Read time: 7 minutes
#86 – 15 Dec 2023
Welcome!
I’m feeling inspired today after watching this life update video from Ali Abdaal.
“Why?” you wonder.
Or maybe you are wondering, Ali… who?
Ali Abdaal is a doctor turned entrepreneur/YouTuber who has grown his channel from zero to 4.98m subscribers over seven years. He now makes a comfortable living from his online business. Ali recently decided to pack up his home in London and embrace the digital nomad lifestyle while travelling around the globe.
So, what hit home in the video?
Well, there are three main takeaways I’d like to share with you:
- Success takes longer than you think
- Choosing for happiness and fulfilment
- If money were no object, would you still do what you do now?
Success takes longer than you think
Is your career exactly where you’d like it to be?
I’m guessing not.
We always have unlived dreams and goals we’d love to achieve.
The path of growth never stops. Quite often, we chase down one goal, only to realise later it was the wrong goal or that an even bigger mountain still exists in front of us.
People assume that successful people have it easy. Maybe you think they got lucky or have a special gift.
But you know what Ali outlined as one of the keys to his success?
It’s being willing to stick to one thing for a long time.
He’s been doing his channel for seven years. That’s a long time. I sometimes beat myself up for a perceived “lack of progress” when I’ve been doing this for less than two years. But then you realise you’ve still got a long way to go.
Ali persisted at it even when things didn’t look like they were working at the surface level. He pushed through the confidence doubts and kept showing up. Even while he was working full-time as a doctor, he produced weekly videos.
Are you putting the same effort into your goals?
It was interesting to see Ali’s growth year by year:
| Year | Subscribers | Revenue |
| 2017 | 2,381 | $0 |
| 2018 | 125,000 | $24,000 |
| 2019 | 488,996 | $130,000 |
| 2020 | 1.3M | $1.2M |
| 2021 | 2.5M | $4M |
| 2022 | 3.7M | $4.6M |
| 2023 | 4.8M | $5M+ |
You can see the power of compounding over time. At first, it seems like nothing is happening, but then it snowballs, and growth takes off.
There’s a famous line:
“Nothing happens, then everything happens.”
Ali made the point:
It’s a long-term game.
It takes time to succeed online.
There is this myth. Or at least this kind of weird expectation that this is a thing that happens quickly.
It’s not a thing that happens quickly.
Ali Abdaal
Most “overnight successes” you see have been working behind the scenes for many years, trying many different things, failing, and learning new skills before ultimately succeeding.
So stop wishing for shortcuts. They don’t exist. It’s a pipe dream.
You want to shift your mindset to:
Love the process.
You don’t want to always anxiously fret over some future success that may or may not happen. Learn to enjoy the daily process on the road to that destination.
Many reach their goals, only to realise it was never about the goal. They really loved the joys and struggles on the path to success.
Ali now has a circle of friends who are high-level entrepreneurs, some of whom have sold their businesses for tens of millions of dollars. And one of his main takeaways from speaking to these entrepreneurs is that once they sold their companies, they didn’t just kick back on a beach. No, they quickly got bored and then wanted to launch back into a new business as they realised that the work of building a business was what brought them fulfilment.
So, how can this insight serve you?
You are on a path, and it might feel like an absolute struggle right now. Maybe you hate your life sometimes and just want to give up.
But what if these are the good days? You just can’t see it right now. The perspective of time brings new appreciation to things.
This reminds me of when I worked for a high-growth start-up company in London. It was extremely stressful at the time as I was constantly putting out fires. It felt like we were barely struggling to stay afloat.
But you know what I think now?
Those were some of the best working years of my life. They were character-building. We had a fantastic team and did extraordinary things. I now cherish that time and the lessons learned.
As a solopreneur, I miss that shared experience of building towards something in a team of high-performers.
I invite you to consider:
What if what you are going through right now is the good bit?
How could you approach your days and your problems differently, knowing that?
Happiness and fulfilment
People seem to have this idea:
Once you make it, then you will be happy.
Ali Abdaal
What is your take on that?
Sure, when caught in the struggle to make ends meet, it can suck. You’re so stressed about paying the bills and putting food on the table that it’s hard to be happy.
But once you’ve met those basic needs, things change.
And you reach a point where more money or success won’t make you happier. Studies have proven this point. Or check out the countless biographies or interview podcasts, where you will hear this insight repeatedly.
So why do we set ridiculous goals that may not improve but hinder our happiness?
We’ve been conditioned to think we need more. The culture prizes success and the status that comes with it. We want a bigger house, a more luxurious car, and to send our kids to the best school.
But are we willing to bear the costs that come with that?
It’s worthwhile being mindful of this before diving down some rabbit hole you may hate.
- But what about you?
- What do you actually want?
- What really makes you happy? What brings you fulfilment?
I raised similar questions with a coaching client last week. And interestingly, her responses had nothing to do with “more money”.
Time freedom was most important for her.
She also realised that chasing more success (additional client outreach, etc.) would eat into her higher value of time freedom.
I know a lot of people who have run big businesses.
And they say they had the most fun, and they were the most fulfilled when their businesses were much smaller.
When they were working with people, somewhere between 10-20 people, it was like the good old days, and it’s like we’re a bunch of misfits; we’re all working towards this thing.
Those are the enjoyable and fulfilling and exhilarating times.
Ali Abdaal
This insight also rings true for me regarding that London start-up adventure. I later learned I was there during the “good” phase. After I left to move back to Australia, a massive parent company came ripping through with large-scale changes, which remaining colleagues said sucked the fun and soul out of the company.
Given your career, what advice would you give your younger self?
Ali would tell his younger self:
The journey is the destination.
It’s cliché, but it’s true.
People are unhappy if they aren’t working on something they find interesting.
Work fills a massive hole in our lives, so it’s essential to make it meaningful.
And once you find that meaningful thing, here’s what you need to do. Now, this might sound obvious, but surprisingly, it’s often ignored:
Keep doing the thing
The biggest risk you’ve got is to stop doing the thing.
Whereas if you can just do a thing for a very long time, there is basically no world in which you are not going to succeed at the thing.
Ali Abdaal
This reflection reminds me of the story of MrBeast, the most successful YouTuber. If you go back to his earliest videos, they suck. But he had the courage and dedication to keep showing up for many years. Eventually, he got good — outstandingly good!
Ali neatly summed this point up with some advice he once heard:
Find something you enjoy. And do it for decades.
If money were no object
Ali is currently undergoing a major rethink of his business.
Surprisingly, the big change stemmed from this Alan Watts quote related to career advice, which stopped him in his tracks:
I’m curious: what would be your answer to that question?
Maybe pull out a journal and explore your answer.
It really hit home for me as I realised, in some sense, I wouldn’t change my life. I love what I am doing and who I spend my time with.
I feel happy and fulfilled if I:
- Create meaningful content
- Coach my clients to perform at work and live their best lives
- Have the freedom to walk in nature
- Get to spend quality time with my wife and kids
It’s pretty simple!
If you asked me the same question back when I was stuck on my corporate hamster wheel? Man, I would change everything! I put on a brave face but didn’t enjoy the work. And I had little time or energy for my creative projects and time with my family.
The question is a welcomed wake-up call to find our path of meaning.
You are going to have more fun and will live a more fulfilled life because of it.
In this world, money accrues to people who do things they enjoy and do it for a long time.
Ali Abdaal
But even though I’m on my way to having the life I want, I still feel the pull for “more”. But that’s mainly coming from the view of providing a better life for my family.
What was Ali’s big realisation from the Alan Watts question?
He would continue what he is currently doing but instead do it part-time, on his own terms. So he’s now only going to create videos when he feels like it, but not for the algorithm or sponsors. He’s only going to do it for fulfilment.
Interesting insight:
Part-time work could be the solution — Not “more” work.
Sure, he would be less “financially successful”. But he would be happier and more fulfilled.
People are afraid to go part-time because of the financial impact: As people rise in the income hierarchy, their lifestyles and expenses also rise—the hamster wheel of success. Throw in kids and a mortgage, and suddenly, you feel trapped.
But what if you didn’t play that game of forever upgrading to more, more, more?
What if you got clear on what you genuinely want? And be satisfied with that.
What if, instead, people prized the idea that:
Making less money for happiness, fulfilment, relationships, and health is okay.
Ali was speaking with an entrepreneurial friend who shared this insight:
It’s ok to leave money on the table.
And if you want to leave a life you genuinely love, that comes at the expense of making more money.
Let’s assume you’ve met your basic needs and are living comfortably. Now you have a trade-off:
- Do you pursue something that makes you more money?
- Do you pursue something that helps you live a more enjoyable life?
- Can you have both?
Happy pondering.
Cheers,
Matt
