These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Still haven’t started outreach to find clients for the agency. Been refining the offer, going through dozens of iterations, slowing stripping away the confusing and non-essential. Just when I think we’re finished, we find another level we can take it to. It’s tedious work. I hope it’s worth it.
2
I’m rarely this hairy, been waiting to shave until right before I record my next video. At 43 years old, when I don’t shave for a while, I have lots of grey stubble and a more obvious receding hairline, makes me look much older.
3
Trying to come up with a better term for household chores (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc). Essential tasks that often feel like inconveniences. But it might largely be a branding issue. I like “future-proofing,” because all that stuff is basically making life better/easier for my future self.
4
Spent several hours editing the video I recorded yesterday. Editing the intro takes a long time, probably 50% of the work trying to get that right, make it compelling, get people hooked. After that, just need to deliver good info as promised, basic edits, few bells or whistles.
5
Haven’t been missing the NBA this offseason. If anything, I’m a bit worried about it coming back. Got too caught up in it last season, consuming endless podcasts and YouTube clips. It can be a nice distraction, but only when I keep it under control, don’t consume too much.
6
It’s fascinating how you can be doing something the same way for months or years, and then out of nowhere it dawns on you that there’s a better way. Herbert Simon called it satisficing: instead of seeking the best solution, we settle for the first solution we think of that seems good enough.
7
Rough work day. A bunch of little things taking way longer than expected, annoying issues popping up, left me wanting to punch something. Telling myself to accept the situation ASAP. Because resisting it, thinking it shouldn’t be happening, only prolongs the misery.
8
Our neighbors seem to have life figured out. Parents about my age, three young kids, all seem happy and healthy. They spent the summer off traveling in Asia, rent a nice apartment here, own a house in Spain, always very active and social. I wouldn’t want to trade places with them, but I’m still jealous.
9
Coffee calls this morning with entrepreneurial folks, we’re all part of the same online community. Talked to members in Taiwan, Denmark, Italy. Came away feeling energized, wanting chats like that more often. Plus, my new business will likely live or die by my networking efforts.
10
Been in this apartment for three years now. That’s the longest I’ve lived under one roof as an adult. I do like the routine, the stability, really don’t miss the digital nomad lifestyle. But I suspect the travel bug will return once I’m not so busy building businesses.
11
Stephen Saphiro worked with a Formula One pit crew, timing their performance. Eventually they couldn’t go any faster. Then they stopped focusing on speed, and focused on smooth movements instead…
Astonishingly, the crew shaved several tenths of a second off their best time even though they “felt” they were slower.
This experiment, in itself, reinforces the concept that the more you focus on your goals, the less likely you are to achieve them. By worrying about the future, you take your eye off the present.
12
I don’t like leaving food on my plate. Feels wasteful. Breakfast, lunch and dinner at home, the plates and bowls are spotless by the time I’ve finished. At a restaurant, I have to resist the urge to clear my plate when I’m not enjoying the food, or when I’m already full.
13
Back in touch with an old friend and he’s doing great. Two kids, thriving career, just bought a spectacular house. Feeling happy for him but also jealous. Not that I’d want to swap places with him exactly, but I end up comparing, and they say comparison is the thief of joy.
14
I used to think: if only people had read the things I’ve read and seen the things I’ve seen, they’d believe what I believe. Took me a while to realize: if only I’d read the things other people had read and seen the things they’d seen, I’d believe what they believe.
15
Paying little attention to the Charlie Kirk chatter. Lots of people online being very loud and opinionated about it. To what end? What positive impact are they having? What minds are they changing? I’d rather stay focused on my own stuff, try improve my own little corner of the world.
16
Started doing some outreach for the new agency, ended up on a call with a business owner this afternoon. He may not become a client, but I enjoyed chatting with him. Seems like a mission-driven guy, wanted a facility to exist so he built it himself.
17
You know that thing when you mess up several times in a row and then you start questioning your ability to properly understand or do anything? Yeah, that was me today. But then I went for a walk and cleaned the apartment and felt much less shit about myself after.
18
Thinking now that cold calling will be the key to growing this agency. It’s uncomfortable, but also the fastest way to talk to a bunch of business owners and see if they’re interested in the service. Reminds me of my old cold approach dating days. Lots of rejection back then, but also many fond memories.
19
Why am I sad about Redford passing away at age 89? He lived a long and successful life. Probably because it’s a reminder of my own mortality: nobody gets out of here alive, not even the luckiest among us. The clock keeps ticking for us all, until it inevitably stops.
20
Folks like Byron Katie, Anthony de Mello, Stephen Covey… they all say suffering comes not from reality itself, but from the thoughts we believe about reality. I wonder does that appeal to me because it’s an excuse to avoid confrontation. Why confront someone who bothers me if the problem is always my own thinking?
21
Listening to Dusty Springfield’s greatest hits, incredible body of work. Reading about her after. Always assumed she was American, but born Mary O’Brien to Irish parents in the UK. Pretty openly gay in the 60s and 70s, a rarity back then. Died of breast cancer in 1999, a few weeks shy of her 60th birthday, some of her ashes scattered at the Cliffs of Moher.
22
I’ve kept a diary pretty consistently now for 14 years, interesting to look back and see how different my life was at different times. If I could do life over again, I’d start keeping a diary much earlier. I did keep one in secondary school, but burned all those notebooks in my late 20s. Regrettably.
23
On tough days, like the last couple, I just focus on making it to my next meal. Slow breakfast with a good, thought-provoking book. Lunch and dinner with a movie. I take a moment when I sit down, savor the first few bites, then get lost in the book or movie and forget everything else for a while.
24
His girlfriend was struggling. She’d say: I’m trying. I’m really trying. I’m doing the best I can. He wasn’t buying it. He complained to a friend: I want to be patient and compassionate. But it’s hard. Then he heard himself say: I’m trying. I’m really trying. I’m doing the best I can.
25
Dental surgery. A good place to practice mindfulness. I get tense in the chair, usually not because it hurts, but because I’m waiting for it to start hurting. Trying to be like the monk I read about with the ice water, feel everything precisely as it’s actually happening.
26
HG Wells lived at an unremarkable house outside London for 18 months starting in 1985. Might have been the most productive 18 months any artist has ever had…
While residing in Woking, The Time Machine (1895) was published. He also completed The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), began and wrote much of The War of the Worlds (1898) and The Invisible Man (1897), and began writing When the Sleeper Awakes.
27
A long walk in the woods to clear my wrecked head. Took a right turn up a steep trail and became an explorer. Signs of squirrels. An impressive rock fall. Spiderwebs sparkling in the evening sun. Stopped for a snack and felt time stand still.
28
I usually drink three cups of black coffee every day. Had to give up hot drinks for a couple of days after the dental surgery. Day 3 now and decided to keep going, go without coffee for a week and see how I feel. That’ll be my longest break in several years.
29
Fascinated by the oldest person in the world right now, Ethel Caterham at 116 years old…
Born on 21 August 1909, three years before the Titanic disaster, Mrs Caterham has lived through the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression, two world wars and the Covid-19 pandemic.
30
It’s interesting how fast I can sometimes go from feeling miserable to feeling great, or vice versa. Felt horrible yesterday afternoon, was fine by the evening, and felt great all day today. Nothing really changed except the thoughts in my head and perhaps some brain chemistry.