These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
I listen to podcasts for 2-4 hours each day. Always have one going when I’m preparing food, exercising, doing household chores. Some of it is educational, like Spanish podcasts or entrepreneurial stuff. But most is entertainment, in the form of basketball, movie or comedy podcasts.
2
Comment on a YouTube video about the cost of living today…
I qualified as a pharnacy technician in 1983. In 1987, I was able to buy a one bed flat, not in a converted house, in a spacious private block of 30 flats. Each flat had a garage plus a parking space in the private car park attached. As an NHS pharmacy technician, 23 years old, on low pay. I drove a 2 year old BMW and had holidays abroad in the US and the carribbean. I never felt poor or needed a food bank. And when interest rates shot up I took a second job at the weekend in a bar. I was able to pay off part of my mortgage each year. Unskilled work was easy to get.
3
There’s that gap between where I am now and where I want to be. And my job is to bridge that gap with the right tasks to get me there. Feeling very sluggish and pessimistic today though, wishing I could just fast-forward through the next few months. But they say the struggle is the best part, looking back.
4
Speaking to ChatGPT as if it’s my therapist. Already surprisingly good: always compassionate and optimistic, never stuck for a response, never gets tired of your bullshit. I can see more and more people in the future preferring to chat with an AI than a real person.
5
I’m at the gym, tell my trainer I’m struggling, want to quit. He jokes that maybe I should kill myself. I nod and turn away. He comes after me, helps me put on my jacket as I burst into tears. That’s when I wake up, 5am, still in a dark place.
6
Lots of subscribers say they get overwhelmed by all the business ideas out there, all the different paths they could take, analysis paralysis. Happens to me, too. So many opportunities, easy to get caught up trying to find the perfect one to pursue. Even though I know the perfect one doesn’t exist.
7
There’s a Steve Martin movie where he’s flailing and screaming in the water as if he’s drowning, only for someone to calmly point out that he can just stand up, which he does, revealing the water is only a few feet deep. That’s like me and my task list sometimes.
8
Driving across the border, Spanish police out in force. They have a van pulled half across the road, one officer staring intently into every car that goes through, a couple of guys with machine guns pointed at the ground. I haven’t done anything wrong but I start feeling guilty .
9
Thinking to provide AI and automation support to a particular niche. I’d need to keep up with the latest advancements, figure out how they can be applied to that niche, and get enough businesses in that niche to trust that I can save them time and money with this stuff.
10
Jokic might be my favorite basketball player ever. Doesn’t look like anything special but he’s consistently brilliant, routinely makes high-IQ plays and he’s completely disinterested in celebrity. He didn’t play great last night but delighted to see the Nuggets go up 2-1 on the favorites.
11
Reached 1000 consecutive days on Duolingo yesterday, abandoned it today. Knew it wasn’t helping me much, but it was easy and made me feel like I was doing the bare minimum at least. Replacing it with voice chats with AI in Spanish, just 10-15 minutes per day. We’ll see how that goes.
12
I get tense when I find some trending opportunity, feels like I have to jump on it ASAP. But I remind myself that the best opportunity won’t be some flash in the pan. It’s something that’s likely to last a long time. In which case, I can take it slow, assess it properly, come up with a thoughtful plan for getting involved.
13
An old friend started a paid community about a year ago, earning $17K per month from it already, split with a partner. On a call with him today to learn more. I might try the same myself at some point, but now isn’t the right time, would only be a distraction.
14
The foods I eat every day: goat yogurt, mixed berries, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, whey protein powder, pumpkin, broccoli, egg whites, beef or salmon, avocado, carrot, buckwheat, some kind of soup, arugula, olive oil, salt, radish, 90% dark chocolate.
15
Found a great video with less than 100 views on a channel with 14 subscribers. Some of the best business advice on YouTube comes from tiny channels. The videos that go viral are usually optimized for views, more entertaining than educational, like junk food for eyeballs.
16
Lots of fancy cars in Andorra. In town for a bit today and saw a few Ferraris, Porches, and a Lambo. Not sure I’d buy a fancy car even if I was mega rich. Can’t imagine leaving something worth $100,000’s just sitting in a car park, hoping strangers don’t mess with it.
17
It was hard to imagine the internet before the internet, hard to imagine smartphones before smartphones, hard to imagine AI before AI. Fast-forward a decade or two… what hard-to-imagine technology will we be using every day, acting like it’s normal even though it’s magical?
18
May is a beautiful time of year in Andorra. Spring in full swing, life everywhere. Birds nesting on the balcony, calves in the fields, insects buzzing about. Plenty of sun but not too hot, still snow on the highest peaks, the mountains becoming more lush and green.
19
Seeing someone using an ATM reminds me that I never use them anymore, rarely use cash. Pay for everything with cards now, still carry some cash but it’s the same few notes that I’ve had for several months. I remember Amsterdam pushing the cashless thing a decade ago and now it feels normal.
20
Spending hours a day listening to podcasts has made me less patient. I’ve gotten used to professional speakers explaining things in a clear and entertaining way. Can be jarring then when I listen to a regular person try to explain something, like nails on a chalkboard.
21
I like to think of marketing as telling the best, most compelling story about a thing. The story must be true, of course, but it doesn’t have to be the whole story. There’s never room to tell the whole story. So the game is to figure out which part of the story your target audience will find most interesting, and tell that part well.
22
Been doing lots of research the past few months, finally diving into setting up an agency. Seems like the best way to get back to $10K/month consistently, making use of my existing skills and learning some new ones. Plenty of hard work required, of course. True of any legit business.
23
€70 spent at the dentist. Nice place, well equipped, center of town. Two receptionists, and then the dentist herself spending an hour with me. Hard to imagine they’re earning much profit from that one visit. Would love to see the economics of it all.
24
One way to have a big advantage in business: become really good at what you do. That alone doesn’t guarantee success, but it’s hard to succeed without it. I reckon I can become very good at providing marketing services to local businesses. I already fancy myself better than many of the people I see doing it.
25
James Clear once wrote…
If a decision is reversible, the biggest risk is moving too slow. If a decision is irreversible, the biggest risk is moving too fast.
Trouble is, many decisions fall somewhere in between.
26
Talking with a potential client, a business owner looking to automate some repetitive tasks. Not sure how much I can help because I’m still fairly new to this stuff. But I’ll put in the work and see if I can make some magic happen. Because if I can, there’s plenty more where he came from.
27
Dropped the car off at the garage early this morning, took the bus home. Saw some things. Doting grandparents walking their nietitos to school. Shopkeepers opening up, waving at the driver. Slanted sunshine on a riverside path. A neighbor heading to work.
28
Seeing what Google Veo 3 can do, the latest and greatest AI video generator. Has me thinking we’re not far away from seeing a blockbuster movie that’s completely AI-generated. Some will hate that idea, but I’m all for it. Unleash more creativity.
29
I often think about that scene at the start of Idiocracy. The dumb people keep having kids, don’t think or plan ahead. Meanwhile, the smart people keep holding off, waiting until they’re more financially secure or whatever. And then they end up never having kids. Not so smart after all.
30
Lawrence of Arabia is a fascinating movie, but the acting is very theatrical, every word and gesture emphasized as if they’re in a theatre playing for the back row. Lots of old movies are like that, but The Best Years of Our Lives from 1946 is different. Very natural acting and storytelling, really well done.
31
Been about 3 weeks since I started having morning conversations with AI in Spanish. Only 10-15 minutes per day, and it’s helping much more than Duolingo ever did. Enjoying it more, too. Thought for a long time that I really needed to hire a teacher but now probably not.