Have you started down a career path only to discover you’re really good at making money in other ways?
Well, today’s guest, Ali Abdaal, is no stranger to this, having qualified as a doctor but having just surpassed 2 million subscribers as a YouTuber!
In this episode, we discuss how Ali has been able to build multiple income streams that bring in over a million dollars each year, how to turn your work into passive income over time, the habits that have him set up for success to become a millionaire, how to turn productivity into a game, and how to eliminate all distractions.
If you’ve been looking for ways to diversify your income streams and get more done in a day than most people get done in a week, this episode is for you!
Who Is Ali Abdaal?
Ali Abdaal is a doctor and YouTuber working in the UK. His YouTube channel now has over 2 million subscribers and focuses on how we can lead happier, healthier, and more productive lives by encouraging people to do more of what matters to them.
Ali also co-hosts a weekly podcast, Not Overthinking, with his brother Taimur where together they discuss happiness, creativity, and the human condition. He also runs the Part-Time YouTuber Academy where he shares his skills, knowledge, and experience of becoming a YouTuber with others.
I’m excited to hear what Ali has to share with us today — so let’s jump straight in!
From Doctor to Multiple Streams of Income
Ali has been exploding onto the digital scene the past few years, and I wanted to learn how he transitioned from the traditional career of medicine to building multiple streams of income on the side. Ali shared the keys to switching his mindset that helped him to get to where he is today:
“I can trace it back to when I was 17 years old and I first read The Four Hour Work Week and came across the idea of passive income, and immediately my mind was blown. I had by default been following the traditional path of assuming, ‘I’m going to be a doctor to make money and hopefully ascend the hierarchy and eventually make enough money to buy a bigger house and then retire.’ I just hadn’t really considered any of those assumptions until I read The Four Hour Work Week.” – Ali Abdaal
It took one book to open Ali up to a different way of thinking and he immediately put that knowledge to work. In his first year of medical school, Ali decided to create another revenue stream and when he wasn’t writing an essay, studying for an exam, or hanging out with friends — Ali was developing his skills building websites and slowly trying to build additional streams of passive income.
Another game-changer for Ali’s mindset was hearing the Mexican Fisherman Parable, a story that reveals the importance of building a life, day-to-day, that we enjoy and get value out instead of a deferred life plan which entails working really hard, grinding, and hustling to get to the point where we have lots of money and THEN we retire.
“I never want to be in that position where I am shackled to a job that I might not necessarily enjoy just for the sake of money. [When I was in] med school, I would meet another doctor and ask the question, ‘If you win the lottery, would you still do medicine?’ About half of them said, no — they would leave immediately.” – Ali Abdaal
Ali had extra incentive by having honest conversations with doctors already years deep into practicing medicine. Meeting a few doctors who said they would continue to work full time in medicine if they didn’t need the money set alarm bells off and fueled his side hustle.
It paid off because now Ali has eight different revenue streams besides being a doctor. It’s no wonder that one of those income streams revolves around teaching productivity!
The Three Horsemen of Productivity
As an expert in productivity, I wanted to know what Ali recommends as the best tools to increase productivity, for someone that already feels overworked and overwhelmed. Ali suggested the best place to start is creating a clear understanding of what productivity is that encompasses a broader meaning than just being efficient.
“To me, productivity is [part] efficiency, but the other part of it is living intentionally. For example, it’s not very productive to drive at a hundred miles per hour if you’re going in the wrong direction. Also to me, productivity is, ‘Am I having fun along the way?’ I found the more fun I have, the more productive I am as a result. … I think optimizing what’s fun for enjoyment and either picking something that’s already fun or more likely finding ways to enjoy the thing that you’re already doing. That is the thing that really moves the needle for productivity.” – Ali Abdaal
Ali came up with what he calls “The Three Horsemen” of productivity killers and explained them to us in this interview.
Productivity Killer #1: Procrastination
“Number one: procrastination. Procrastination is really a problem with getting started. We can defeat the horsemen of procrastination [by setting] a really easy goal. [Instead of thinking] ‘I want to write a New York Times bestseller’ say, ‘I just want to write one paragraph that I’m happy with today.’” – Ali Abdaal
To begin the process of overcoming procrastination, there are two areas of friction to acknowledge and reduce — environmental friction or emotional friction.
Environmental friction is when your environment doesn’t support the pursuit of your goals. We can set our environment up to form part of our success by doing things like avoiding phones and TV while we working.
Emotional friction is created by perfectionism, fear, self-doubt, or guilt that get inside your head that prevent you from taking the first step. You’ll find yourself saying things like, “I need to wait until I have a perfect camera set up before I make a YouTube video, otherwise people are going to laugh at me,” or “I need to wait until I’m in better shape before I go to the gym because I don’t want people to judge me while I’m at the gym.” Emotional friction is often a bigger source of procrastination than almost anything else, and addressing it is a long-term battle to overcome being afraid and having self-doubt.
Productivity Killer #2: Distraction
“The second [horseman] is distraction. I think distraction is only really a problem when we’re not having fun. No one gets distracted from hanging out with their friends or playing board games. We get distracted from working on a thing that’s either hard or that we find boring.” – Ali Abdaal
Ali goes into greater detail later on in this post about the techniques he uses and recommends to overcome distraction. A massive realization Ali’s had about productivity is how important it is to live a life aligned with your values, living intentionally, living your vision and what you find meaningful — when you do that, productivity takes care of itself, and you become less distracted.
Productivity Killer #3: Burnout
“The third [horseman] is burnout. … There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, too much fun, and too much productivity [can be] bad — even if you’re enjoying yourself. Taking breaks [has been] one of the biggest tips I found really helpful.” – Ali Abdaal
It becomes so easy to constantly strive to cram every second of every day with “productive” work — this can create feelings of immense dissatisfaction. Life is about having fun and learning to enjoy the journey and find as much fulfillment in creating our lives as we would have in reaching any given milestone.
It’s one thing to know about these three horsemen, but as Ali alluded to earlier — distraction is by far the worst.
So what can we do to mitigate it?
