Ali Abdaal Ltd

I explore evidence-based strategies and tools that can help us be more productive, and build a life that we love.

YouTuber

Sparkle Studios

Co-Founder

6med

We're a team of medical students from some of the UK's top universities, who run one-day preparation courses for medical school entrance exams and interviews.

Founder

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

(1) Psychiatry, (2) Obstetrics & Gynaecology, (3) Stroke Medicine

Doctor - Foundation Year 2

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

(1) Cardiology, (2) Geriatrics, (3) General Surgery

Doctor - Foundation Year 1

Kumon

Teaching assistant, helping students aged 5-18 with Maths and English. Specialised in coaching advanced students.

Teaching Assistant

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

This week, I got featured on a Times Square billboard.

Seeing myself up there sparked so many emotions.

Back in 2020, I and my team launched the Part-Time YouTuber Academy.

We needed somewhere to host it.

We chose Circle and suddenly I was no longer broadcasting content into the void.

I was facilitating conversations and connections.

Slowly the community became just as valuable if not more than the course content itself.

Most creators believe content is the be-all and end-all.

But being a creator myself, I know it’s not enough.
People don’t just need information.
They need connection.

In our Circle community, great things happened:
↳ Students became accountability partners
↳ They started hosting their own meetups
↳ They started collaborating on projects
↳ Some even become business partners

You can’t get that from content.

You can’t get that from any course.

You can only get that from community.

Over 5 years, I’ve watched complete beginners become full-time creators.

Not just because of the course, but because they had people supporting them every step of the way.

When Circle put me up on Times Square, it was surreal.

But it also reminded me why we’ve stuck with them.

They understand what I’ve learned the hard way.
Community isn’t a nice-to-have for creators.
It’s the whole point.

All of our courses are now hosted on Circle.

And honestly, I can’t imagine building anything educational without it.

If you’re a creator or educator not building a community, you’re missing one of the most fulfilling parts of online business.

We’ve been using Circle for 5 years and it just works.

Try it here: https://lnkd.in/evpwuG_Q

Thank you Circle for sponsoring this post. #ad

Ali Abdaal

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

My wife, Izzy, started an Instagram page during covid.

But people laughed at her behind her back.

It hurt her a lot.
She felt embarrassed.
But she didn't let it stop her.

She got super into gardening during the pandemic.

And kept documenting the journey.

Snapping photos.
Writing captions.
Planting seeds.

The Instagram account was an act of creation.

Seemingly cringe to others.

But starting that Instagram account gave her the confidence to then start a YouTube channel.

And starting on YouTube completely changed her life.

She now has 700K+ subscribers.
She's able to live life on her own terms.
She makes more than she ever could in medicine.

The thing is, when you start creative projects that push boundaries, mostly people won't care.

But some may laugh at you or judge you for it.

And you've got to be okay with that.

If our goal is freedom & fulfilment, we should know that the ones laughing at us likely aren't pursuing it.

Social disapproval in a creative context is generally a sign that you're on the right track.

You're stepping out of your comfort zone.
You're learning valuable skills.
And they'll stack over time.

Less than 100 days are left in 2025.

And I think that's plenty of time to start anything.

Get my free masterclass on how to build a successful YouTube channel in 5 easy steps 👉https://lnkd.in/eNUhxM7k

ali-abdaal-ltd

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

We've been fully remote since I moved to Hong Kong.

But last week, my wife and I got an office.

(we’ve only got one photo from the office so here’s me and Izzy again lol)

For months, I've been going back and forth on this.

The pros were obvious:
↳ Better team collaboration
↳ More creative energy
↳ Actual in-person vibes

But the cons felt massive:
↳ Hong Kong real estate is really expensive
↳ What if we don't use it enough?
↳ What if it's not profitable?

Classic fear holding me back.

So I did something Bill Gates used to do.

He'd take a "think week" - disappearing to a cabin in the woods to make big decisions.

I didn't do a week. But I did one day.

I went to a new coffee shop in Hong Kong.
Got out my pocket notebook.
And asked myself one question.

What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail?

The answer came immediately: Get the office.

But then the fear kicked in.

So I did the Tim Ferriss fear-setting exercise.

I wrote down the absolute worst-case scenario.

We sign a lease. Nobody uses it.
We have to shut it down.
We waste money.

Then I asked whether that'd be the end of my life?
↳ Obviously not.

Is it permanent?
↳ Nope. We could just… end the lease. Easy.

How likely is this to actually happen?
↳ Pretty unlikely if we actually try to make it work.

Suddenly, this massive scary decision became a solvable problem.

The fear was in my head.
On paper, it was just logistics.

Our brain thinks in binary.
Success or catastrophic failure.

But reality is full of grey areas.

Experiments. Iterations. Course corrections.

If you want to get all the journaling prompts I use to figure out what I want in life, get them here → https://lnkd.in/ezVYw2yz

At 17, I went to buy my first Apple product, a MacBook.

But instead I got scammed out of £1,000 in London.

I'd spent 2 years tutoring for £15/hour - going to people's houses to teach them math and science.

I'd saved up exactly £1,000.

It was the most money I'd ever earned in my life.

I wanted to buy my first Apple product, a MacBook Air.

Found a guy on Craigslist selling one for £1,000.
Met him at Paddington Station.
Handed over the cash.

A few hours later, I realised he'd sold me a 4-year-old model that was completely obsolete.

I'd been scammed.

I was furious.
Embarrassed.
And desperate.

I needed to make that money back somehow.

So I sat down and wrote out a few business ideas in Evernote (still have the file from 2012 lol).

I asked myself three questions:
↳ What am I good at?
↳ What can I teach others?
↳ What skills do I have right now?

The answers:
↳ I was pretty good at medical entrance exams
↳ I knew how to teach (from tutoring)
↳ I could build websites

So I created a business teaching courses for medical school applicants.

Booked hotel conference rooms around the UK.
Printed physical booklets.
Taught in person.

That business grew to £150K/year in revenue.
But soon it plateaued.

I wondered if YouTube videos could get more students.

Those videos led to a successful channel.

The channel led to my YouTuber Academy.

And that led to millions in revenue.

If I hadn’t been scammed, I wouldn’t have been desperate enough to start my first business.

If I hadn’t started that business, I wouldn’t have learned how to teach, sell, or build systems.

If I hadn't learned those skills, YouTube wouldn't have worked.

I’ve seen the power of YouTube in how it changed my life and I now teach the same skills to thousands of creators.

I've distilled everything I know about starting and growing a successful YouTube channel in this 7-Day Crash Course: https://lnkd.in/eD4uffxG

I'm 31. Many people in their 20s feel like they're late.

But the average student age in my YouTube Academy is 38.

And a few are in their 60s too.

One of my favourite students, Azul Wells, joined my YouTube Academy in his 50s.

He used to work as a financial planner for older clients.

But started making YouTube videos to reinvent himself.

His setup? Just walking around filming with his phone.

His content? Financial advice for older people.

He started off by making 1-2 videos per week.
He then switched to daily uploads that he still follows.
But for the first 18 months, he got almost no traction.

But Azul kept going even when no one watched.

He was proving to himself that he could still learn.

Today his channel has 300K+ subscribers.

Seeing Azul's journey, one thing is clear to me.

The barrier isn't having the perfect plan.
The barrier isn't your experience.
The barrier isn't even your age.

The barrier is starting.

And showing up even when no one is watching.

Because the real growth is all internal.

You confront your ego.
You stop caring what others think.
You learn that you can still learn new things.

If you're planning to start a channel, I created a 7-Day Crash Course for people exactly where I was back then 👉 https://lnkd.in/ecYWXaty

This 30-minute Stanford exercise can change your life.

It’s what prompted me to quit medicine and make YouTube videos full-time.

It’s called the Odyssey Plan, from the book “Designing Your Life” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, professors at the Stanford Design Program.

The idea is to write out 3 different versions of your life 5 years from now.

1️⃣ Current Path
What would my life look like if I stayed on this path?
↳ Where do I live, and how are my relationships?
↳ When do I wake up, and how do I spend my day?
↳ What do my work and financial situation look like?

2️⃣ Alternative Path
What if I took an entirely different direction?
↳ What would I do if I got fired and couldn’t go back?
↳ What skills do I have that work in different fields?
↳ What alternative paths have I been curious about?

3️⃣ Radical Path
What if money and social obligations didn’t matter?
↳ How would I spend my time if I had $100M?
↳ What would I do if I wasn’t worried about failure?
↳ What would I pursue if others’ opinions didn’t matter?

I did this exercise back in 2019 when I was feeling lost about being a doctor.

When I wrote out my current path - continuing as a part-time trainee in anaesthetics and supervising physiology - I had this feeling of “Is this really it?”

The radical path - where I wasn’t worried about what people would think or financial constraints - that’s where YouTube kept coming up.

What I’ve found is that this exercise gives you permission to think more freely.

We have a tendency to stick to the path we’re already on, even if we know internally it’s not where we belong.

But actually you have way more options than you realise.

Once you’re clear on what you want, you'll need to build the habits that will get you there.

And that's why I built an app with my team called Momentum.

With Momentum, building habits is easy.
↳ Visual progress tracking to make tiny wins feel meaningful
↳ Accountability squads that celebrate progress daily
↳ Stats that spotlight your strongest habits

If you're interested, you can get the app here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eG7U75By

I've uploaded 800+ YouTube videos since 2017.

But it took me 7 years to upload my first video.

I kept saying “this is the year” and still didn’t hit publish.

Not because I didn’t want it enough.

But because I thought I wasn’t ready.

I thought I needed the perfect plan - that if I waited and prepared for long enough, I'd feel ready.

The truth is you never feel ready.

800+ uploads later, I still fall into that trap sometimes.

But I just start with whatever I’ve got and figure it out as you go.

If you want to start a YouTube channel but don’t know where to begin, I’ve put together a free 7-day crash course to help 👉https://lnkd.in/eABvRfTi

This almost stopped me from starting YouTube

I've a friend who's wanted to start YouTube for 5 years.

Last month, I called her out on it, and she finally told me why she's only uploaded 2 videos in all that time.

"In my head, I'm a really good YouTuber."

"I could totally make a living from it."

"But as soon as I start making videos, I'll have to confront the fact that maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm actually bad at it.", she said.

That hit me.

She'd just said what most of us feel but never admit.

The gap between who we think we are and what we actually might be feels too scary to confront.

So we just don't start.

We keep the perfect version in our heads safe and untested.

But I've been creating videos for 8 years now.

And I've realised one thing.

When you start anything new, you will suck at it.
Not "might suck."
You will suck.

In fact, you have to suck at it for a long time before it gets even vaguely good.

Interestingly, kids are chill with being crap at everything.

But something changes when we become adults.

Especially if we did well in school or at work.
Now you try something new and suddenly suck.
That threatens your entire image of yourself.

My friend is intelligent. Articulate. Creative.

But she's been protecting a fantasy for 5 years instead of making real videos.

The only way to close that gap is to produce bad work. A lot of it.

So here are a few uncomfortable questions to sit with:

1️⃣ Where are you protecting a perfect vision instead of doing the messy work?

2️⃣ What are you not starting because you're afraid you'll suck?

3️⃣ How long will you let fear of being bad stop you from getting good?

The thing is, you will suck.

But everyone does at first.

The difference is some people continue anyway.

P.S. If you're ready to start making videos (even bad ones), I’ve put together a FREE 7-day crash course to help  👉 https://lnkd.in/ecYWXaty

In 2016, I was a doctor in the UK making random music videos that literally that no one watched.

I wanted to be like Kurt Schneider and Sam Tsui - popular American singers on YouTube.

It had already taken me 7 years to feel ready and post my first video.

And when I finally did, those videos went nowhere.

But it did teach me how to film and edit videos.

The next year, I'd made courses to help students get into medical school.

That's when I had a crucial realisation.

I could make videos to help people get into med school - and sell my courses through them.

Suddenly all the skills I'd learned by making failed music videos, applied to a real business opportunity.

That's when everything changed.

I started posting consistently.
My videos drove people to my courses.
I started enjoying the process of making videos.

Today, I'm no longer practicing medicine.

And I no longer serve medical school applicants.

But I've helped thousands through other courses.
I've built a multi-million dollar business.
I've written a NYT bestseller book.

All enabled by my YouTube channel.

Knowing this potential in 2010 would've stopped me.
I would've overthought everything.
And probably never hit record.

But literally everything good that has happened in my life since 2017 traces back to starting a YouTube channel.

If you're planning to start a channel, I created a 7-Day Crash Course for people exactly where I was back then 👉https://lnkd.in/eD4uffxG

We have 75 days left in 2025.

And these 11 prompts can be life changing.

These are the same prompts that've helped me:
↳ Quit medicine to go full-time on YouTube
↳ Leave London and move to Hong Kong
↳ Make business decisions worth millions

Your life changes when you make a decision.

Not when you think about making a decision.
Not when you plan to make a decision.
When you actually make the decision.

These prompts help you make those decisions.

Save this carousel.

Grab a cup of coffee.
Find a quiet spot nearby.
And go through these prompts.

If you want to get all the journaling prompts I use to figure out what I want in life and make better decisions, get them here → https://lnkd.in/eu7iQG8w

These 11 prompts are genuinely life changing.

My book on productivity became an NYT Bestseller.

But I procrastinated on writing it for 6 months.

I'd see "write book" on my calendar and just.. not do it.

My brain would serve up every excuse.

"Maybe I should re-organise my notes"
"I'm not feeling creative right now"
"I need to do more research first"

Then I learnt about activation energy.

In chemistry, any reaction needs some energy to start.

Once you put that energy in, it continues on its own.

Procrastination is the same.
The problem isn't the task itself.
It's our fear of how the task will make us feel.

So I got a 5-minute hourglass (£3 on Amazon).

And set a rule for myself.
Just do the thing for 5 minutes.
When the sand runs out, you can stop.

90% of the time, the hourglass would finish, I'd be in flow, and I'd keep going.

By lowering the bar, I bypassed the emotional barrier.

3 ways to make this even more powerful:

1️⃣ Make it stupid simple
↳ Not "write chapter 3" but "write 200 words"
↳ Not "get fit" but "5-minute walk"

2️⃣ Reduce friction by 50%
↳ Writing? Write the first sentence the night before
↳ Phone addiction? Use the "One Sec" app (adds a 3-second delay before opening social media)

3️⃣ Attach to something you already do
↳ After morning coffee → 5 minutes of writing
↳ After brushing teeth → 5-minute tidy

Most procrastination is about emotional regulation.

Not laziness.

I’ve pulled 24 experiments from my book to help you work with more energy and beat procrastination 👉 https://lnkd.in/e_N5PT4d

This photo was taken on Monday, 20th October 2020.

5 years ago, Angus and I sat in my apartment in Cambridge to figure out how to teach people YouTube.

I'd been making videos for a couple years at that point.

And people kept asking me how I was doing it.

So we decided to see if we could help.

I still vividly remember that entire day.

We were just figuring it out.
Sticking yellow and pink sticky notes everywhere.
Planning what became the Part-Time YouTuber Academy.

Looking back, I'm amazed at how scrappy it all was.

No fancy whiteboard.
No fancy meeting rooms.
No ChatGPT/Claude or any AI.

Just two guys reverse-engineering what I'd accidentally figured out with my channel.

That course has now helped 7,000+ people start their YouTube channels.

Tiago Forte, author and entrepreneur, joined PTYA.
He wanted to leverage YouTube to grow his business.
Now with 350K+ subs on YouTube, he does just that.

Azul Wells joined PTYA in his 50s.
He used to work as a financial planner.
Now he has 300K+ subscribers on YouTube.

Izzy, now my wife, also joined PTYA.
She had never made a video before.
Now she has over 730K subscribers.

Many have hit 100K subs, some even 1M+.

Some have quit their jobs to do YouTube full-time.

Some have built businesses around their channels.

And it all started with us sitting in my apartment, not really knowing if anyone would even buy it.

I think about this a lot when people ask me about starting something new.

They want to have it all figured out first.

Perfect plan.
Perfect setup.
Perfect moment.

But sometimes you just need to sit with sticky notes and start mapping things out.

If you’ve taken PTYA at any point, I’d genuinely love to hear how it’s been for you in the comments. These stories never get old.

As a doctor, I was wired to avoid failure at all costs.

After all a mistake could literally kill someone.

The mindset of avoiding failure in medicine saved lives.

So I had to learn to:
↳ Follow protocols exactly
↳ Always have backup plans
↳ Never take unnecessary risks

But that same instinct almost cost me my dreams.

For years, people asked me: "Why don't you quit medicine and go full-time on YouTube?"

I had every reason to:
↳ My YouTube channel was growing
↳ I enjoyed it more than clinical work
↳ The business potential was obvious

But I couldn't pull the trigger. Why?

Fear of failure.

What if I lose my savings?
What if the algorithm changes?
What if I end up homeless and broke?

But writing my fears on paper changed everything.

Not keeping them in my brain.

Actually writing them down.

And I asked specific questions:
↳ What's the absolute worst that could happen?
↳ How likely is it to actually happen?
↳ Would it actually be permanent?
↳ What could I do to prevent it?

Turns out, I could start a business with $0.

I could test things as experiments.

And the worst case scenario wasn't death.
It was just going back to being a doctor.

Which, honestly, wasn't even that bad.

If fear’s got you stuck, don't try solving it in your head.

Your brain will lie to you.
Make it concrete.
Write it down.

If you want to get the journaling prompts I use to figure out what I want in life and make better decisions, get them here → https://lnkd.in/ezVYw2yz

In 2020, I made a video on how much money I earn.

It got 2M+ views and 4,000+ comments.

I remember making that video.
The numbers felt very personal to share.
But I knew someone out there had to see it was possible.

Earlier this year, I met Aman Manazir, who watched that video, and it ended up changing his life.

In 2020, Aman was in his living room when his brother came to him with my video.

They actually put it on TV to watch with their family.

For Aman, who was 19 and had no business background or plan, that video was a lightbulb moment.

It was the first time he’d been introduced to the concept of financial freedom.

Within a week, he launched his first Skillshare class.

Without waiting for the right time.
Without waiting to feel ready.
Without any overthinking.

Over the next 4 years, it wasn’t easy for him.
↳ His first course made only $1.5K in 4 years
↳ He got only 100 subs after a year of uploading
↳ He burned cash and time while juggling his 9-5 job

But today, Aman runs his own online business.

He has long quit his job.
He can work from anywhere.
He makes $100K+ a month in revenue.

Other than Aman’s incredible bias towards action, one thing actually made a big difference.

He invested years learning from people ahead of him.
↳ Sales courses
↳ Coaching programs
↳ Business masterminds

But here’s the thing - you don’t need to spend 4 years to start learning skills to gain financial freedom.

My coaching programme helps you build a $100K lifestyle business in 6 months. Join here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eVBUJq7b

16,518 people signed up for my workshop last month.

Together we tried a journaling prompt that made me pause.

If your future self could send you a text message right now, what would it say?

This question inevitably makes you pause and reflect.

When I sat with this question, three things came up.

1️⃣ First, be more present with my daughter.

She's at that stage where she’s changing every week.

Making new sounds.
Making new expressions.
Discovering new things around her.

I know this time will fly by faster than I can imagine.

2️⃣ Second, spend time making friends in Hong Kong.

I've neglected friendship stuff since having a baby.

And I know the longer I wait, the harder it'll be.

3️⃣ Third, chill out on the work front.

The thing is, I genuinely enjoy my work.

Filming YouTube videos.
Writing weekly newsletters.
Building courses for students.

But I've been using that as justification to keep working instead of actually living my life.

Dr. Cal Newport calls this fixed schedule productivity.
↳ Define your hours
↳ Make work fit within that
↳ If it can't, it rolls to tomorrow

Reserve evenings and weekends for what matters.

I'll be honest, none of the 3 insights were surprising.

But framing it as advice from my future self made it feel urgent, not just another "I should do this" task.

If you want to get all the journaling prompts I use to figure out what I want in life and make better decisions, get them here → https://lnkd.in/ezVYw2yz

I've simplified my entire AI workflow to just 3 steps.

And I've done that by asking one question.

Does this help my input, processing, or output?

All work has followed the same pattern for centuries.

Input → Processing → Output.

Agricultural Era: Seeds → Sunlight + Water → Crops
Industrial Era: Materials → Tools/Labor → Products
Knowledge Era: Ideas → Skills → Digital Output

Output value always exceeds input + processing cost.

Now what's interesting is that AI helps at every stage.

My team and I have been building a mentorship programme to help you create a lifestyle business.

And this is how AI helps in every stage of the process.

Input stage:
↳ Voicepal - I talk into it and it asks relevant questions
↳ Grain - Records calls with mentors/coaches
↳ Superwhisper - Better dictation on Mac

Processing stage:
↳ Claude takes all transcripts, recordings, data
↳ "Create a Story Brand script for the program"
↳ Creates pitch, curriculum structure, student journey

Output stage:
↳ Claude creates table of contents with modules
↳ Gamma turns that outline into presentation slides
↳ I record a Loom over those slides for applications

Each tool has a clear job.

Gather raw material.
Process it into insights.
Help create final deliverables.

If a tool doesn't clearly help my input, processing, or output, I ignore it.

Unsurprisingly, the prompts matter too.

If you want the exact prompts I use to turn AI into a thinking partner, grab them here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ekkuVJqB

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