Thread by @AliAbdaal

In 2020, both my YouTube channel and my business’ revenue blasted through the 1M mark.

It’s safe to say that the last year was my best one in terms of personal and business growth.

Here are 15 lessons that I learnt in 2020 and that have most improved my life.

Thread 🧵

📝 ‘Top of my to-do list’ - Inspired by @paulg’s blog post from 2012 where he described the top 5 regrets people have on their deathbeds, I list my top 5 commandments to live by at the top of my to-do list (no matter if I use @roamresearch or @notionhq). These are 👇

1. Don’t ignore your dreams.
2. Don’t work too much.
3. Say what you think.
4. Cultivate friendships.
5. Be happy.

@paulg’s blog post: paulgraham.com/todo.html

😨 Lean into the fear - If something feels scary but doesn’t put us in danger it’s a good indicator that we should do it. My recent lean-into-the-fear moment was when the publisher approached me with the idea of writing a book. Luckily, we’re now finishing the proposal :)

🙌 Have to vs Get to - It's easy to forget how lucky we are to get to do the things that we do. When I find myself complaining about things that I “have to do”, I try to reframe it to “No Ali, you get to do it.” This simple mental shift can totally change our output and attitude.

🚿 You're allowed to go back to bed once you've had a shower - Try it out if, just like me, you struggle to negotiate yourself out of the bed in the morning. Once I sing a few songs under the shower I feel energised and no more longing for that bedtime.

ℹ️ My information diet sucks - In 2020, 95% of my podcasts were business- or tech-related. Only two of them were on relationships and health - things I deeply care about. Since then I made sure to follow more creators within these topics.

✨ The four components of an ideal life - as described by @naval on samanthaRyNZ's podcast, I'm trying to think about life in 4 key areas:

1. Physical health
2. Mental health
3. Relationships
4. Money

🧑‍🏫 The power of accountability - When the pandemic hit, I carried on with my dream of becoming a @Gymshark athlete and workout at home. And I did that. For a week. The fix was to find an accountability buddy (thanks, @PropaneFitness) who would check on my macros and workouts.

▶️ Do what you're doing - By focusing on the thing we’re doing, we can make it a much more pleasurable task. Whenever I find my mind wandering while I’m doing something, I try to remind myself to pause and focus on what I’m actually doing. (shoutout to @DavidDCain for the tip)

🚀 Improvisational productivity - Whenever you have an idea, try to act on it immediately to minimise the time between thinking of something and executing on it. The longer you think about it and plan it out, the less likely it is to get done. (from @myfirstmilpod + @danielgross)

📃 Homework for life - It’s a simple mental exercise from my favourite book of 2020, Storyworthy by @MatthewDicks that helps us go through our lives in a more mindful way. Ask yourself every day before going to sleep, ‘What was the most story-worthy moment of my day?’

⚡ Speed listening to audiobooks - Best way to reduce the time cost of any book or a podcast. If a book will take me 8 hours to read, it’s a hard call to make. But 4 hours? A much easier commitment. And, contrary to what most people think, you don’t lose any of the fun or value.

🗺️ The odyssey plan - An exercise that I came across in one of @unjaded_jade’s videos.
Sounds cheesy but it’s genuinely really effective. Imagine your life 5 years from now if

1.) Nothing changes
2.) You have an ideal life
3.) You live without societal & money obligations

🌤️ The power of clarity - Be specific about what you want to do. Don’t make your to-do list a collection of vague statements. For example, If you want to film a video, write down ‘Film a 20 Life Lessons Video’ instead of a vague ‘20 Life Lessons Video’. (from @gtdguy’s GTD)

⏲️ Thinking of time in 15-minute chunks - It allows for much more efficient use of time and less procrastination. Previously, when I was thinking in 1-hour bits, I would wait for the next full hour so I could start the next task. Now, it’s no more than a 15-minute break.

🎯 Goals - I used to be very anti-goal because I thought goals were against the idea of self-acceptance. It took me some time (and a call with @BenjaminPHardy) to realise that these can go hand in hand and we can equally work on both self-improvement and self-acceptance.

I actually made a video with the 20 most impactful lessons I learnt in 2020. If you want to see me go through the whole list, go check out the video below 👇

TL;DR

1/2

📝 The top of my to-do list
😨 Lean into the fear
🙌 Have to vs. get to
🚿 You're allowed to go back to bed once you've had a shower
ℹ️ My information diet sucks
✨ The four components of an ideal life
🧑‍🏫 The power of accountability
▶️ Do what you're doing

2/2

🚀 Improvisational productivity
📃 Homework for life
⚡ Speed listening audiobooks
🗺️ The odyssey plan
🌤️ The power of clarity
⏲️ Thinking of time in 15-minute chunks
🎯 Goals