These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Friend of mine used to make $20k a month doing some grey-hat SEO stuff online. Could have kept going, but didn’t feel good about it, so he quit. I respect that. $20k/month is great, but only if your conscience is clear with how you’re earning it.
2
Mark Manson wrote recently about the Law of Unintended Consequences. That applies to SEO, too. Say you drop in the rankings, prompting you to update your content… that might actually make things worse. Sometimes the best response is to do nothing at all.
3
This day four years ago the world stopped making sense to me. I was no fan of his opponent, but Trump getting elected felt like a violation of physics. I love America, yet his presidency made me glad I no longer lived there. Hopefully the world will make more sense tomorrow.
4
One of the hard things about working for yourself is feeling guilty when you’re not getting stuff done. I’ve been fairly unproductive the past couple of weeks. Money is still flowing, but I’m stressed with the thought that I should have more checked off my list by now.
5
Finding clients or customers isn’t much different to finding a romantic partner: the one thing you DON’T do is come across desperate and plead with them to give you a chance. That approach rarely works. And when it does, you end up in a toxic relationship.
6
Few things frustrate me more than being at the mercy of someone who sucks at their job. Been like that at the bank this week. They’re supposed to be professionals, yet it’s like they have no idea what they’re doing, and little desire to get better at their craft.
7
Thought nothing of him at the time, figured he was just parking cars, collecting change. He must have tried the boot when we left, found it accidentally unlocked. We were only gone 10 minutes, didn’t notice the laptops missing until several hours and 100 kilometers later.
8
Impressed that they sent 5 cops and a translator, took a scent sample, sealed off the scene with police tape, and dusted the entire vehicle for fingerprints. But shouldn’t the priority be to check the tape from the three cameras on this street that might have seen something?
9
Out of the sulfur baths, heading back towards town. Along the way there are playful kittens, muddy roads, broken bridges, a big man with a black eye, a statue beneath a waterfall, Jake Sully from Avatar, fallen leaves shaped like snowflakes.
10
It’s like we have these woods to ourselves, in all their autumn glory. Brown bears and grey wolves are also known to roam these parts, but sightings are rare. Yesterday a taxi man told us of a hiker eaten by wolves out here years ago, but nare a whisper of that on the internet.
11
No word from the police since, not sure they ever checked those cameras. Fuck it. Buying a new laptop tomorrow. Every day I wait is a day I’m less productive, and therefore less wealthy. A good laptop is like an ATM for me: push those buttons and the money comes a-flowing.
12
Storyworthy reminds me of the value of writing these every day, capturing moments. Easy to forget them otherwise. Maybe try similar yourself. At the end of each day, write a quick answer to this:
What is my story from today? What is the thing about today that has made it different from any previous day?
13
I aim for 60 hours of “deep work” each month, haven’t missed that mark since June of last year. So far this month I’ve logged only 9 hours. Been distracted with lots of random errands and annoyances. Let’s see if I can refocus and keep my streak alive.
14
Started drinking alcohol again recently, the occasional glass of wine. Almost ten years I’d been sober. I had an unhealthy relationship with booze back then, feels like I can drink responsibly now. I’d prefer that weed be my drug, but that’s illegal here.
15
When I was eleven the teacher asked for a movie everyone had seen. I volunteered Jurassic Park. It had come out that summer. I was obsessed. Turned out few of my classmates had actually seen it. One of the first times I realized that we all live in our own little worlds.
16
Occurred to me today why misleading info on the internet bothers me so much. Something to do with my teenage years, details I’d rather keep private. Amazing though that I’m 38 years old and still unraveling motivations and behaviors that began in adolescence.
17
At the bank and the teller’s being all pouty and unhelpful. Empathetic me feels for her; it’s a shit job and she’s probably getting paid peanuts. Not-so-empathetic me predicts that she’ll be working shit jobs the rest of her life with that kind of attitude.
18
I’d been doing the exercise routine from The Happy Body for 71 consecutive days. Then I missed a day. Words from Atomic Habits got me back on track:
The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.
19
Exactly ten years ago was my last day as an employee, my last day working 9-to-5, my big leap into the unknown. Looking back, I was incredibly naive and overly optimistic. And for that I’m forever grateful.
20
After I quit that job I went back to Ireland and burned my old teenage diaries. Part of my fresh start, letting go of my past self and everything that had held me back. I understand why I did it, won’t beat myself up about it. But the older I get, the more I want to remember.
21
At peace. The sound of running water, nursing a glass of kombucha, thinking about trees. Learned last night that some trees, when a particular insect eats their leaves, release a chemical that attracts a predator that feeds on that insect.
22
Over 4000 cases per day now in Georgia, a country with a population of only 4 million. In a matter of months they went from one of the best countries at handling COVID to one of the worst. They have some restrictions in place, but no obvious enforcement.
23
I’ll clear $10k again this month and should clear it next month as well. That’s become the baseline for me now. Anything below that feels like a failure. Which is silly. The original plan was to be at $10k/month by the end of the year. I’m way ahead of schedule.
24
Plonked down $3,700 for media liability insurance yesterday. After being threatened with three lawsuits and one cease and desist letter this year, such insurance is a necessity if I want to keep my content honest and the bullies at bay.
25
This book has me mesmerized by tress. Apparently they can hear and taste and remember things. Now I’m noticing trees wherever I go and growing appalled at how little I know about them. 38-year-old me from the Irish countryside can’t even tell a birch from a sycamore.
26
Seneca once wrote:
Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with course and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: ‘Is this the condition that I feared?’
I went without banana in my porridge the past two days. Not sure that counts.
27
In a van with a man I just met. With the rear doors left open, he drives me round the back of an empty stadium to a small warehouse. Another man meets us there and carries out three heavy packages. There are supposed to be four. I ask them to open one.
28
Pretty much a wasted day. Needed to rest, but getting lost in a clickbait YouTube rabbit hole wasn’t the best way to do that. It’s the temporal equivalent of junk food. When I’m on my deathbed, these will be the kind of days I’ll regret the most.
29
This has been the least productive month I’ve had in a year and a half. Changes must be made. Going to start waking up to an alarm again, keep to a routine. No caffeine after 12pm. More movement throughout the day. A solid hour of work before checking any email.
30
Not waking up to an alarm is nice in many ways, but in my case it might have done more harm than good. Using an alarm makes me feel more proactive, like I’m take control of the day instead of just letting it happen to me.