Reading time: 4.29

1,064 words

Hey Reader,

4.29You say “hack” — I see a hatchet covered in gore and Jack Nicholson’s blood-streaked face grinning through a splintered door.

HERE’S YOUR SHORTCUTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!! he screams.

Run. RUN AWAY.

The shortcut looks so tempting.

Go from obese to a slinky size 10 with just a little prick?

Jump from a blank page to a first draft with just a little AI prompt?

Create a whole aesthetic for your home with just a little click of a button?

None of the painful, messy bits in the middle? No mistakes? None of the setbacks, disappointments, blood, sweat, and tears?

Yep, I really do understand the appeal.

Our brains are built for shortcuts and conserving energy. I, myself, am a fully paid up potato when I allow myself to be.

But it’s not just about the obvious outcome: the dress size, the finished manuscript, the magazine-ready home.

A client of mine told me about this Canadian woman who went from obese to fit, which — as anyone who has ever been on a fitness journey will tell you — is a notoriously difficult thing to do.

Most people fail because they cut everything all at once: sweeping diet change and plunge into an insane gym routine.

They last a week.

But this woman took the tiny beetle steps approach, day by day:

1. Buy a skipping rope.
2. Skip for 60 seconds.
3. Skip for 90 seconds.
4. Skip for 2 minutes.

Etc.

She lost 60 kg in 18 months by setting herself such small goals she could not possibly miss them but that isn’t the most exciting part.

The most exciting part is: she got fit and stayed fit, and she did that because she transformed her confidence in who she is. She became a person, gradually, who did what she needed to do.

It wasn’t just about weight loss for her — the Ozempic or whatever would do that, sure — but now she can run around, play, lift stuff, do hard things and she did that herself.

I don’t know what else it enabled her to do, but I guarantee she won’t have halted there because once you realise what you’re capable of, you’re unstoppable.

So. You could hack yourself into oblivion, slap some prompts into an AI and wrestle with the slop it pops out.

Or you could do the work — the joyful, messy, sometimes painful, interesting, fun work — and gain something MUCH more valuable and huge than simply the book you wanted to write.

You get to build yourself, too. No blood-soaked hacking away of the parts of you that are the most interesting.

And that book will be ten times more magnificent because you said fuck the quick fix and took the long road.

Want to work with me to do that? I’m taking bookings for a March start. Drop me a reply and let’s talk.

And now for the Friday Goodie Bag! Are you ready? I’ve gathered these for you:

The Estonian National Opera House car park barriers

Look, if you’ve got a great brand and theme, don’t just run with it, sprint with it. Like the Estonian National Opera House in Tallinn, whose car park barriers look like this.

Big Joe, who brings people together via the medium of trucking

Big Joe is a trucker. He looks kinda intimidating. But he’s something of an angel, and he’s gathered 4,000 more truckers into Code Angel. They’re all connected via their radios, and when they find someone on the road who needs help, they organise that help for them. I read his story and started thinking about who else could organise this type of help. How could I?

Joshua Idehen’s mum does the washing

My buddy Marc sent me this track about different types of social structure and government through the lens of your mum doing the washing, which made me laugh. It’s funny because it’s true. Enjoy!

Why generative AI has no place in music education

​This essay by Ethan Hein talks eloquently about how every artist is trained on the art of previous artists, which is what generative AI does. But he also points out that AI could never have created 1980s hip hop from what came before it.

This absolute mastery

One of my favourite things is watching someone do something they are spectactular at. Like this guy performing a routine on aerial straps. It’s magnificent when you know nothing about aerial or how bodies work. When you DO know a little, it’s breathtaking.

What I’m reading

Ben Elton’s autobiography What Have I Done? which is a great read. It’s full of funny memories and stories about his early work on The Young Ones and Blackadder, and his time at uni then working with Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, French & Saunders, Hugh & Laurie. And a look at the heyday of the BBC and regional programming and how lucky we were to have that and how important it was.

What I’m writing

I’ve started my new email newsletter Late to the Party and so far I’ve written one article. I’m aiming for one per week. It’s all about life as a late-diagnosed autistic-adhd woman and general comedic snippets. If you subscribe, I’ll deliver you a little dose of joy once a week, and you’ll deliver me a giant dose of joy now.

Word of the week

sparple

To deflect unwanted attention from one thing by making a big deal of another. The media and politicians sparple all the time. Keep a weather eye out.

Quote of the week

—Ted Chiang, from a New Yorker essay, 31.08.24

And finally… on Thursday January 29 at 6pm I’m speaking at Sophie Lee’s Self Expression Sessions in Bristol. Tickets are just £16.50 and I’d LOVE to meet you in person! Book here.

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

p.s. Know someone who might enjoy this email? Please forward it to them and get them to sign up here.