This /now page is inspired by Derek Sivers - it’s the place where I record the overarching themes of what I’m thinking about in a given month, as well as books I read and places I visited.
We arrived in Valencia, Spain, on the 1st. Getting to know the city, searching or an apartment, etc. We are loving it!
The Art of Accomplishment Connection course is amazing. Intense at times, as we get deeply vulnerable but I love it.
Watching the $100M Leads videos.
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Have had a good meditation streak of an hour a day. Need to keep this up.
Had my first viral post.
Started the Art of Accomplishment Connection course.
Hired @rickyshq for branding work on the SaaS bootstrapper.
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Geeking out on copywriting.
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Had lots of visitors come see us in Croatia,
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Did the Fighting Monkey Zero Form Essentials course.
Reading: The Mind Illuminated (amazing)
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Our friend Ashley came to visit from Amsterdam, and made us the best tacos we’ve ever had.
We went to Rome for spring break, and had front row seats to Cirque de Soleil.
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I’ve been migrating digital tools again. Every time I switch away from the most minimal tools, I regret it. I prefer VIM and text/markdown files every time. I was trying Notion, then Obsidian, and they were fine, but I don’t like having to use a mouse more than I need to and I’m much more comfortable in VIM. Any time I forget this, I should just go back to Derek Sivers’ site for an inspirational reminder.
In addition I’ve been thinking a lot about the format and delivery of the content I’m producing. I’ve discovered digital gardens, and Maggie Appleton, and loving this concept of evergreen, deeply-linked content, forming a web of associations, over the linear streams of information we’ve become used to on the web.
I read Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain, and while I enjoy the overall concept, going back in time to the Zettlekasten has been more productive for me. I love the way it ties in to a digital garden.
I’ve started a digital garden and considering how I’ll incorporate it into macmartine.com, and The SaaS Bootstrapper newsletter. The newsletter may simply become my best/favorite Zettlekasten’s from the previous week.
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I joined the Small Bets community, and went through the course. I really enjoyed it, and loved the Nassim Taleb references, as he’s one of my favorite authors.
Also started the Farnam Street Decisions by Design course which is 12-weeks long. It’s also been great.
We’ve been working on getting ready to apply for the Portugal Digital Nomad Visa. It’s been more difficult than it was to get the Croatia one, partly because we’re doing it from Croatia, and not the U.S. It makes things much harder. It’s the simple things you wouldn’t think about, like trying to send a check or money order the FBI, or sending a pre-paid return envelope. It’s no-one’s fault so much as incompatible systems. Europe doesn’t have a notion of personal checks or money orders without having the destination account’s routing number and account number on it. We don’t have personal checks with us, and the FBI doesn’t give out their bank account information for us to get a EU-style check for them. It’s that kind of stuff times twenty.
Not to mention Portugal required opening a bank account before applying, which can only be done in person in Portugal. And they require a signed 12-month apartment lease prior to applying, which isn’t easy to get from afar, sight-unseen, 8 months in advance.
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Arrived in Zagreb, Croatia (to live there for a year)
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