after week.
4. Talk…with taxi drivers, laborers, newsboys, clerks, and others who do not inhabit the more rarefied social and economic heights.
5. Study…the appeals and the copy of the mail order advertisements which continue to repeat their mass-market messages, because they aren’t repeated unless they pay in direct, checkable results.

Schwab, Victor O.. How To Write A Good Advertisement: A Short Course In Copywriting (p. 59). Golden Springs Publishing. Kindle Edition.”

I take a lot of the things I’ve learnt in advertising and apply it to my fiction writing and you should too.

Anywho…

Here’s what’s going to keep me out of trouble this weekend:

TV series

The Walking Dead
Z Nation

Black Summer

Kingdom (Korean series)
All of Us Are Dead (Korean series)

Black Summer is so underrated I would 100% recommend you binge that if you like zombie stuff.

Books/Novels

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

Cell by Stephen King

Feed by Mira Grant

Rot & Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

Well. This email is getting longer than it needs to be right now.

Stephen Walker

P.S. Don’t forget to check/save https://stphnwlkr.com/ I’ll be adding loads of other cool stuff there for your own reading/listening pleasure.

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

“Physics is the law, everything else is a recommendation.” – Elon Musk
​

It’s Labor Day weekend, 2001.

​

Elon is driving to Manhattan with an old college friend, who asks him what he plans to do after he sells PayPal.

​
“I’ve always wanted to do something in space,” Elon replies.

​
“But I don’t think there’s anything an individual can do.”

​
His logic is straightforward:

​
Rockets are too expensive, NASA has nearly-infinite funding, there’s just no way a single individual can afford to start a rocket company…

​
…Right?

​
That’s when Elon stopped making assumptions, and began to think.

​
​Step 1: Deconstruct the problem.

​
What are rockets made of?

​
Metal and fuel.

​
Okay, not too expensive.

​
What else?

​
Engineers, warehouse, staff…

​
Okay, add it up.

​
Elon’s got $175 million in the bank, enough for a year or two of runway, at least.

​
In his words:

​
“By the time we reached the Midtown tunnel, we decided it was possible.”

​
​Step 2: Reconstruct a solution.

​
How can we streamline our costs to make SpaceX viable?

​
Well, most rockets can only be used once — after they take off, they’re trashed.

​
Okay, let’s build re-usable rockets.

​
But contractors famously overcharge for rocket components, the prices are insane.

​
Okay, let’s manufacture our own components, in house.

​
Still, it takes ages to test a rocket…

​

How are we going to afford rent and payroll for 10 years while we’re just figuring out how to make it safe?

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We’re privately-funded, so we can move much faster than NASA.

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Test quickly, fail quickly, iterate quickly — what takes public rocket companies ten years, we’ll do in one.
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And so, SpaceX was born.

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​This is how real thinking is done:

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Not by making assumptions based on information we’ve heard from others…

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…But by:

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​1. Deconstructing the problem, question, or situation.

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ie. Breaking it down into it’s component parts, and looking at those parts through clear, unbiased eyes.

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​2. Reconstructing a solution, answer, or fresh perspective.

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ie. Rebuilding those parts into something new, better, and more original.

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Or, said another way:

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​By looking at reality as it is, and transforming it into something greater.

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Instead of following recipes, the master chef recombines ingredients to create dishes never seen before.

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Instead of copying competitors, the master entrepreneur reimagines entire marketplaces.

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Instead of referencing the thoughts of others, assuming them to be true, and claiming those thoughts as his own…

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…The master thinker deconstructs those thoughts and reconstructs new ideas, new paradigms, new realities.

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​Of course, nobody taught us how to do this…

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(they were too busy forcing us to memorize the steps of photosynthesis; seriously, what is school even for?)

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…But make no mistake:

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The skill of clear, original, precise thinking — thinking that can:
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Pierce through problems and transform uncertainty into radical insight
Unlock access to the deeper dimensions of your intelligence
Transform the tangled patterns of your mind into streamlined thinking systems
Guide the critical decisions of your life with fearless accuracy
Open expansive new possibilities in your work, your business, your relationships, and the architecture of your life

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…That is a skill that can be learned, trained, and ultimately, mastered.

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Tomorrow, I’ll share how.

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T

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​P.S. Can you do me a quick favor?

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Our email system was hit with a bot attack this week, which signed up a bunch of random emails and tanked our open rates.

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(In 14 years of online business, I’ve never seen anything like it — super weird stuff)

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I’m still sorting it out over here, but can you shoot me a quick reply with the words “got it” to let me know you received this email?

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It’s a big help, so thank you.

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And, if you missed any earlier parts of this series, here’s where you can catch up now:

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​How To Think (Part 1)​

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​How To Think (Part 2)
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Enjoy 🙂