These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Bought a big new television today. Could barely fit it in the car to take home. We’ll have a really nice home cinema thing going on once it’s all set up. Would be amazing for gaming as well, but I wouldn’t trust myself with a console.
2
Ran 4 kilometers into the woods before getting severe cramp in my leg. It’s -3°C, I’m wearing shorts, and the sun is about to set. I know I’m not in any real danger – I can hobble home in an hour max – so I’m excited for the adventure.
3
Great seasonal vibe here at the Christmas market in Andorra la Vella. String lights and big outdoor heaters, stalls selling all sorts of stuff, live music that hits the spot. Best of all, we’re hanging out with some great people.
4
Walking down around the town, seeing the effect of all that snowfall last night. This is the most people I’ve seen out and about here. People sledding down a hillside, families building snowmen, kids throwing snowballs…
5
Been a bit under the weather the last couple of days. Nothing too bad, but enough to derail lots of work stuff. A big focus for next year needs to be: removing myself as a bottleneck, so my team can be fully productive without me.
6
Course creators sometimes grant us access to their course so we can review it. They tend to assume we’ll rate it highly so we can earn more commissions. But we review each course using the same objective process, and the resulting rating isn’t always great. That’s when some course creators get very upset with us.
7
Feel like I’m badly in need of some time off. This whole year has been pretty hectic, big life and business transitions. Being sick the last few days, the work stuff has piled up. Loads I wanted to get done before the end of the year, but little motivation or energy for it now.
8
The daily newsletter thing isn’t going great. Open rates are down, subscriber churn is quite high, and creating the content for it is more draining than expected. Thinking now to make it twice-weekly, starting around the turn of the year.
9
Reading about a guy who just sold his business, achieved FIRE at age 33, and now he’s fairly depressed, searching for direction. Seems to happen a lot. Though somehow I don’t think I’d be depressed or aimless if I retired early.
10
One of my big issues is trying to do too much, or trying to make things happen too fast. I put extra helpings on my plate and then get stressed and overwhelmed. Gotta remind myself that there’s no rush. I’m not in a race.
11
I was struggling to write something for this today, then thought of logging into ChatGPT and getting that to write for me. Unfortunately the service is at capacity, can’t use it. But I wonder, if I had used it, would you have been able to tell?
12
Driving down to Barcelona, going to spend a few days. We’ll do some shopping, walk around a bit, see some things. Main thing for me is to not work much. Being away from home gives me a good excuse, harder to fall into my default.
13
Wandering around Plaça de Catalunya in the drizzle, recalling my memories of this town. First time here was off a cruise ship from Miami, close to closing the big loop. Second time was with my lady, visiting Gaudi’s edificios on a scooter.
14
Got a couple of hours of work done this morning and really enjoyed it. Probably because I’ve had some good time away from my laptop the last couple of days, recharged the batteries a bit, gave myself a chance to miss it.
15
Noticed that I’ve developed a resting bitch face. I look grumpy walking around in public. Tried keeping a slight smile on my face while exploring Barcelona today. Seems to help lighten my mood as well.
16
Every now and then I’ll get a message like this, leaves me shaking my head…
Hey Niall, I read your article about the best affiliate marketing courses. Which course do you think is best?
17
Back in Andorra, and this place is really starting to feel like home. I thought we’d have to downgrade our apartment situation moving here, given how limited the options were. But somehow we ended up in a place way better than before.
18
Watched the new Avatar this eve. This and the first one are basically just a rehashing of old stories – colonial genocide, Moby-Dick, etc. – with a strong environmental message and spectacular visuals. And they’re awesome.
19
There’s that saying: we overestimate what we can get done in a day, and underestimate what we can get done in a year. That was very true for me in 2022 The days were short but the year was long, and we accomplished a lot.
20
Surveyed my newsletter subscribers, went through the responses today. It’s clear I need to abandon the daily emails. Other feedback not so clear. The very things some people say they like, other folks complain about.
21
I’ve built up some good fitness and diet habits. One default for me now is 7000+ steps per day. Been doing that for ~200 days in a row. There are days I don’t leave the house but I’ll jog on the spot for a few minutes at a time to get my steps up.
22
Didn’t have the head for work today so out exploring nearby trails. It’s a bit mad, but I’m always on the lookout for hidden caves or abandoned buildings, places we could ride out some kind of zombie apocalypse. Found a pretty good one today.
23
Watching movies like Love Actually and American Pie, it strikes me how far we’ve come in the last ~20 years. Lots of stuff in there played for laughs that’d be considered unacceptable for a new movie in 2022.
24
This is now my highest revenue month ever. Almost $30k on the books. Which is great, but unfortunately it’s not sustainable. It’s mainly due to some sales around October and November. Plus, one of my better affiliate partners is closing their program soon.
25
A lazy and cozy Christmas. Watching movies and sports, plus a few nice messages sent and received. Food wise I didn’t do anything special. Four squares of dark chocolate was as crazy as I got. It’s been more than a year since I last abused food.
26
Back to work, trying to figure out the new newsletter setup. Looking for that simplicity at the far side of complexity. Sucks getting there, feels like I’m trying to hack through a dense forest with a butter knife. Worst thing is, I’m not even sure this is the right forest.
27
Started reading Essentialism again today. Feeling like I need the reminder. Coming into the new year especially, it’s easy for me to get all excited and line up way too many projects and promises. And I already have too much on my plate.
28
Started eBiz Facts just over four years ago now. The last three years combined, it’s earned about $530,000 in revenue. And yet it still feels like I don’t really know what I’m doing, just making it up as I go along and hoping for the best.
29
Looks like they really are increasing the entry fee here in Andorra from $15,000 to $50,000 per person. We got in just in time; $50k a pop would have put it out of reach. Somehow we’ve ended up residents of one of the most exclusive countries in the world.
30
I asked ChatGPT to write a paragraph in the style of Niall Doherty’s Momentos. Here’s what it came back with…
The sun was setting over the ocean as I sat on the beach, my feet buried in the warm sand. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath, feeling the tension in my body melting away. I had been traveling for months now, moving from one place to another, always searching for something. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I had a feeling that I would know it when I found it.
31
Some of my numbers from 2022…
- 3.3 million steps tracked
- 729.8 deep work hours
- $194,008 business revenue
- 38 books read
- 85 movies watched
- 7.87 average hours sleep per night
- 4 contractors hired
- 1.3 million pageviews on website
- 5 countries visited
- 5 flights taken
- Ended the year weighing 85.5kg with 18.4% body fat