Welcome to The Friends Theory, where we use pop culture and story to reframe the way you see your life, work, and what you’re capable of.

This week, we're revisiting some classic British nostalgia and asking why winning a speedboat ain’t it.

3-minute read.

The One Where The Prize Makes No Sense

Insights from “Bullseye” (British TV game show, 1981-1995)

🎬 Picture it:
If you didn't grow up in Britain in the 80s and 90s, let me introduce you to Bullseye.

Sunday afternoon. About 4pm. The nation emotionally preparing for Monday.

Bullseye was a game show built around darts, which probably tells you everything you need to know about Britain at the time.

The format was simple. Teams of two competed against each other: one person who could actually play darts, and one person who very much could not. Usually a couple of work colleagues or two blokes from Wolverhampton named Gary and Steve.

They'd battle through rounds, the losing teams would drop away, and eventually the final team standing got the choice to gamble for Bully’s Mystery Star Prize.

The doors would open.

And nine times out of ten, they'd wheel out a speedboat.

Cue the music. The applause. Gary and Jack are as ecstatic as two awkward Brits can get on national television.

They've won. They've actually won.

A speedboat.

In Wolverhampton.

Where there is no water. No marina. No lake. No coastal lifestyle awaiting them. Nothing for miles in any direction except more Wolverhampton.

Congratulations, lads.

And that’s when it hit me.

The speedboat is what happens when you spend years chasing a prize that looked impressive from the outside without ever stopping to ask whether it actually fit your life in the first place.

Now I can’t stop thinking about that goddamn speedboat.

And then I found an actual photo of a Bullseye prizing winning speedboat parked outside somebody’s house in Britain.

Guys…I can’t.

Does it get any better than this?!

Ever Been Here?

I think a lot of us accidentally build towards speedboats.

Things that look impressive from the outside. Careers that sound glamorous. Lives that photograph well.

I spent the better part of two decades chasing a career in fashion. Models, celebrities, luxury brands, all of it. And yes, parts of it were amazing. Some of it really was as fun and ridiculous as it sounds.

I wanted it. I went for it. I got it.

And then at some point I was standing inside it thinking: oh.

Turns out the glamorous world of fashion and talent is catty, passive aggressive and absolutely full of people who need therapy. Who knew (so many, it turns out).

Hear me out. I wasn’t wrong to want it. In fact, I did want it, (really want it, at one point.) But after a while that wanting changed. It stopped being about what actually suited me and became about chasing the version of success that looked right. The thing everybody else seemed to want. The prize that made sense on paper.

And this is where comparison gets sneaky.

Because it's not just "comparison is the thief of joy" blah blah blah. It's that when you spend too much time looking sideways at what everybody else is building, buying, launching or becoming, eventually you lose sight of whether you even want what you're chasing in the first place.

You're too busy staring at everybody else's prizes.

And then one day you wake up thinking: wait. Why am I attached to this speedboat?

You spend long enough looking sideways at what everybody else is winning and eventually you stop checking whether the prize even fits your life anymore.

You just assume that because everybody else wants the speedboat, you should too.

Try This On:

Ask yourself: what's my speedboat?

What's the thing you keep chasing because it looks impressive, successful or desirable from the outside — not because it genuinely fits your life?

Maybe it's a job title. A version of success. A relationship. A lifestyle. A timeline. A definition of "making it."

Whatever it is, try separating what you actually want from what you've just been taught to want.

Because there's a difference.

And if you're not sure yet? That's okay too. But you probably won't figure it out by spending another four hours watching everybody else live their lives online. It didn’t work for me and I bet money it doesn’t work for you, either (said with love).

Final Thought

Now listen, of course the goal isn’t to stop wanting things. Let’s not get stupid on ourselves.

The goal is to keep dreaming. Keep going for it. Keep wanting more for yourself.

The point is to make it okay if the thing you thought you wanted turns out not to be what you want anymore.

To get honest with yourself and say:
actually…this doesn’t work for me.

TL;DR: there’s nothing wrong with changing direction once you realise you’ve been working towards the wrong thing.

I don’t want a speedboat in Wolverhampton.

I want whatever my version is.

See you next week,

Lucy xx

P.S. If you’re feeling like you’re about to win a speedboat instead of something you actually want, start here 👇

Thanks for reading The Friends Theory. I appreciate you so much ❤️