Show Notes — The Ideas I Sat On for Years

For years I had more ideas than I could ever get into the world. The barrier was rarely the idea itself. It was the cost, the risk, and the wait of getting anything built. In this episode I talk about what changed when AI entered my working life, and why, on balance, it has made me more creative rather than less.

I get specific: the £17,000 quote to build my Enneagram typing tools, the spreadsheets I leaned on instead, and the moment the maths changed. I talk about using Claude as an editor, about turning my essays into audio with a voice trained on my own, and about a friend's gentle note that I should read them myself. That note opened a bigger question I'm still sitting with: who gets to decide whether you are being authentic?

I also want to be clear about balance. AI helps me execute and share, but where the human hand matters most, I keep it in human hands. I talk about the 8Notes brand built by James Kindred, and the new identity I've commissioned for my couples work under Key Differences, made by oil painter Fi Meek and calligrapher Tom Meek.

Read the written version: https://adrianmelrose.com/the-ideas-i-sat-on-for-years

A note on transparency: the audio for this episode was voiced using ElevenLabs, trained on my own voice over several hours of reading. The words, the stories, and the experience are entirely mine.

In this episode

• Why having ideas was never my problem, and getting them out always was
• The £17,000 web quote, and the spreadsheets I used instead
• How AI gave me permission, not just a tool
• Using Claude as an editor, and what ghostwriting history has to say about disclosure
• Turning essays into audio, and a friend's note about reading them myself
• Authenticity as a personal test rather than a public verdict
• Keeping the brand and artwork in human hands: James Kindred, Fi Meek, Tom Meek

Links

• Written post: https://adrianmelrose.com/the-ideas-i-sat-on-for-years
• Adrian Melrose: https://adrianmelrose.com
• Key Differences: https://keydifferences.love
• Fi Meek (oil painter): https://www.fionameek.com
• Tom Meek (calligrapher and heraldic artist): https://www.tommeekheraldicart.com

Where to go next

Want to do this kind of work in a room with other people? My group spaces at 8Notes are built for exactly that — honest conversation, the Enneagram, and the questions worth sitting with, in good company. → https://8notes.co.uk

Want to do it one to one? I coach individuals, men, and couples through my practice, Plain Talk Matters. The whole thing runs on a single conviction: clarity is kindness. → https://plaintalk.co.uk

Want the writing in your inbox? New essays, readings, and the occasional unfinished question — no flatline living. Sign up to the newsletter here: → https://adrianmelrose.com/#/portal/signup

About Adrian Melrose

I write and coach about the inner lives of men, the cost of the masks we're handed young, and how clarity becomes a form of love rather than a weapon. I'm completing certification in Terry Real's Relational Life Therapy, draw heavily on bell hooks and don Miguel Ruiz, and have a book on the way — Silence Is Not Peace.

The work shows up in a few places, depending on how you like to meet it:

• adrianmelrose.com — my writing home. Personal essays and the questions I'm still sitting with.
• plaintalk.co.uk — Plain Talk Matters. My 1:1 coaching practice. Clarity is kindness.
• 8notes.co.uk — 8Notes. The same soul in a different shape: group spaces and community for people who want to do this work together, not alone.
• 8notes.substack.com — the longer-form Substack, where the essays and series live and breathe.

Same person, four front doors. Come in whichever one suits you.