These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
I’ll quit doing my monthly finance reports soon, just post annual updates instead. It takes too long to put together each report, could spend that time better elsewhere. Won’t quit though until revenue picks up again. Otherwise it might look like I stopped being transparent as soon as the going got tough.
2
My silly little online business finally hit $1M in total revenue. Took almost 6 years, and revenue has been dropping lately – Google Updates, ugh – but I’m going to take a breath and appreciate this milestone. And the next $1M is supposed to be easier, right? Right??
3
Great work energy lately, fizzing with it again today. With that buzz going, it’s easy to feel good about the future. Because I know my business will do well so long as I can put the hours in. Felt tired and sluggish a lot the last two years but hopefully I’ve turned the corner.
4
Sometimes it’s best to leave it until tomorrow. The thing that seems like a big deal, the obstacle that seems insurmountable, the situation that seems impossible. Just put it in a drawer for the night and get some sleep. Odds are, when you open it up again the next day, it’s not so bad.
5
Reading my 19th Peter Grainger book, by far the most I’ve read from one author. This one’s another banger, excited to get back to it before bed each night. And I marvel at how he puts these stories together. An absolute master at work.
6
My life has become quite boring. From the outside at least. I’m content with my day-to-day for the most part, but it’s a lot of routine, a lot of sitting in front of a screen. I do sometimes wonder, if all this work doesn’t pay off like I expect it to, will I look back and regret how I spent my time.
7
Clocked more work hours today than sleep hours last night. Hadn’t done that in a long time, feels great to be able to do it again. The last couple of years have given me a lot of empathy for people with chronic fatigue. I only had a taste of it, and that was enough.
8
Takes me 16 minutes on average to write up each story for the newsletter. Five stories in each send. I also have to write up the promo spot (sometimes) and do some admin. Altogether, I spend about 2 hours on each edition, so four hours a week spent putting the newsletter together.
9
This new focus on business ideas feels right, like a jigsaw piece clicking into place. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s a good move. I’ve had this feeling many times before. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. Hopefully my judgement has improved over the years.
10
I ran the Dublin marathon when I was 21 years old. Finished in 3 hours 41 minutes. There’s a photo of me somewhere, right after I crossed the line, looking miserable. My back was on fire and I was completely drained. Promised myself I’d never do another one. Strange to think that was half my life ago already.
11
Listening to Pat Flynn talking about Shorts, how he’s cracked the code. I resisted listening to that episode for a few days. Partly because I knew it would make me want to change my own process. And changing that takes time and effort. I have to fight the urge to avoid that.
12
Growing your own food sounds romantic. But a neighbor gave us some salad she grew herself and it took me ten minutes to wash enough for one meal. Reminds me that “the simple life” isn’t so much simple as it is inconvenient.
13
About five hours today playing around with video stuff, figuring out a new format to try for Shorts. This is how goes: you keep experimenting until you hit on something that works, then you double down on that, ride the wave until it fades. Then you start all over again.
14
Finally getting back to weight training. It gets harder to build muscle after age 50, so I’ve got about 7.5 years to bulk up, then maintain. Should serve me well as I get older. I’ve read that muscle weakness is linked to 85% of falls in elderly people. And a bad fall is often the beginning of the end.
15
5:30am and I wake up in severe pain, yelling and rolling trying to make it stop. Lasts max ten seconds but feels like an eternity. It’s my left calf, cramping. Maybe the weight lifting triggered it. New plan going forward: blast my calves with a Theragun every night before bed.
16
Two years in Andorra and my Spanish still sucks. It’s by design, since I’ve intentionally been devoting time to other priorities, mainly business. But easy to forget that and feel frustrated with my slow progress. Like on that call today, hung up on her in the end, my brain having a little tantrum.
17
Started feeling weird an hour ago, now I’ve got two fingers down my throat, hunched over the toilet bowl, trying to make myself puke. Not the worst food poisoning I’ve had, but enough to derail my day. Going to try make the most of it, spend the afternoon watching movies on the couch.
18
Andorra is a rich little country in Western Europe, full of educated people with plenty of resources. Many things work well, but I often run into stuff that boggles my mind. Like this driving theory test setup. How can their system be that shit, consistently?
19
Recorded video for 12 shorts today. Trying a different format now, more casual, less bells and whistles, ditching the green screen. We’ll see if that makes any difference. I don’t expect to go viral or anything but it would be nice to see the audience growing steadily.
20
I sometimes fantasize about how much I’d get done if there were two of me. But if there were two of me, I bet we’d fantasize about how much we’d get done if there were four of us. I don’t think it will ever let up, this desire to do more, no matter how much I get done.
21
Using ChatGPT more and more by voice. You can just chat with it back and forth, hands free. Get information, have it act as a therapist, help you practice Spanish, whatever. Blows my mind that the text version of this didn’t even exist two years ago. It’s quickly become an essential part of my life.
22
It’s been more than 5000 days since I quit my job. Coming up on 14 years. I was 28 years old when I quit, which means I’ve now been working for myself much longer than I worked for anyone else. And it still often feels like I’m making it up as I go along.
23
5:10am, woke up thinking about funerals. If people I knew 20+ years ago – friends, teachers, coaches etc. – suddenly died, would I even hear about it? And if so, would I make the quick trip home to pay my respects? No clear answer. I get up and start my day.
24
There’s an autistic chap in Ireland on a mission to record every birdsong in the country. Listened to him on a podcast today, tales of birds mimicking the sounds of cats, dogs and horses. Reminded me that every topic can be fascinating when you have a good guide.
25
First time at the university, in a room with a needle in my arm, clenching and unclenching my fist, filling up a bag of blood. Mainly doing this for a selfish reason. Recent tests showed my blood has too much iron, and regular donations help reduce that.
26
It’s a bit mad alright, all the harsh sanctions against Russia and Russians, but very little against Israel. Lots of experts are calling that pager fiasco last week an act of terrorism. But I doubt we’ll see Israeli citizens suffering from severe travel or banking restrictions anytime soon.
27
Running your own business… a lot of it is just eating shit, day after day. Until eventually, hopefully, you stumble upon something that works. I’m 14 years deep working for myself and I still eat shit constantly. You kind of get used to the taste of it though.
28
Newsletter feedback has improved a lot overall since I changed the format. But inevitably some people don’t like it. And some of them have taken the change very personally. Got a message from one guy today who feels betrayed, and annoyed that I don’t respond to his feedback.
29
Spent a couple of hours today taking a good hard look at the business, where it’s currently at, where it’s heading, what my next move should be. Have a plan now for Q4 that I feel good about. Probably no chance I’ll get everything done, but I’ll give it my best shot.
30
Had a bit of a scare while driving recently, my mistake, merging too late at high speed. Lucky not to cause an accident. I’ve had a few moments like that over the years, silly decisions that could have severely altered (or ended) my life, but I got away with it. Some people aren’t so fortunate.