Ali Abdaal finished toward the top of his class at Cambridge, became a doctor, and then built a UA-cam channel with 5 million followers. Here's what he's taught me about creative work: 1. Get going, get good, get smart-in that order. 2. If you're stuck, embrace the FBR Method: Fast, Bad, Wrong. Ali wrote the first draft of his book in seven days flat. Quantity leads to quality. 3. Prolific over perfect: If you want to get good at something, you have to put in the reps. 4. Be a Guide, not a Guru: Your writer's block will disappear once you stop trying to be the person who knows everything, and start being a friendly guide instead. Tell your story. Share what's worked for you. You don't need to have all the answers. 5. Do the verb instead of being the noun: Your identity can limit you. Make videos instead of being a "UA-camr." Publish essays instead of being a "writer." Labels tie you down. Action frees you up. 6. Work hard to find the work that doesn't feel like work. The more time I spend with Ali, the more I realize that he's always working in a way that doesn't feel like work to him. 7. Search for the work only you can do: Ali couldn't find a competitive edge in academia. As he once said to me: “The only way to win the academic game was just to work really, really hard because at the highest levels of academia, I had no natural advantages.” 8. You can thrive as a communicator without a bunch of new ideas. Interpreting existing ideas in a fresh, distinct, and personal way is more than enough. Just think of your favorite teacher from school. How many of their ideas were original? Same with writing. 9. Be real, not perfect: Ali's videos aren't 100% scripted. He speaks off the cuff, as if he's talking to a friend. 10. If you're stuck on an article, ditch the Google Doc and text a friend about what you're trying to say instead. 11. You don't need to be an expert to share what you've learned along the way. C.S. Lewis once said: “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 so long ago he has forgotten.” 12. Algorithms are designed to put the right things in front of the right people at the right time. Put them to work for you.
David, you and Ali are super resourceful people! This has become a delightful conversation between “those smart school” friends who save your ass before the exam. Thanks for keep sharing! 🙏
I'm really enjoying this series that you're doing on how people actually write and how their process evolves. It's something I think about and have wondered and I'm so grateful for this content. I also very much enjoy your interview style. You add just enough and are naturally able to come back to and touch on key moments naturally.
Thats amazing episode. I'll have to go through it once again. Parallel between stand-up joke buildup and buildup in a story, before punchline at the end...thats so good.
Great interview and interesting ideas from both! Thank you for making this video. Here's a small thought about book editors: Ali mentioned videos that show exactly how he does something (without removing the specifics) get more views. But in the book editing section, the editors seen to encourage the authors to remove the specifics (being a doctor, going to medical school). I think this is a mistake by the editors. I am not a medical student, and I get inspiration from how Ali's videos that include the specifics. Removing the specifics is equivalent to removing context. I prefer to have full context and decide if I an idea applies to my life or not.
This is really great & a different take! I'm onto episode 15 of my podcast & the GET GOING is spot on. only took me 4 years to put that into practice 😅
the fact that this was very conversational made it feel very welcoming & fit with the discussed theme of authenticity, action, & friendly guidance rather than overall image & "guru"-attitude
Ali Abdaal finished toward the top of his class at Cambridge, became a doctor, and then built a UA-cam channel with 5 million followers.
Here's what he's taught me about creative work:
1. Get going, get good, get smart-in that order.
2. If you're stuck, embrace the FBR Method: Fast, Bad, Wrong. Ali wrote the first draft of his book in seven days flat. Quantity leads to quality.
3. Prolific over perfect: If you want to get good at something, you have to put in the reps.
4. Be a Guide, not a Guru: Your writer's block will disappear once you stop trying to be the person who knows everything, and start being a friendly guide instead. Tell your story. Share what's worked for you. You don't need to have all the answers.
5. Do the verb instead of being the noun: Your identity can limit you. Make videos instead of being a "UA-camr." Publish essays instead of being a "writer." Labels tie you down. Action frees you up.
6. Work hard to find the work that doesn't feel like work. The more time I spend with Ali, the more I realize that he's always working in a way that doesn't feel like work to him.
7. Search for the work only you can do: Ali couldn't find a competitive edge in academia. As he once said to me: “The only way to win the academic game was just to work really, really hard because at the highest levels of academia, I had no natural advantages.”
8. You can thrive as a communicator without a bunch of new ideas. Interpreting existing ideas in a fresh, distinct, and personal way is more than enough. Just think of your favorite teacher from school. How many of their ideas were original? Same with writing.
9. Be real, not perfect: Ali's videos aren't 100% scripted. He speaks off the cuff, as if he's talking to a friend.
10. If you're stuck on an article, ditch the Google Doc and text a friend about what you're trying to say instead.
11. You don't need to be an expert to share what you've learned along the way. C.S. Lewis once said: “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 so long ago he has forgotten.”
12. Algorithms are designed to put the right things in front of the right people at the right time. Put them to work for you.
Loved it. Get Going -> Get Good -> Get Smart. So valuable.
Great interview. This is one of my top 3 podcasts over the last 3 months. Big fan
David, you and Ali are super resourceful people! This has become a delightful conversation between “those smart school” friends who save your ass before the exam. Thanks for keep sharing! 🙏
Appreciate you listening
Wonderful podcast to stumble upon! I’m glad the algorithm is working correctly!!!
I'm really enjoying this series that you're doing on how people actually write and how their process evolves. It's something I think about and have wondered and I'm so grateful for this content. I also very much enjoy your interview style. You add just enough and are naturally able to come back to and touch on key moments naturally.
Thats amazing episode. I'll have to go through it once again. Parallel between stand-up joke buildup and buildup in a story, before punchline at the end...thats so good.
Thanks!
ali is amazing. he is natural . effortless. great interview. thanks david for this
Great chat, David!
I'm so confused why I've never heard of this podcast before. Great work David!
Great interview and interesting ideas from both! Thank you for making this video. Here's a small thought about book editors: Ali mentioned videos that show exactly how he does something (without removing the specifics) get more views. But in the book editing section, the editors seen to encourage the authors to remove the specifics (being a doctor, going to medical school). I think this is a mistake by the editors. I am not a medical student, and I get inspiration from how Ali's videos that include the specifics. Removing the specifics is equivalent to removing context. I prefer to have full context and decide if I an idea applies to my life or not.
Learned alot. Thanks for the collab🎉
enjoying this podcast a lot. would be really cool to have Bloomberg's Matt Levine on; his writing style is incredible.
Good idea... will work on it
We did an interview many years ago: perell.com/podcast/matt/
cool! thanks for sharing - and looking forward the future eps you have lined up. I enjoy the thematic nature of the pod@@DavidPerellChannel
Great podcast!
This is really great & a different take! I'm onto episode 15 of my podcast & the GET GOING is spot on. only took me 4 years to put that into practice 😅
Thanks budds!!
enjoyed
the fact that this was very conversational made it feel very welcoming & fit with the discussed theme of authenticity, action, & friendly guidance rather than overall image & "guru"-attitude
Ali, you overcame the self diagnosed social awkwardness, you are even singing now 😂
The next T-Swift... you heard it here first
17:00
Painfully good advice… get going, get good, get smart. Getting over the internal hump is challenging
Thoughts on AI by 2025 dominating 90% of the content on the internet. Words and who sees those words. Info from Whitney Webb.
You’ve seemed to nail the guests on this show. Would highly recommend you inviting @americanbaron on this show. He’s too good!