My favourite youtube creator Ali Abdaal recently hit a 2M subscriber mark and I couldn't be happier. I started following his work back in 2019 and there has been no stopping ever since. More so because his content makes me want to take action, instead of procrastinating.
On his channel, Ali talks about productivity, mindset, learnings from books and technology for the most part. He inspired me to take this journey to personal growth from offline to online and I have seen so much growth over time within me. Huge thanks to him for inspiring me to get started.
In this blog article, I will be talking about 7 Brilliant Life Lessons I Learnt from Ali and hope it inspires you to take action in whichever creative journey you choose to pursue.
Please don't mind if it looks like I'm totally fangirling over him, but I do appreciate his work and wanted to give him a huge shout-out from my little corner on the internet.
So, let's get started.
1. Journey Before Destination
This is the concept that he picked from Brandon Sanderson's books and it speaks about enjoying the journey before reaching your destination. It's never actually about the destination, what matters is the journey itself.
The more you focus on making the journey to your goal enjoyable, the more fulfilled you would feel once the destination arrives. The destination is merely a fractional moment, that slips away as quickly as it arrives.
However, you would always remember the journey that made you achieve your goal. So, try to make the journey to your goal as enjoyable as you can. Because that is what matters in the end.
2. Establish Systems to be Productive
If you're into creating content of any kind be it sharing your artwork online, sharing your music piece, writing blogs, or youtube videos, create systems to make it easier to move through each of the steps involved in the process.
This can be done by creating a repository of ideas so you don't have to dwell on these on the day of your posting, and by creating templates for recurring steps. This would help in reducing the friction, so you stick to your schedule and don't forget any steps.
In my case, maintaining a repository of blog ideas helps me pick and choose. It helps me write on a topic when the ideas flow. I do not have to wait until the day of my posting to think of an idea.
3. Make Reading a Part of Your Daily Routine
The first video that got me into the Ali Abdaal frenzy was when I was looking for how worthy is a Kindle purchase for its price. Coincidently, Kindle happens to be one of his top 5 tech purchases. Going by his recommendation, I went ahead and bought one for myself.
However, the real reason that convinced me to buy is that he goes to bed reading a book on a kindle. He continues to read it until he falls asleep. Well, I'm not one of those who goes to bed and falls asleep in an instant, so this idea of getting my reading done on a daily whilst waiting to fall asleep made complete sense.
Apart from getting a ton of reading done now that it's part of my daily routine, over-thinking before waiting for the sleep gods to arrive, has gone down to the bare minimum. Instead, I feel a sense of calm and peace.
Kindle is the best way to get your daily reading done before going to sleep. It's lightweight and has a built-in light so you can keep reading in the dark until you fall asleep.
If you're considering buying a Kindle, you may want to check out this article: Thinking of Buying a Kindle in 2021? Here are 9 reasons why you should!
4. Having a Beginner's Mindset
This concept is from the book 'Show Your Work' but I first came across it from; you guessed it; Ali.
This is the idea that if you are a beginner at your creative journey, start by sharing your work online. Embrace the idea that you're a beginner and learn in public. It's ok to goof up but develop a discipline.
Start sharing your work consistently and you will notice your growth over time. This has a number of benefits. One is you're accountable to your audience to show up consistently and the other is you would help other beginner's who are starting out, who are a step or two behind you, to get started on their journey.
As the author C.S.Lewis says " The fellow-pupil can help more than the master because he knows less. The difficulty we want him to explain is one he has recently met. The expert met it a long time ago he has forgotten"
5. The Spotlight Effect
We always have this idea that people are watching us, judging us and if we do something out of ordinary they would make fun of us.
But in reality, this is all in our heads. Nobody is really keeping a tab on what we are up to. Everyone is focused on their own life.
This is in fact so true, maybe you would come across a couple of people but the rest are all focused on their life. Everyone cares about their journey and how they wish to succeed. You are not in the spotlight.
6. Consistency Compounds Over Time
When you're starting out on a brand new creative journey, focus on consistency and quantity. As you keep practising your work consistently and keep churning out content you will improve over time and perfect your skill.
When you look back on your journey, you will realise that consistent practice has gotten you to where you are.
7. Beating Imposter Syndrome
On your journey to sharing your creative work with the world, you may feel like you have no original ideas and may feel like an imposter for putting out your work into the world.
However, in the current world, there are no more original ideas. All that we are thinking and executing is already been done. We are all borrowing ideas from one another and adding our own personalities to them. And personality is unique.
So, don't worry too much about being original. Stay honest to your craft and focus on creating, sharing and improving your skillset along the way.
There you have it guys!
What are your thoughts on these lessons? Let me know in the comments below. I'm happy to receive feedback and improve upon it. Feel free to share your feedback below.
You can also consider following me on my Instagram. I would be happy to connect with your there.
Until next week,
Hugs!
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