These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Ask ten random people on the street in Andorra: how happy are you today, on a scale of 1 to 10? The answers probably won’t differ much. But methinks you’ll get many different answers if you ask the same ten people: how satisfied are you with your life situation right now?
2
Asking this affiliate manager what sets their best affiliates apart. He tells me they all go way above and beyond what’s expected of them. I reckon that’s generally true for anyone exceptionally successful: they were willing and able to put a lot into it.
3
My weight doesn’t fluctuate, stays at 81KG consistently. My meals are always the same, no cheat days, I do my 20-minute weights and stretching routine every day, and I average 10-11K steps per day. Might sound boring, but I like that it’s automatic now, don’t have to think about it.
4
Reading and relating to this in a newsletter…
My friend tweeted 18 months ago about how awesome everything was going. All his businesses were crushing it. He felt unstoppable.
When I had him on my podcast recently, he called that his “local top.” The next 12 months? “Eating glass and staring into the abyss.”
5
Heading to Ireland soon so I’m stockpiling stories for the newsletter. Spent 2.3 hours researching today, 1.9 hours writing, ended up with 15 stories, enough for 3 editions. Just need to tag and polish them a bit and I’m done. Apart from intros and promos.
6
Getting a little more comfortable speaking Spanish, day by day. Called the rental car place this morning, was able to ask them to change the booking, gave them a reason why, got it all sorted. Nothing too complicated but it’s nice when the conversation flows and I don’t sound like a complete idiot.
7
Got chatting with this lady in the sauna. From Japan, husband from the UK, they have a house in France and teach Japanese online. Decided last minute today to visit Andorra. She says people stare at her here more than she expected, makes her uncomfortable.
8
Rented a 4×4, exploring the mountains east of Andorra. Driving through streams and puddles and forgotten villages. Stopping off for lunch at an unmarked spot we name Bubble Creek. Until we get back on paved roads, we see more wild deer and fox than people. It’s a beautiful day.
9
Really enjoyed that trip yesterday. Only cost €100 for the car rental plus fuel, brought food and water with us, we were in the middle of nowhere within 2 hours, easy to return home the same day and sleep in our own beds. Eager now to do it more often. Feeling refreshed and energized.
10
Looking at this list of companies with 1000+ customers = $100K+ monthly revenue. None of them are doing anything particularly fancy, just reselling HighLevel as their own software. Anyone could do that. But it’s the marketing that’s key, how they get those customers.
11
I wake up with a tennis ball between my shoulder blades. It’s taped to the tshirt I’m wearing, an experiment to see if it stops me from sleeping on my back. I snore that way, which isn’t great for herself. And therefore not great for me.
12
7am start, the usual rush to get packed, 3 hour drive to the airport, stormy weather, no problem, games on the plane, rental car drama, groceries and birthday cards, 2 hour drive to the homestead, hugs for the padres, turkey and potatoes, finally some rest.
13
Walking the main drag in Waterford, always interesting to see what shops are there now. I notice lots of phone repair shops, more of them than ever. Less pubs than there used to be. But probably the best biz in town is that bookies on the high street. I bet they’re raking it in.
14
Visiting the Heritage Center. Hunter gatherers in Ireland 9000 years ago, their brains the same as ours, but pottery was the height of their technology, and so they lived red in tooth and claw, sleeping in straw and mud huts if they were lucky.
15
He’s family, much loved, but many years since I’d seen him. 77 years old, fit and active, was out walking hills the day before. Suffered a massive stroke, and that’s pretty much the end. He’s lucky in a way, his health span and life span overlapping almost perfectly. That’s the ideal.
16
All very civil at dinner, but then it’s the three of us lads in the car for two hours and we get to talking about lad things, from the profound to the disgusting, plenty of laughs along the way. I always enjoy these kinds of chats with these kinds of people, but it’s rare I have them nowadays.
17
Morning with the young man and my best bud. Head into town. Drizzle walks and breakfast talks. Bus back home, broke down twice, ASD chap beside me a bit flustered. Trying to meditate. Two dinners, more chats. Squeezing in some work tasks.
18
Been in this busy cafe a half hour and 80% of the people look very unhealthy, many overweight or obese. Ireland wasn’t like this when I was a kid. The change is shocking to me. It’s normal here now for people to be fat. And most folks don’t seem to think it’s a big deal.
19
Kilmacthomas viaduct built 150 years ago, story of a castle been and gone, Ireland motivating me the usual way, good to step back, think about what I can change and improve, start meditating again, read books that keep me sane, oh look more rain.
20
This funeral home is a stone’s throw from a house I lived in during college. Standing here now shaking hands with relatives I haven’t seen in decades. I go pay my respects to the man himself. Others are placing a hand on his. I don’t do that, but later I’ll wish I did.
21
Heading back to Andorra. Good few days in Ireland, lots of reflection. Very clear to me now that I’m listening to too many podcasts, always keeping my brain busy, no time for my mind to wander, to feel at peace. I’ve barely listened to podcasts on this trip, haven’t missed them.
22
My goal now is to maintain my usual levels of productivity, but drop the stress that comes from feeling that I should be getting even more done. Because that stress isn’t at all helpful. In fact, it’s actively harmful. A clone of me minus the stress would be as productive, but much happier.
23
Trying to get obsessed with meditation. I see that as the key for me now. Ultimately meditation = better control of my mind = less prone to distraction and stress. I’ve meditated on and off in the past, but very little the last several years. Let’s see if I can stick with it this time.
24
Do we have more experiences nowadays, more things vying for our attention, and therefore it’s harder to remember details? Thinking of Tom Holland’s character in Heart of the Sea. He wrote down his memories decades later. Maybe he was able to remember perfectly.
25
When you have too much to do, the trap is to work faster, work longer, try to fit everything in somehow. But the smart, sanity-preserving move is to step back and make hard decisions about which tasks/projects should be abandoned or postponed.
26
Already feeling the positive effects of vastly reducing my podcast consumption. Less distracted and irritable, more headspace, time to think. I’m more often enjoying the scenery out my window, appreciating the church bells when they ring. Many moments of peace and contentment.
27
Andorra is a small place. 81,000 people here. 0.8% death rate. That means 2 people die every day. Much more than I would have thought. Sobering to look up the place you live + the death rate and realize how often people around you are passing on.
28
On the verge of the flu for the past week. Today might have been the worst, but I had to put in several hours of work regardless, prepping for some big projects in August. I like to think these are the days I’ll look back on after reaching a big milestone and feel like I really earned it.
29
Slept more than ten hours last night, felt like a new man today. I was wondering when was the last time I slept 10+ hours in one night. And because I’m weird and track everything, I was able to look back through my logs and see that it was in October 2023. I was sick then, too.
30
Reminded recently of these words by M Scott Peck, first read them twenty years ago…
Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult—once we truly understand and accept it—then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
31
Spent most of the day editing a video. It’s tedious work, especially when I haven’t done it for a few months. Spent a long time just figuring out the basics again. Planning to put out a new video each week in August. Ambitious plan, but we gotta give this thing our best shot.