I’m Ali, a YouTuber, podcaster, author of New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, Feel-Good Productivity, and ex-Doctor working in London, UK.

I make videos that explore the strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. I also have a weekly podcast called Deep Dive and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things.

I studied Medicine for 6 years at Cambridge University, and graduated in 2018. On my YouTube channel (4.5 million subscribers) I make videos about medicine, tech and productivity. 

📚 Check out my New York Times Bestselling Book Feel-Good Productivity: https://go.feelgoodproductivity.com/linkedin 
💌 Subscribe to my newsletter LifeNotes: https://aliabdaal.com/li/
🎬 Check out my YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/@aliabdaal
✍️ Visit my website and blog: https://aliabdaal.com/
🎙 Listen to the Deep Dive podcast: https://aliabdaal.com/podcast/
🎙 Listen to the Not Overthinking podcast: https://notoverthinking.com/
🚀 Learn more about my Part-Time YouTuber Academy: academy.aliabdaal.com

A few years ago, I interviewed Alex Hormozi.

He shared a concept I'd never heard before.

"It costs me a billion dollars a year to not know what to do to make a billion dollars", he said.

He explained, if you don't know how to achieve your goal, that lack of knowledge is literally costing you the achievement of that goal.

He calls this "ignorance debt."

And we're always paying it down.
Either slowly through trial and error.
Or quickly through investment in learning.

I had never heard anyone frame ignorance this way.

And I could think of all the months I wasted trying to figure things out instead of learning from someone who already had the answers.

The opportunity cost of that trial-and-error approach usually ends up being much higher than the price of getting educated upfront.

I actually see this play out in my YouTube Academy.

Over 7,000 students have passed through it.

And in just a few weeks, they acquire all the knowledge that took me years of trial and error to learn.

They're paying down their ignorance debt fast instead of spending years figuring it out the hard way like I did.

The way I think about it now is: what's my ignorance actually costing me?

Because usually it's way more expensive than any course or coaching.

If you don’t want to waste months in trial and error, sign up for my newsletter on becoming a creator: https://lnkd.in/euCnJETC

Ali Abdaal

👨‍⚕️ Doctor-turned-Entrepreneur + Productivity Expert + YouTuber (6M subs) 📘 New York Times Bestselling Author of "Feel-Good Productivity"

A few years ago, I got on a Zoom call with James Clear.

Yes, the guy who wrote Atomic Habits.

This was when I was figuring out the promotion strategy for my book, Feel-Good Productivity.

James had sold a stupidly large number of copies of Atomic Habits and made loads of money.

But he didn't create an Atomic Habits course.
He didn't launch a high-ticket coaching program.
He wasn't trying to grow his team.

Instead, he talked about taking his kids to school and picking them up every single day.

When I asked him about this, he said something that completely changed how I think about work.

"I draw a box around what I want my day and my life to look like, and within the context of that box, I have a block for work. Within that work box, I will then optimise for money."

He knew he only wanted to work between 10 AM and 3 PM because he wanted to be a present dad.

That was his constraint.

If he worked harder to make an online course, it would probably go outside of those constraints.

He'd need a bigger team.
He'd need to become a manager.
He'd spend much more time in meetings.

Instead, he decided to screw that.

I think we often think about goals without thinking about the constraints we want to operate under.

"I want to hit a million subscribers"
"I want to make seven figures"

But we don't define the limits of the box.

Then we start stretching into burnout territory.

"Just this once I'll skip the gym."
"Just this once I'll cancel on friends."

But if you define the box first, then within those constraints, you find a way to get to the goal.

"I don't work on weekends."
"I only work during these hours."
"I take a month off every 6 months"

Within those constraints, the goal might be unrealistic.

In which case, great - let's change the goal.

It's starting with lifestyle first, then thinking about your business second.

I've taught 7,000+ students how to become a YouTuber without quitting their day job.

We're running our biggest Black Friday discount on our YouTube course here: https://lnkd.in/e2SNqWEx

ali-abdaal-ltd

Talks about #youtube, #business, #sidehustle, #productivity, and #entrepreneurship

Writer at JamesClear.com

Karina  Arnez

I believe everyone should consider starting a YouTube channel. Even if no one watches your videos.

I've been making YouTube videos since 2017.

I've grown my channel to over 6 million subscribers.

I've taught 7,000+ students in my YouTuber Academy.

And I can tell you that starting a YouTube channel isn't about the subscribers, views or even the money.

If you get out your phone right now and start talking to the camera, something would feel different.

It's not like a Zoom call where someone asks a question and you respond.

There's something about knowing it might be posted.
Knowing your colleagues might see it.
Knowing strangers might watch it.

It feels confronting because you're taking your ego and putting it outside your body, where it can be attacked.

And that discomfort is where the real value lives.

1️⃣ You Learn How to Learn Again

I used to work as a doctor in the NHS.

My colleagues were other doctors with decades of experience.

And they’d say, “I don’t think I can do anything else."
They felt too invested in medicine to learn anything new.
They were trapped by their specialization.

The ability to learn new things is more important than any specific skill.

When you start a YouTube channel, you learn filming, editing, speaking on camera and more.

But more importantly, you prove to yourself that you're someone who can still figure things out, at any age or stage of your career.

That skill of learning is what keeps your mind healthy.

It's what keeps you from feeling stuck.

2️⃣ The Person You End Up Becoming

7,000+ people have enrolled in my YouTuber Academy.

Some have grown massive channels.

Some of them have made only a handful of videos.

But many say they’re grateful for the growth they got just from making a few videos.

They learned to handle judgment.
They stopped caring what others think.
They confronted their ego and came out stronger.

That internal growth is worth more than any external metric.

From what I’ve seen and experienced, the real barriers tend to be more emotional.

It's the fear of being judged.
It's your ego feeling threatened.
It's the discomfort of being bad at something.

And those are exactly the reasons you should do it.

Because personal growth happens when we put ourselves in uncomfortable situations.

If you're keen to start and grow a YouTube channel, I've distilled everything I know about it in this free workshop: https://lnkd.in/eQegFBvJ

I keep asking myself - do I want to do software, write another book, or do YouTube?

It turns out there's a name for this feeling.

I was chatting with neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff, few months ago about feeling stuck between directions.

Anne-Laure is the author of the wonderful book, Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World.

She told me I was in what's called a "liminal space" - that uncomfortable gap between who you were and who you're becoming.

Here's what I learned from my conversation with her:

1️⃣ Your brain is wired to escape uncertainty
↳ We evolved to see uncertainty as danger, so feeling uncomfortable is totally normal

2️⃣ The urge to "pick something quickly" is a survival mechanism
↳ Our primitive brain wants to rush to certainty, even if it's not the right choice

3️⃣ Think airplane, not panic room
↳ You can see it as being trapped with no control, or as disconnected time for reflection

4️⃣ Growth happens in the uncertainty
↳ Instead of rushing through liminal spaces, this is where you actually figure out what you want

Personal growth and clarity come from being in these spaces, not from escaping them.

If you’re interested in hearing more from Anne-Laure, she’s one of the keynote speakers at our Spark summit in January.

Join us, and other great speakers to reflect on the year, set meaningful 2026 goals, and build systems for consistent action: https://lnkd.in/exZr9zky

Anne-Laure on Being in a Liminal Space

These are some of the books that I’ve recommended to creators and students of my YouTuber Academy over the past few years.

These books genuinely changed how I approach content and building something meaningful.

1️⃣ Primal Branding by Patrick Hanlon
2️⃣ Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks
3️⃣ Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
4️⃣ The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
5️⃣ Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
6️⃣ The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout
7️⃣ Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley
8️⃣ Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
9️⃣ The Pathless Path by Paul Millerd
🔟 Getting Things Done by David Allen
⏸️ Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

These aren’t “how to YouTube” books - rather ones that helped me grow my channel, brand, and business over the past 8 years.

P.S. We're running our biggest Black Friday discount on our YouTube course, get over $300 off now: https://lnkd.in/eikVyZ_H

11 Books That Helped Me Grow My Brand and Business

I used to think my lack of focus was a lack of willpower.

But after talking to neuroscientist Tj Power, it turns out, it's a dopamine problem.

TJ says, the issue isn't that we're undisciplined - it's that we're fighting against 300,000 years of brain evolution with modern technology.

Here's what I learned about entering flow state:

1️⃣ Multitasking kills deep focus
↳ Our ancestors focused on one thing at a time - hunting, building, surviving. Flow state requires hyperfocus, which is the opposite of how we live now.

2️⃣ Challenge-skill balance is everything
↳ You need that sweet spot where the task stretches you without overwhelming you. Too easy = boring, too hard = anxiety.

3️⃣ The first 15 minutes are hell
↳ It takes ~15 minutes to enter flow state. The first 5 minutes you're literally climbing from your dopamine baseline - that's why starting feels impossible.

4️⃣ Dopamine deficit = procrastination
↳ Instant dopamine hits (like Instagram or TikTok) hijack your system and cause a dopamine crash so you have to climb back to baseline.

5️⃣ Stack your dopamine first
↳ Wake up → sunlight → cold shower → make your bed, then tackle your hardest task. You're essentially fuelling up before the climb.

The lack of focus isn’t due to lack of willpower - it’s a disregulated dopamine system.

Both TJ and I are coming together in a live weekend summit.

Join us, and other great speakers to reflect on the year, set meaningful 2026 goals, and build systems for consistent action: https://lnkd.in/gqn2VUfu

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