by

Abhinav Hansaraman

Ali Abdal posted a video about some lessons which changed his life. This is a summary of the 27 minute video.

Summary

• The top of to-do list
  • The 5 worries that dying people should be your compass (Paul Graham)
    • Don’t ignore your dreams
    • Don’t work too much
    • Say what you think
    • Cultivate Friendships
    • Be Happy
• Lean into the fear
  • What is the worst thing which could happen. Often, the worst thing is not that bad
• Have to v Get to
  • I have to do this (compulsion) loses to I get to do this (excited, opportunity to do something, grateful to be able to do something)
• You are allowed to sleep again after taking a shower
  • This will stop you from procrastinating in bed and delaying waking up.
• Information Diet
  • Look at what information you consume, spread it across all important areas of life (health, relationships etc) and not just on money or work
• 4 Components of Ideal Life
  • Physical Health
  • Mental Well Being
  • Relationships
  • Work/Money
  • We tend to focus on the fourth exclusively
• The Power of Accountability
  • Accountability makes you do more things
• Do what you are doing
  • Attention focus on what you are doing make life better, not just at what you are doing.
• Improvisational Productivity
  • Execution triumphs ideas. Get shit done. Reduce time gap between conception/ideation and execution
• Homework for life
  • One interesting story for the day – write it down
• Speed Listening audiobooks
  • Listening to a book in 4 hours make its more palatable than the mental burden of having to listen for 8 hours.
• The Odyssey Plan
  • If I continue on the current path, what will my life look like in 5 years?
  • If I took a completely different path, what would it look like in 5 years?
  • If money and societal obligations are not a factor, what will life look like in 5 years?
• The Power of Clarity (David Allen Getting Things Done)
  • Capture
  • Clarify
    • You will never revise chemistry. However, read chapter I Module iv will get done in no time.
  • Organize
  • Reflect
  • Engage
• Thinking of time in 15 minute chunks
  • Ill start at 11 becomes ill start at 1045
• Goals
  • Tension between goal attainment and self contentment (or self acceptance) is okay.