These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
My business is a constant grind, today a prime example. I take solace in it, knowing that most of my competitors aren’t going to put in so much consistent effort. Words from Munger also comfort me…
To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people.
2
Struggled putting together the newsletter this morning. Still not entirely happy with this next edition, but I’ll ship it anyway. I try to keep the schedule sacred, send it out every Tuesday and Friday, even if it’s not perfect. Regular rugged reps, better than occasional flawless steps.
3
The end of this trail is a 200-year-old iron mine. The route itself is how they used to transport the iron they pulled out of there. The water running off the mountain is stained red. I walk there for 2 hours in the cold drizzle, have it all to myself, king of banks and stones and every blooming thing.
4
Occasionally I get emails from people asking for a refund. Except I don’t sell anything. They’re referring to a course I’ve reviewed, usually one I’ve rated poorly. Somehow they find my review, assume I created the course, and send me the refund request. I feel bad for them, try to help out.
5
Met a guy once who was going bald, decided to embrace it, got laser hair removal on his head. I think about him twice a week when I’m shaving mine, how much time he must have saved over the years.
6
Apparently, a few months ago, Kevin Spacey was found not guilty of all those sexual harassment charges brought against him. Does that mean he was actually innocent, or they just couldn’t prove him guilty? Regardless, it’s noteworthy that the outcome of his trial seems to have received far less publicity than those first accusations.
7
I’m glad I don’t have kids right now. I’d be torn between work and family, wanting to spend more time at both, never feeling like I spend enough time at either. I expect it’s hard to be professionally ambitious and a good dad at the same time.
8
These Peter Grainger novels are phenomenal, onto my 12th now. His books have thousands of reviews online, but he still seems underrated somehow. Listened to an interview with him today. Apparently none of his books are in print, all digital. He hasn’t been able to find a traditional publisher.
9
I keep track of revenue earned since starting eBiz Facts at the end of 2018, recently crossed $800,000. I remember that first commission of $14.50. Right away, I sensed I was onto something. And it still feels like I’m just getting warmed up here, plenty more where that $800K came from.
10
Feels like a physical weight on my shoulders when the tasks pile up, getting heavier and heavier. Managed to get through a lot of it today, cleared my inbox and notifications. Now I feel lighter. It would probably be healthier if I could just ignore that stuff for longer stretches, not feel it weighing on me.
11
Updating some of our pages that have dropped in the rankings. It’s a weird game, trying to please Google. Sometimes that means making an article worse in some ways, at least in my opinion. You look at what Big G seems to be rewarding and you tweak your content to be more like that.
12
Crossed a couple of borders to get to this town. There’s a nice park, surrounding a lake full of ducks, views of the mountains framed with red and orange leaves, families and friends scattered about, at peace. The type of place that makes you wonder if you should move your whole life here.
13
Brushing up against burnout again. No surprise really, barely took my foot off the gas the past 17 days. So I pulled back today, indulged in my favorite form of relaxation: laid out on the couch watching a quality movie.
14
Fincher was the director who made me love cinema. I was 15 years old when I saw Se7en for the first time, blew my mind. I didn’t know movies could be that good. Saw Fight Club a few years later and that sealed it.
15
Proud of my bad days, because they’re never that bad anymore. Used to be that I’d self-destruct when I was feeling low, binge on Netflix and junk food and barely move all day. Now on a bad day I still eat super-clean, do my stretching and steps, and I might watch a movie or two max.
16
A good thing to keep in mind: how I react to a situation is not how everyone would react to the same situation. So the situation isn’t really the issue. It’s how I’m reacting to it. If I can imagine someone else handling the same situation better, then I have room for improvement.
17
Was suffering through a few days of burnout but back to my usual productive self today, ripping through a bunch of tasks. Always amazes me how a task can seem insurmountable one day, then feel like a breeze the next. Procrastination can sometimes be your best move.
18
3:30am, in the dark, looking across at the neighboring apartment. It’s a party of some sort. Flashing lights, several men, no women, everyone either shirtless or dressed in drag. But the thing I find strangest of all is that I can’t hear any music.
19
This day 13 years ago was my last day as an employee. Hard to believe it’s been that long. I definitely thought entrepreneurship would be easier than it has been, but if I could go back I’d choose the same path again. It’s been one hell of a vehicle for personal growth.
20
13 years deep and still making rookie mistakes: set up an automation wrong in my email software and accidentally unsubbed 5000+ people from my newsletter. Several hours later and I haven’t figured out how to resubscribe them.
21
I’m aiming for exceptional success in my business, and that requires sacrifice. Definitely the #1 thing I’ve sacrificed over the years is friendship. I have very few close friends. And I don’t spend much time with those I do have. I’m okay with this sacrifice for another few years. Can’t have it all at the same time.
22
The leaves took months to grow and reach their potential. Then they slowly started to fade, some of them dropping off. There were still plenty on the trees until yesterday. A couple of days of wind and snow, and now they’ve all pretty much disappeared.
23
Can’t stop myself sometimes. Feels like I might be approaching burnout again, should probably have taken the afternoon off. But instead I stayed working until dark. The trouble with being your own boss is that you can’t really tell him to piss off.
24
My Black Friday purchase: dashcam for my car. One-time purchase, set it up and forget about it. I’m always amazed at how careless many people are when driving. Eventually I expect I’ll end up in an accident that wasn’t my fault. When that happens, I’ll be very thankful for the dashcam.
25
Every morning for the past few weeks, I take that little book down from the hiding place at the top of my closet, open it up and copy a few lines into it from a Google Doc. I believe this will be the sixth year, the sixth book.
26
Driving home after a 2 hour walk in the mountains, feeling that nice kind of tired, full moon shining in the sky on the final stretch… then Fairytale of New York comes on the radio, first time I’ve heard it this year. One of those timeless moments I hope I never forget.
27
Saw a lot of dogs today. I had a dog all through my teenage years, a little brown terrier. We used to head off up the fields on long walks, would be gone for hours, exploring. I was away on my travels when he died, never got to say goodbye.
28
Another day, another dog. This one is smaller than a cat, yapping at me by the 500-year-old monastery after my walk around the hills. Eventually he comes over and lets me pet him, trembling a bit. A minute later he’s back to yapping.
29
I know I’m in for a tough day when my brain struggles with morning Spanish practice, making dumb mistakes all over the place. Was tempted to quit this morning but stuck with it, though I’m not sure if it helps to struggle through.
30
Drove to and from Barcelona today, brought back a haul of Christmas shopping. Driving and shopping… two of my least favorite things. James Taylor sang that the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. I try to remember that on days like today, but it doesn’t do much good.