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Hey Reader,

It’s my birthday today and here are 46 things I’ve learned. One for each year I’ve been alive. ✅

1. Pebbles are brilliant but if you fill your pockets with them they break your pockets.
2. Even if your life partner loves you to distraction, they will still get annoyed if you run out of pockets and start filling their pockets with pebbles.
3. Dinosaurs are for everyone, not just for children.
4. Adults should never stop playing because when we stop playing we might as well be dead.
5. Playing feels even more precious as an adult because kids do it naturally but for grownups it feels naughty.
6. There is almost no situation which cannot be improved by tea.
7. Ditto daffodils.
8. Ditto cuddling your cat/dog/pet/favourite human.
9. There were no short/autistic/small people in the room when people designed hand-dryers WHY FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS UNHOLY WOULD YOU POSITION THEM SO THEY FIRE WATER INTO YOUR SLEEVES WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS.
10. Meditation doesn’t have to mean sitting silently and “emptying your mind” it can be running/drawing/doodling/trapezeing/dancing/whatever puts you into a zen-like state.
11. The world is not fair but that doesn’t mean we can’t change it. Or at least try.
12. Stories are magical but they are simply the vehicle for an idea. What’s your idea?
13. Nobody is just one thing. We all have facets and angles and nuances.
14. You don’t know who the real you is until you have an abundance of the things you need. (Thank you Yinka.)
15. When you find the people who love you, love them back with everything you have in you.
16. It’s okay to get attached to random objects like your favourite mug.
17. Wear the sequins. Yes, even if it’s just to do the gardening, if you want.
18. Tiny sheep make amazing pets and they’re thoroughly hilarious. And they will eat all the primrose heads if you let them.
19. Collecting fresh eggs from your chickens never gets boring.
20. It’s so obvious chickens evolved from dinosaurs if you’ve ever spent time with a chicken.
21. Nothing — NOTHING — tastes as good as food you have grown yourself with your own two hands.
22. Renovating a 350-year-old cottage is a never-ending yet incredibly rewarding project.
23. Writing is thinking.
24. Happiness isn’t a destination. We find it in the tiny moments and it builds on itself.
25. Sorrow is rich and valuable. We need to feel the full range of things.
26. Social media is a wonderful source of silliness and ideas.
27. Social media is a source of horror and diminishing humanity.
28. You don’t have to “eat the frog” first. You’re not wrong or broken or shit. There are other ways to do the thing.
29. “Write like you speak” is terrible advice, but “use your true voice” is magical.
30. Embrace the things that bring you joy, even if they seem silly or frivolous like hoarding a pile of beautiful notebooks, putting on soft socks in the wind, collecting pebbles, or eating a raw mushroom sandwich.
31. Yellow flowers are the best flowers. (Especially daffodils.)
32. Do the scary thing because you never know what it might lead to (stand-up comedy, anyone?)
33. If you want to do it, but you’re not sure you can, say yes. Someone will help you figure it out.
34. There are very, very few decisions that are irreversible, and very few that are truly, life-shatteringly important.
35. We are not our mistakes.
36. People can change, but we have to want to and then work at it.
37. If you make something important to you, and offer it to the world, someone else out there will love it, too.
38. Say the thing that matters and say it with your whole chest because someone somewhere will be so grateful you did.
39. Kind does not necessarily mean nice.
40. Some people will not like you, and that’s okay. Not everything is for everyone.
41. Art — painting, dance, singing, drawing, writing — isn’t just for professionals. It’s for all of us, and it will save us all.
42. Houseplants become part of the family, especially if you put googly eyes on them.
43. Your idea matters. Your voice matters. Write the thing.
44. If you want until you’re ready to do the thing you want to do, you will never, ever do it.
45. Friendship is seeing every side of someone and loving them anyway.
46. Just because we grow older, doesn’t mean we have to grow up.

Happy birthday to me!

And here’s my gift to you…

If you have been thinking about writing a book and signing up for MicroBook Magic Season 7 — awesome!

If you sign up before the doors officially open on Monday morning, I’m offering a FREE 60-minute private coaching call to get you fully ready to go when the program kicks off.

My private coaching calls start from £1,200 so this is a helluva offer.

You can find out all about MicroBook Magic right here, but in our bonus coaching call we’ll do this:

• Stress test your book idea to make sure it’s got legs and feet and arms and the will to exist.
• Get crystal clear on exactly what you want to share, to whom, why, and how — so your book will truly be one of a kind.
• Organise your schedule so you know you’ll have time and space to get this done.
• Map out the start and finish of your reader journey, so outlining and planning your book in week 1 will be a doddle.

There are only 10 standard places available and 5 VIP slots.

Reply to this email quoting ‘BIRTHDAY GIFT’ if you want more details — or sign up right here and I’ll be in touch fast to book you in for your coaching call.

TTFN,

Vicky