These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
AI has lots of knowledge, but not much wisdom. It does many an SEO task for me now, but I can’t just trust it blindly, have to push back against its recommendations, ask why it came to certain conclusions. One day I will probably be holding it back, but for now it still needs me.
2
One of those days where I’m craving distraction. Because the work is hard and time is short, knotty problems to untangle, feeling underappreciated by certain clients. I resist the distractions for the most part, stay focused on the work, keep taking small steps in the right direction.
3
Up early this morning, did the usual routine: squatting and spanish, stretching and weights, breakfast and a book while babysitting the AI. Then off to get groceries, snuck in a coffee before. View from the cafe is changing, new apartments across the way, less mountain, less sky.
4
Strange weather today in Andorra. The sky is overcast and the air is hazy. Might be calima again, winds blowing in from the Sahara. It makes everything feel dull and stuffy. Which mirrors my mood today. Many things to do, little urge to do them. Hoping for better conditions tomorrow.
5
The worst thing about SEO is the long feedback loop. Get a client set up with a new website and GBP and it can take weeks or even months before the leads really start flowing. Still mainly selling my services based on theory, not prior results. Should be able to charge a lot more once I have the latter.
6
Sent client the new website, got this voicemail back…
You’ve absolutely smashed that. I’ve got to admit, I was slightly dubious at first… But on first glance, that is unbelievable work. I’m really happy. Thank you very much. How do I leave you a review? I could do with leaving you a review to be honest, because that’s been outstanding work from start to finish. I’m really happy.
7
Amazing how you can get used to things. Simple example: I used to go mad adding salt to my meals, no limit. Now I barely add any. Missed it for the first few days, now it’s totally fine. Weird how resistant I am to changes like that initially, even when I know the discomfort is temporary.
8
Been reading Think Again by Adam Grant. Regarding climate change, he writes how the debate is often presented as black and white. But polls suggest there are at least six camps of thought…
- Alarmed
- Concerned
- Cautious
- Disengaged
- Doubtful
- Dismissive
Similar story for other hot button topics. Black and white is never right.
9
At peace when I arrive and sit down to enjoy my coffee. Then I start thinking, and soon I’m no longer at peace. Nothing external changed. The disturbance is all internal, getting hooked on certain thoughts, ruminating. If only it were as easy to turn a bad mood good as a good mood bad.
10
He paid for the service, all good, then he pulled out with no explanation and blocked me. Now an email from Stripe: he’s claiming the payment was fraudulent. Shitty behavior, but I’m trying to find some empathy for him. Guessing he is struggling financially and was too embarrassed to ask for a refund.
11
It takes time to make time. Automating a process with AI, for example, requires an investment of time. Quicker in the short-term to keep doing the process manually. But if you want more time later, you have to be okay with less time now. It gets worse before it gets better.
12
Rollerball, released in 1975, set in 2018, where nation-states have been replaced by powerful multinational corporations that control all aspects of life. The sport exists as a spectacle of violence meant to show audiences that individual heroism is meaningless. Reminds me of They Live. Silly on the surface, but deeper themes present. The kind of movie that can appeal to the smartest and dumbest viewer.
13
I can do the things stressed, or I can do the things not stressed. Either way I have to do the things. But of course it’s not like I can just flip a switch and not be stressed, especially when the to-do list keeps growing. Still, I try. Arrive. Breathe. Choose.
14
Feels a bit like magic: cold called the guy on Wednesday, 48 hours later he’s signing up for $197/month, and the next day he’s sending me a referral. Less magical though when you consider all the other cold calls I made this week that went nowhere.
15
My last morning as a 43-year-old. I’ll never be here again, never this young again. It’s the beautiful and cruel thing about life: you only get to live it once. I look around the room and find things beginning with the letter H. The coffee’s warm, the snow is white, and 44 is waiting.
16
Reading back over my journal from a year ago. Feels like two years ago, so much has changed. Progress can feel slow day-to-day, but reading back over those entries helps me realize how far I’ve come. Here’s to another 365 of learning and growth.
17
I was paying a CPA $500 to do my taxes each year. Did them myself this year with the help of AI, and it spotted a bunch of mistakes the CPA had been making. Funny how AI has a warning that it can make mistakes. We should have that prominently displayed on humans, too.
18
You run into all kinds of people when cold calling. Some are kind and courteous even when giving you a quick no. Others are just assholes, like that guy today who asked for my email so he could invoice me for taking up 90 seconds of his precious time.
19
Cold calling will humble you. Called a guy this week, spoke for 6 minutes, then sent him a 10-minute screencast. The next day he signed up for $197/month. Felt great, like I had this cold calling thing all figured out. But since then it’s been like eating broken glass.
20
Walking by the river, noticing the signs of Spring. Buds on the trees, more birds around, the weather warming up a bit. I like all the seasons and Winter certainly has its charms, but I’m ready for it to be over. My fingers have suffered again this year. Chilblains or something like it.
21
Remembering a weekday morning in Hong Kong thirteen years ago, looking out my window, scoffing at all the “wage slaves” dressed up and trudging to work. I was so naive, so arrogant, thought I had it all figured out. The dumb certainty of youth and inexperience. I’m embarrassed by, and jealous of, that younger me.
22
Shifted focus to the USA for finding agency clients. UK clients are pretty cheap, price usually their biggest objection even though I’m not charging much. Quoting higher in the USA and no issues, a few people even told me my pricing is very reasonable. Never heard that in the UK.
23
Not sure which is more of a pain in the ass sometimes: getting new clients, or managing existing clients. Always striving to do great work for the latter but some of them make it hard. Like this guy today. I’ve gotten us 99% of the way there. He needs to do the final 1%. Not sure he will.
24
Study of 15,000 students: the more expert the person teaching their intro class, the less they actually learned. Seems experts are often the worst people to learn from when you’re just starting out. Better to get instruction and advice from people who are only a few steps ahead of you.
25
Had a story in the newsletter: a popular, AI-generated podcast about the Epstein files, $30K/month earning potential. One subscriber didn’t like that we’re essentially promoting profiting off other people’s suffering (ie. Epstein’s victims). But isn’t that every news outlet? All true crime? Many documentaries?
26
Where has Chet Baker’s music been all my life? His Sings album puts me in a dreamlike state, with those floating notes, that androgynous voice. Such incredible music from, by all accounts, a terrible family man. I must have passed by his death hotel several times in Amsterdam, completely unaware.
27
- Five packets of raw, thin sliced chicken.
- One lemon.
- Four heads of broccoli.
- Bin bags.
- Toilet paper.
- Cotton buds.
- Cotton pads.
- Tissues.
- 18 bags of frozen blueberries.
- Chia seeds.
- Pumpkin seeds.
28
Let my VA go today. She’d been helping me for ~5 years. Didn’t have as much work for her recently, and what little she was still doing can now be done faster and cheaper with AI. Mixed feelings about that. AI feels like both a gift and a curse for humanity.
29
The trouble with running my “business ideas” newsletter is that I come across several great business ideas each week. I take aspects and inspiration from some of them, but have to be careful not to get too distracted. This AI cold calling story is challenging my discipline.
30
That classic Philip Tetlock study: 80,000 predictions collected from 284 experts, and they performed barely better than chance. The more famous and media-prominent the expert, the worse they tended to do. Likely because fame rewards confident, memorable narratives rather than careful probabilistic thinking.
31
Been overcharged twice in this cafe before, same cashier. Here she is again, and I have the words ready. Sure enough, same deal. I speak, she apologises, and corrects the charge. I come away wondering how she could make the same mistake repeatedly, weeks apart. Must be something else going on.