Dealing with Bad Habits: Inspiration from millionaire Ali Abdaal
Procrastination, overthinking, and fear of taking risks are of the many obstacles that prevent people from pursuing their goals, including me. I watched a YouTube video titled, “How Writing Online Made me a Millionaire,” by Ali Abdaal, which inspired me to start writing online.
Even after being inspired by Ali’s video, I still continued to procrastinate creating a website. It took me 3 weeks to overcome the procrastination. I watched this video 8 times and did an extensive amount of research on small things.
During those 3 weeks, I was doing research on information regarding best website builder, best plugins, best place to get a domain, differences between wix - SquareSpace - WordPress - ghost, how to optimize for SEO, should I open a store, ect ect… I was going down rabbit holes of overthinking and jumping to many different topics, when I should’ve, from the very start, just started writing.
The website itself only took me a couple of hours, but in the span of 21 days, I accomplished nothing significant besides being self aware of my procrastination. I’ve learned how to deal with it by minimizing my distractions, which has been successful.
Some key takeaways I got from watching Ali Abdaal’s YouTube video are to;
Find your niche: Ali's success was built on his ability to provide valuable, informative content in a niche that he was passionate about. Finding something that you are passionate about with an audience is important.
Create value: By creating helpful, informative content that solved real problems for his readers, Ali was able to build a loyal following.
Take risks: I don’t recommend you quit your job, but instead start with something you're passionate about, then take calculated risk in order to minimize the risk while increasing your chance for success. For example, Ali built an online presence and had income streams before quitting his job.
Consistency is key: Being consistent is not easy, but the more practice you have, the more you develop your skills. It’s a winning formula for success. More consistent = more practice = more quality content.
Ali enjoys writing, and he has turned his hobby into a successful business. Personally, I don’t enjoy writing, but I enjoy sharing my experiences & thoughts to help others.
The thought of writing online never crossed my mind until recent years. The main reason I never wrote online was due to my personal image. Being judged from afar is something that I find daunting. Another important fact I found out recently, in which Ali has also stated in his video, is that the majority of people are focused on themselves (which means they are not even paying attention to you). The fear of people judging combined with always thinking I have to create a “perfect” product is a recipe for failure. This thought process is flawed because there's always room for improvement and the only way to improve is to consistently produce.
To conclude, if many of you struggle with taking risks or procrastination, I encourage you to watch Ali Abdaal’s YouTube video that may persuade you to start building an online presence. If it’s not an online presence you are looking for, the video still provides valuable lessons which may assist you on your other ventures.
TDLR: Don’t focus on little things. Understand that nothing is perfect. Understand imposter syndrome. Most importantly, take initiative.
Ali Abdaal. How Writing Online Made me a Millionaire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyVpRiqOvt4&t=633s.