In a race?
You’re Already Losing.
Life’s Already a Race. No Need to Be Racist.
In a classic PhoneShop scene, Jerwayne moans to Ashley about his ex-girlfriend kicking him out of bed every morning.
With his usual dry wit, Ashley asks:
Is she racist?
Ashley
Jerwayne, baffled, replies:
Nah, she’s Black, innit.
Jerwayne
Ashley repeats the question.🤔
The joke works on two levels. Jerwayne hears “racist” in the usual sense. Ashley is asking if she’s literally in a race to get rid of him.
Ashley and Jerwayne in deep talks. [1]
Funny, sharp — and a reminder of how many of us live today: sprinting everywhere, hunting shortcuts, desperate for quick wins. But here’s the truth:
Shortcuts often take you longer.👴
The things that matter most only grow through patience, persistence, and showing up again and again. I learned this the hard way.
My Sprint to Nowhere
For years, whenever I picked up a new skill, I treated it like a 100m dash. I wanted results yesterday. I skipped steps, copied what others were doing, and basically tried to “speedrun” my way to competence.
Usain Bolt my way to success. [2]
The outcome? Stress, frustration, and projects I wasn’t proud of. Every time I cut corners, I robbed myself of real progress. Eventually, I had to admit:
Rushing wasn’t working. 💨
Three Things You Can’t Fake
1. You Don’t Graduate from Learning
Back at uni, I thought my course would teach me everything about being a designer. Unfortunately it didn’t. What it really gave me was the skill of teaching myself.
My university degree.
The certificate got me to the starting line, but the race never ends. Real education compounds over a lifetime — through daily reading, reflecting, practicing. There’s no “skip intro” button when it comes to mastery.
2. Logos Don’t Make Legends
In the age of social media, “overnight brands” seem to pop up every week. Viral video, catchy logo, instant credibility.
But let’s be real: lasting brands don’t arrive like Uber Eats. They’re slow-cooked. My own brand has taken decades of tweaking, failing, and rebuilding.
Take Nintendo: over a century of games, toys, and reinvention. They didn’t rush to be the biggest. They just kept showing up until they became a household name.
The Nintendo Logo. [3]
3. Masters Don’t Speedrun
After more than twenty years in graphic design, one lesson is clear:
Mastery is built in increments.📈
One skill at a time, one experiment at a time, one project at a time.
Leonardo da Vinci is universally considered a Master Artist
Shortcuts don’t make you a master. They make you a pretender. True skill compounds like interest — and the only way to collect is to put in the hours.
Forget the Finish Line, Enjoy the Lap
Just like Jerwayne’s girlfriend, we’re often in a hurry to get rid of the moment we’re in. We want the end result without the messy middle. But the messy middle is where all the growth happens. There are no cheat codes for knowledge, brand, or skill.
The grind is the gift. The process is the point. so remember:
Life is already a race. No need to be racist.
Melvyn Phillips
