These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Back home on a different road. Lots of beautiful little mountain towns along the way, more so on the Spanish side. Passed through a French town called Saint-Béat. It used to be renowned for marble and sculpture, lots of quarries nearby. But the glory days are long gone. There’s a sadness about the place now.
2
83kg and 17.5% body fat when I measured this morning, down from 87.55kg and 19.5% at the end of March. Happy with that drop, especially since I never really felt like I was depriving myself. But that’s enough cutting. The goal now is to maintain weight until I can prioritize muscle gain.
3
Thinking through how I’ll start producing regular videos again. Review videos will be tricky, not sure how those will come together. But I have a good sense of how we’ll produce short-form videos, excited about that now. Ordered a teleprompter today.
4
Feeling drained and out of sorts today. Evening walk along the old iron route helped, listening to Tara Brach ramble about gratitude as I took in the flowing waters, sprouting crops, people out walking their dogs, exchanging smiles with strangers. I’m glad I live here.
5
And he stops and looks at her, imploring her verse. She turns and looks at him.
Jack just standing there on stage willing to sit in the silence. Just looking at her… Waiting… One moment feels like forever until Ally summons the courage steps on stage and starts to sing from the wings —
6
Drained again today, but glad I have work that needs to get done. Otherwise I’d probably sit here a lot longer bingeing random YouTube videos. Then I’d look up and it’d be lunchtime and I wouldn’t have accomplished anything and I’d feel even worse. Grateful for these responsibilities.
7
Going back through my old tracking sheets, looking for patterns. Amazed at the deep work hours I was clocking back in 2019-2020. During one stretch: six out of nine months with 100+ hours. And now I haven’t clocked more than 80+ in a single month for almost two years. Something changed, but I’m not sure what it was.
8
Last met this chap in Berlin almost eight years ago. Now we’re sitting down for coffee and chat in a small town in the Pyrenees, as the final leg of an obstacle course race unfolds right there on the main drag. We talk about religion and conspiracies, work and travel, drugs and alcohol.
9
Hate to see a site like Retro Dodo getting crushed by Google updates. They do a great job in their niche, produce excellent content, and have strong socials. Can’t really point to anything they’re doing wrong. Hard to be optimistic about the future of SEO when such sites are struggling.
10
I listen to podcasts pretty much non-stop now. When cooking, cleaning, stretching, even when going to the bathroom. Not sure this is a good thing. My brain is constantly engaged, rarely has any time to be at rest or daydream. Could be part of the reason my energy levels feel a lot lower these days.
11
Pretty much impossible for my doctor to be good at her job. She probably sees 20-30 patients a day, max 20 minutes at a time. She can’t remember the specifics of each case, has no time to write up good notes or check the latest research. Makes it hard to trust her recommendations.
12
20+ applications for my video editor job. Half of them didn’t send any work samples. How can they expect anyone to hire them without a portfolio to prove they’re legit? I’m tempted to reply and try talk some sense into them, but I’m not going to take on that responsibility. Enough on my plate.
13
Not going to make any changes just yet, but more and more I’m thinking my business could look completely different a year from now. Might not make sense to keep reviews as the main thing. Should know one way or the other in six months or so.
14
Hate to admit it, but I get jealous of other entrepreneurs, people I consider my peers but who are doing much better than me. I’ll keep an eye out for some character flaw they have, so I can feel superior in one way at least. The most annoying are those without any obvious flaws. Just good people doing good work.
15
Watching 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea from 1954. Kirk Douglas, late 30’s, in his prime. The man lived another 66 years after that, only passed away in 2020 at age 103. If I live that long, I’ll die in the year 2085. Can’t imagine what kind of world that will be.
16
We were in France recently, on a voie verte there, lots of people greeting us as they rode past. There’s something delightful about the word bonjour. Sounds more pleasant and welcoming than hello or hola, especially when you drag it out a bit.
17
Hard to imagine the downsides of achieving your goals. We tell ourselves that everything will be better then, but that’s never really the case. Everything has pros and cons. I wouldn’t say no to a billion dollars, but I bet there are a ton of problems that come with such wealth. Managing it, personal security, knowing who to trust, etc.
18
Ended up testing out 9 video editors, had them all create a short from the same source material. Four of them were pretty good, although some are billing me for 7 hours, others for only 2. Also, must resist picking the style I personally like the most, better to pick what’s likely to do best online.
19
I hate feeling like I’m in the way. When driving, if I’m at the speed limit and someone is coming up fast behind me, I have a strong urge to speed up or let them to pass. I have a begrudging respect for people who go at their own preferred speed, tailgaters be damned.
20
Woke up at 5am, head already spinning with video ideas. Couldn’t fall back asleep so got up and scripted out four more shorts. Felt a bit like 2019, when I’d wake up way too early, excited to get to work. Though back then it happened pretty much every day for several months.
21
Trying not to be too pedantic when giving feedback to my new video editor. I have good attention to detail, but the details don’t matter much for short form videos. Main thing is that they’re engaging and we produce them fast. Better to have 100 imperfect than 50 perfect.
22
I’m aware this makes me sound like a nutcase, but my low energy issues began around the same time I started using wireless earbuds. Been using them for ~3 hours a day ever since. Not saying there’s a link, but I’ll switch to wired headphones for a month, see if it makes any difference.
23
Andorra celebrates the summer solstice tonight. In keeping with an old tradition, there are bonfires, big spinning wheels of fire, and – probably not so old a tradition – the setting off of firecrackers every few seconds. Great for teenagers, not so great for dogs.
24
Waiting for the buzz to wear off this video stuff but it’s still going strong, have 4 shorts ready to post and a bunch more in the pipeline. Also, my lady suggested a change with our reviews today that makes a lot of sense and has me buzzing even more. Business has become fun again.
25
Basketball scrimmage, one of the guys comes to me after and asks what I’d advise to get in better shape. I find it a bit strange that he’s asking me. Not like I’m in amazing shape, and I’m not any kind of fitness or health professional. Do I advise him best I can or tell him to ask an actual expert?
26
Unexpected bonus of this new teleprompter: I can use it for calls, put the video of the other person on the prompter, so I’m looking right at them but also at the camera. Feels much more personal. Figured it out today while chatting with 3 people I’ll be meeting in London next month.
27
When I was younger, I spent a lot of time thinking about the present and future. Now I’m 42, and I spend quite a bit of time thinking about the past as well. I wonder, when I’m in my 70’s or 80’s, will I think little about the present and future and mostly reminisce?
28
Oof. Watching the highlights (lowlights?) of that Trump-Biden debate. No way either of those men should be the next president of the USA. One’s not all there and the other’s a dangerous narcissist. I feel sad for America. 333 million people and these two are your only options?
29
Been pushing too hard this week, working too much. I know I should take it easy today, get some rest before I really need it so I’m less likely to burn out. But that’s hard for me. As long as I have the urge and the energy, I stay at my computer and try get ahead on some things. An addiction of sorts.
30
Halfway through the year. Traffic is down, revenue is down, and I’ve gotten less accomplished than expected. And yet I’m feeling strangely optimistic about the future. If we can just keep chipping away and be consistently not stupid, I’m confident we’ll do well in the long run.