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The surest way to plan for the future​
I met Ali Abdaal last weekend in London.
He is a creator with 5M+ subs on Youtube, only 29 years of age, based out of the UK, and one of the foremost names in productivity.

I have been following him for ~5 years; was part of his 1st Part-Time YouTuber Academy cohort in Aug ‘20 and love his authentic content style.

However, what transpired in the 3.5+ hours we spent together, left me an even bigger fan.

5 things stood out:

1/ Curiosity ​
He asked questions.
A LOT of questions.
With no hesitation, no qualms, no second-guessing.

He was simply eager to know.

It is rare to find such authentic curiosity in today’s times.

2/ Note-taking
​I recall Ali blowing up in his early YT days with a video on note-taking.
Guess what? That hasn’t changed one bit.

As he listened intently, he took notes.
Pages after pages.
With his lovely ink pen.
In a small cute notebook.

Rare to find such discipline to capture the finer points of life, as it happens to us.

3/ We are equal
​Ali is 29, I am 43.
He has 5M+ YT subs, I have 3.5M.
He is my teacher, I am his student.

We are different.
And when you meet someone different, it is easy to either think of yourself as lesser or as superior.

Ali thought of me as an equal.
And I found that fascinating.

He offered advice as an equal, sought advice as an equal, and exchanged ideas as an equal.

Rare to start one’s first interaction as an equal.

4/ Range
​We spoke about business, content creation, money, marriage, kids, working with one’s spouse, work-life balance, purpose, taxes, and investments.

It’s incredible the range we covered.

While Ali is synonymous with productivity, he isn’t defined by just that one thing.

Rare to see someone explore multiple identities in one life.

5/ No “me too”
​Consider this.
Your friend states that they saw a movie last night and loved it.
You happened to see the same movie sometime back.
What are the odds your first reaction will be “Me too. I have seen the movie as well”?
I’d say 99%!

That’s what we do.
When we have done the same thing, we instantly announce it.
But what that does is it assumes we have had the same experience as well.

Not even once during the entire 3.5 hours did I hear Ali utter the words, “We have done that too”, or “I have felt that too”, or “Me too”.

I am sure most of what I shared is something he has done as well.
But he didn’t care about what he had done.
He cared about what I had learnt from what I had done.

Rare to see this pure chase for learning.

Ali stated that his lifelong purpose is to be a teacher.
And I’d argue he will become one of the world’s top teachers since he is one of the best students I have ever interacted with.

These 5 elements are not for just one person to own.
Anyone can own them.
YOU can own them.

The surest way to plan for the future is not to predict it. It is to remain a student, forever!
​(share on X)​

Ali is a terrific example of that.

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Book I am reading this week

Finished reading OUTSMART YOUR BRAIN: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy.
​Good book if you wish to fight procrastination and develop good focus. Especially when it comes to learning as a student.
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My new book, MAKE EPIC MONEY, hit #1 in India on the AC Nielsen Book Scan - making this the 3rd consecutive bestseller for me. I am now a 3X bestselling author, lol.
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Here is a list of all the books I have shared in this newsletter so far (alphabetical order)
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Results of last week's survey

What is your current status?
​This is just to know my email audience.

• School student
• College student
• Working in a job
• Running my own startup
• Freelancing (post-college)
• Not working right now
• Retired

Here are the results:

Observations:

• Most of this email audience is working in a job, followed by college students, not working, and school students.
• 42% of the audience is female, which is quite good as a gender ratio.

Does anything in this data surprise you?

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Quotes to share

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Whenever in doubt, bet on the only thing you can bet on.
Yourself.

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Fear makes far more people unable to speak, than introversion ever will.

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The only way to overcome fear is to experience it.

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📸 My week, in pictures

In this section, I share my week in pictures, for those who do not like to read as much as I write :))
I do so not to show how cool a life I live, but instead to show you what are the highlights of every day. As you will see over time, my days are mostly in repeat mode - the same things, but different experiences from them.

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Was in Dubai last week for work. Love the city :))

Working from the comfort of a couch - rare pleasures :))

Met Ali Abdaal in London - huge fan of his work. Check out his YouTube channel, if you haven't.

Was at the University of Warwick for a talk during their annual India Forum. Lovely campus - but damp winters :((

Thankfully upon return to London, it was sunny, while still cold (7 degrees). Beautiful weather.

Getting towards my fat-free goals :))

Was at the Blinkit office today to shoot a podcast with their founder, Albinder. Love the product!

That's it for the week in pictures. Have a lovely weekend and week ahead, all of you lovelies :)))

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Question of the week​
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Which of these is your preferred holiday destination?

• Beaches
• Mountains
• Forests/Wildlife
• Cities

(and see the results of others, too)

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🎙️ Podcast I shared last week

Safalta | Success

🚀 Content I shared this week

📹 YouTube:​

​Save lakhs while paying off loans​

📱 Instagram:​

​You are at peace​

🐥 X:

​Money lessons I wish I had learnt when I was in my 20s​

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You can, of course, always write to me by simply replying to this newsletter.

I love reading all your emails, even though I may not be able to reply to them all.
Yes! I READ ALL MY EMAILS. ALL OF THEM.​
​(Bachpan mein mota aur budhape mein fit hone ki kasam)

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