These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Up too early, looking down on the village before the mist takes it. Feels like time has paused for a bit, the new year sleeping in. I make coffee and listen to the song that’s been playing in my head for no apparent reason. Still the same, moving game to game, no one standing in your way…
2
I get a bit obsessed with the step tracker on my phone every few weeks. I was barely outside the last few days of December but averaged 12,000+ steps per day, trying to keep my average above 11k for the fourth straight month. Running on the spot helps a lot. Like Nelson Mandela when he was locked up.
3
Awake too early again, mind has been racing in the mornings recently. Pack up, drive 3 hours to Dublin, drop off the car, check in, hop the flight, land at BCN, sort out the parking ticket, 3 hour drive back to Andorra. 20 hours from bed to bed.
4
Feeling light today, though there’s serious business to be attended to later. I have the radio cranked in the car, singing along. I smile at the security guard at the supermarket, wave to the little girl at the crosswalk, take a different road just to see where it goes.
5
Seeing another site in my niche is earning $1000/day from display ads. No display ads on my site. I just hate how they look, how they degrade the user experience. We could surely earn more money if we had them, but I’d rather earn less and feel proud of my work.
6
Love Fincher’s latest. About a man who strives to be a true professional, obsessed with developing the right mindsets and habits so he can excel at his job. Just so happens that he works as a hitman. Actually, the movie is probably how Fincher imagines he would operate in that line of work.
7
Lunch with a friend, another online business guy. We get talking about plans and ideas. Come away from it buzzing. I don’t do that enough, talk shop with other entrepreneurs. Doesn’t even have to be in person. Zoom calls are good, too.
8
Woke up at 5am with my heart racing. In the dream I was back in my childhood home, being chased by a Terminator. I was running in the dark, out into the garden and across the fields. I was afraid to use the light from my phone to see where I was going. I couldn’t get away.
9
Frustrated a bit with the new layout for reviews, it’s not quite clicking. Didn’t look at it at all today, didn’t think about it much either. But my subconscious must have been working on it because I seem to know now what needs to change.
10
After the snowfall, driving up the far side of the valley to see what we can see. There’s a nice house for sale around here, saw it listed online, could afford the mortgage on it already but that’d be irresponsible. I like the rule: only buy one if you can afford two.
11
Resistance has been strong lately, not sure why. Have to push myself to do even simple work tasks, let alone the deep stuff. Could be the Upper Limit Problem. That’s when you stop yourself from achieving a higher level of success or happiness, because deep down you’d rather stay at your current level where it’s safe and familiar.
12
Business expenses for this month are over $10,000. Pretty sure that’s a new high for me. Much of it is because of annual software payments coming due in January. Still makes me nervous though, especially with traffic and revenue taking a hit lately.
13
When someone unsubscribes from my newsletter, they land on a page asking why. The last ten responses…
- A Team of Bloody Scoundrels!
- Nothing
- Don’t want to see it anymore
- I am not interested in the content any more
- Thanks!
- Not relevant any mot
- I have learnt enough
- Too many emails sent
- My email box is just too full and I can’t read everything if I had 1000 lifetimes
- ok
14
I go back and forth. One day I’m pessimistic and dreading all the work that lies ahead. The next day I’m feeling positive about everything and pitying our competitors once we have everything updated. Today was one of the latter.
15
Thinking to buy a Mac Studio in the coming weeks. It’s an expensive machine, but a laptop just won’t cut it if I’m serious about getting back into video. And I have to be serious about that. I reckon it’s the best way to stand out from competitors and all the generic, AI-generated content.
16
Back playing basketball with some folks, 4-on-4 scrimmage. Hadn’t played in about a year. I think I miss the banter more than the sport though. I’ve consciously put social stuff on the back-burner while I’m building this business, nice to indulge every now and then.
17
I go through phases of listening to business podcasts. Lately I haven’t been listening to many. I don’t need inspiration, I need distraction, take my mind off work. Mostly been listening to NBA and comedy podcasts the past few weeks.
18
Watching these popular travel vloggers repeatedly acknowledge their privilege, almost to the point of apologizing for it. Probably because they get lots of “must be nice” comments from begrudging viewers. But this couple worked their asses off to get where they are. Plenty of other people had similar opportunities and didn’t build the life they did.
19
Been leaving lots of side tasks pile up the last few days, trying to keep the main thing the main thing. Words from Tim Ferriss have become my mantra…
oftentimes, in order to do the big things, you have to let the small bad things happen. This is a skill we want to cultivate.
20
I was 28 when I quit my job to work for myself, sometimes wish I’d started earlier into entrepreneurship. But listening to a podcast today about the founder of Red Bull, quit his corporate job aged 41 to start that company, made him a billionaire. I like hearing that.
21
Thinking about places I’ve lived that I’d like to revisit. Top of the list would be that little apartment in Amsterdam, one of the happiest years of my life spent in that gaff. It wasn’t anything special in itself, but it felt like the start of adulthood for me, even though I was well into my 30’s at the time.
22
Enjoyable work day, diving into some new projects. Figuring things out, planning, coding. Using ChatGPT multiple times a day now. I’m pretty good with CSS but ChatGPT makes me exceptional, speeds up my flow. Tis helpful for learning Spanish, too.
23
Long evening walk along the old iron route, long evening talk with an old friend. Feeling good after we hang up, whistling past the frozen leaves and the haunted frightened trees. Come around a turn on the darkening path, delighted by the moon peeking out from the mountain.
24
Researching and obsessing over video gear. Planning to get back into YouTube this year, do it right with a proper setup. It will be expensive, but worth the investment. None of our competitors are doing video, so this should set us nicely apart.
25
I like Sam Harris’ business model, crazy as it seems: set an entry fee but grant free access to anyone who requests it. He switched to that from optional donations a few years ago and doubled his business. Not sure it would work for me but I’d like to try it at some stage.
26
Tired today, but the good kind of tired. Been working hard for several days, made lots of progress, can take it easy for a bit and feel like I’ve earned it. I’m not even going to bother finishing th
27
Someone complaining that we don’t explain every acronym in the newsletter. Sure, we could do a better job there, but if you can’t take it upon yourself to google words or acronyms you don’t understand, I’d bet heavily against you ever building a successful business.
28
From the book Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer…
The brain is a costly organ. Though it accounts for only 2 percent of the body’s mass, it uses up a fifth of all the oxygen we breathe, and it’s where a quarter of all our glucose gets burned.
Explains how I can be exhausted after a day just sitting at my computer.
29
Eating that frog today, making myself do the ugly tasks before the pretty ones. I’m not perfect at this, but I’ve built the habit pretty strong over the years. Even at mealtimes, I’ll try to eat the less tasty food first, save my favorite for the end.
30
Probably a sign of getting old: going to bed early gives me a thrill. When I can be asleep by ten, a mighty 8.5 hours of sleep still has me up at 6:30am. And I’m very much a morning person, something about getting things done when most people are still asleep.
31
Thinking to buy this thing rather than build our own. Had a call today with the guy who made it, who was happy to share details. Need to go away now and crunch the numbers, see if it’s worth it, come up with an offer. It’s all new to me.