These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Focusing too much on negative things lately. How’s Amsterdam, someone will ask, and I’ll default to talking about the one or two things that aren’t quite right instead of the ten thousand things that are perfect. I like to believe positivity is a choice, a habit you can build, and that focusing on positive things brings a better mood and more opportunities.
2
Met up with a lady today who earned $100,000 selling courses on Udemy. Here’s a video she made about it. Always nice to meet someone who is the same in person as they seem online. And I came away inspired by her success on YouTube. She’s built her audience on there by posting a new video each week. Quality and consistency gets us where we want to go.
3
Mezrab. Storytelling night. Given the weekend that’s in it, the theme is love, and Sahand tells a story about his parents in jail and music in space. Marijn tells us about his flamboyant friend who was buried twice. And Kor tells us a story about his mom, a puppy, and a sex party. This place is beautiful… and dangerous. Stirs an urge in me.
4
Pride parade in Amsterdam. All along the Prinsengracht there are floats filled with feathers and confetti, fabulous women and dancing men. A massive rainbow flag hangs from a church steeple. In the crowd I see a tough biker dude wearing fishnet and another guy wearing a shirt that says “closet homosexual.” This city, on this weekend especially, is where you can be whoever you want to be.
5
Smoked my first two Fridays here but not the third. Feels nice this weekend to be up early both mornings, not drowsy, exercising and getting things done. A friend told me recently that he never does drugs randomly. He’ll always have a specific intention. He’ll smoke weed before going for a massage, for example, deepen the relaxation. That’s smart. Drugs are a tool. Gotta use them wisely.
6
If I had a week left to live, I’d have to come to Amsterdam for a day or two and cycle a bike around, listening to music. Did that today on the way to Toastmasters. Hadn’t been to a meeting for a couple of years. Made myself volunteer for table topics and somehow came away with a ribbon. Another urge stirred.
7
Rented a boat for the day, cruising the canals. This city is built on marshland. Four hundred years ago they were driving tall trunks of Scandinavian pine into the swampy ground, thousands upon thousands of them, all by manual labor, so they could build these fine buildings that glide past us now on either side. They say most people visit works of art, but the people of Amsterdam live in one.
8
I believe some people are naturally more proactive than others. They have a better engine, and so they can do more things, achieve more goals. That’s not to excuse laziness, but just to point out that we all have different capacities. That’s why the whole, “you have to want it bad enough” advice falls flat for me. I could want real bad to be a world class horse jockey, but at 6-2 I simply don’t have the capacity.
9
Been editing a video advising people on rest and recovery. Tomorrow morning I’m hosting a group call about handling overwhelm. And as I sit here and write this I’m exhausted, have been all day. Someone once said that you can’t live on this planet and not be a hypocrite to some extent. I think that’s true. So it’s okay to be a hypocrite. As long as you keep trying not to be.
10
Instead of playing a game on your phone or browsing Facebook, install the Wikipedia app and use the random article function, see what you stumble across. For example, today I learned that Botswana is roughly the size of France, has a big river delta that doesn’t reach the sea, is the least corrupt country in Africa, and has way more elephants than any other country.
11
We met in Colombia, must have been back in 2014. And hung out again in Berlin a couple of years ago. We were single men then. Now we’re meeting at a cafe in Amsterdam with our long-term ladies, talking big plans. Two years. That’s all it took for everything to change for us. You never know what’s coming for you.
12
In the year 1670 Baruch Spinoza published a book called Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. Apparently that was the first time many people in Europe were exposed to the idea that the Bible was not the work of God, but a flawed and superstitious book written by humans. There’s a statue of Spinoza in the old Jewish quarter in Amsterdam, not far from the synagogue that excommunicated him.
13
Monday. Start of a hectic week. Got lots of client work on and trying to get ahead of schedule with my video stuff before we leave for Copenhagen on Thursday. Told my Mastermind buddy that I’d pay a $1000 penalty if I don’t upload a new video by midnight each Friday this month. And we’ll be on the road quite a bit the next couple of weeks. Pressure’s on.
14
Lots of people I haven’t caught up with while here in Amsterdam. A month in one place really isn’t enough. Not when you’re working. You’re just getting settled when you have to pack everything up and hit the road again. We’ll be slowing down a bit come September though. Ten countries the first eight months of the year. Three the final four.
15
Last day here, made time to get out and cycle around the canals with some classic tunes in my ears. Absolute bliss. I really should have done that more the past few weeks. What about you? What simple pleasure have you been postponing or not making enough time for? What if you took an hour or two this weekend to go do that?
16
Usually not a fan of travel days. Getting to the airport, getting through the airport, getting from the airport. But Amsterdam to Copenhagen today was a breeze. Had energy to burn in the evening so went for a run around our new neighborhood, found a park in the middle of an apartment complex with loads of gardens and balconies and the hum of contented living.
17
Several insights today during a coaching intensive. One of them relating to why I’ve been resisting requests from friends and acquaintances to meet up for coffee or whatever. It’s because those requests feel too much like, “let’s just hang out and see what happens.” Hanging out can be fun, sure, but I’m trying to stay focused on my purpose right now. Which necessitates that I be much more protective of my time and space and say no to more things.
18
Sneaking a look at a book during a coffee and cheesecake break as we roll around Copenhagen. Simple idea hits me as profound: create short, casual content regularly. See what topics hit the mark. Dive deeper into those that do. Like a comedian, working out material night after night in the local clubs, checking what works and what doesn’t, picking out and polishing up the best stuff for the special.
19
A few things you might not know about Denmark:
- Free health care.
- Well, kind of. Denmark apparently has the world’s highest taxes. 1
- The government pays students about $900/month while attending university. 2
- First country to grant legal recognition to same-sex partnerships (1989).
- First country to legalize pornography (1969).
- In recent years it has been voted as the safest, happiest and least corrupt country in the world.
20
Had a student on a call today and got to that place of pure presence and curiosity, eager to hear what she had to say next and feeling a deep appreciation for her being. Sounds fairly woo-woo, I know, but that’s how it hit me. And she seemed to get great value from our conversation. I reckon one of the big keys to coaching is to listen long and deep. Most people aren’t used to that. feels profound.
21
He’s standing at his front door in a dressing gown as I come down the stairs with the suitcase. I say good morning as I pass, and he nods back, but something’s not right. I’m down a half flight and realizing we probably woke him up, when he shouts after me, “Why don’t you stay at a hotel? These are private apartments!” I turn and go back up to him.
22
Was going to call today’s live video, Why astrology is (probably) bullshit, but ended up dropping the probably. Trying to put forth stronger opinions. I know I’ll be wrong about some things, but that’s no reason to be timid. Actually, it’s a good reason not to be. A stronger opinion gets more attention, which means I find out much quicker when I’m mistaken.
23
On the westernmost island of the Faroes, a place called Mykines, accessible only by boat and helicopter. Not more than a dozen people live here year round. A plane once crashed on this rock, a Dutch ship wrecked against it a few hundred years ago. We’re here to see the puffins, nesting on some of the world’s richest bird cliffs.
24
Another day, another remote part of the Faroes. The “cafe” in this seaside village is an old man’s kitchen, where he serves coffee and waffles. He’s lived here pretty much his whole life, in this very house. There’s a black and white photo on the wall, his younger self with his eight children. He remembers when the road to the village was built (1966) and when they first got electricity (1957).
25
How the hell did the first people arrive on these islands? The nearest land mass is almost 200 miles away. Can you imagine some poor schmuck centuries ago setting off from there in a rickety boat, thinking, “Sure I’ll just keep going and see what I find.” He couldn’t have known there was anything out there. Boggles the mind.
26
First thing today: hike to the top of a massive cliff jutting out into the ocean and look back at a magnificent hanging lake. Second thing: drive to a remote village in a valley with picture postcard grassy green rooftops. Third thing: drive to a gigantic two-tier waterfall and snap a few pics. Fourth thing: go get groceries… because life isn’t one big Instagram story. Pretty damn close though when you’re in the Faroes.
27
Infrastructure here is incredible. We must have driven through eight different tunnels today en route to the northern end of Kalsoy, to a town named after trolls where you can hike to a lighthouse at the edge of the world. One tunnel put us under the sea and through a mountain before coughing us up six clicks to the west. Internet ain’t bad either, and you can get a phone signal everywhere.
28
Travel day. Faroes > Copenhagen > Gran Canaria. I’ll move about 3000 miles in 10 hours. On the plane I’ll read the diary of a girl who never got to travel very much. She spent two years hiding in an attic in Amsterdam during World War II. Eventually she got to go outside and take a trip to Germany, when at age 15 she was caught by the Nazis and sent to die at a concentration camp.
29
Back “home” in Las Palmas, staying at The Roof again. It’s nice knowing the run of the place, can get right back into the swing of things. Went to the supermarket this morning and stocked up. Going to try a month with minimal carbs. No bread, no pasta, no porridge. Might try out an eight-hour feeding window as well, fast for 16 hours a day.
30
Working through some exercises in the book Traction. One is to define the purpose of your business. Why does it exist? Here’s what I’ve got so far: to help people live more free and think more deep. Put that through the 5 Why’s with my coach today. Ultimately, I want to help people gain more control of their lives so they can have a bigger impact on the world. (Sounds pretentious, I know.)
31
Barbecue at The Roof. Irish guy isn’t drinking the alcohol or eating the baked potatoes. Not very Irish of him. Conversation turns to sim theory, artificial intelligence, the singularity. I’m not the most knowledgeable on these topics, not at this table, so I try to listen and ask questions and crack the occasional joke to lighten up talk of mass extinction.
