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Monthly Favourites #5 - Ali Abdaal

2018-06-17 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 5:55 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Business and entrepreneurship (also: Health, sleep and habits) · mode: Review and recommendation

In his fifth Monthly Favourites video, Ali, a final-year Cambridge medical student, recommends four things he found in May 2018: Tim Ferriss's interview with Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, his friend Lucia's ethical-eating recipe website EATasty, the Pixar film Coco, and Seth Godin's blog and Startup School podcast.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The four favourites of May 2018: a podcast, a blog, a film and a website

  • ★★ In his Monthly Favourites video for May 2018, Ali shares four things he discovered that month: a podcast, a blog, a film and a website. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ When people message him on Instagram for podcast recommendations, The Tim Ferriss Show is always at the top of Ali's list. — 00:00:00 · The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss

00:00:35 — The Tim Ferriss Show and its interview with Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb

  • ★★ Tim Ferriss's The 4-Hour Workweek is one of Ali's favourite books of all time and really changed his attitudes towards productivity and entrepreneurship. — 00:00:49 · The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss
  • ★★ On The Tim Ferriss Show, Ali explains, Tim Ferriss talks at length each week with world-class performers to tease out actionable advice such as favourite books, morning routines and habits; Ali highly recommends it. — 00:00:49 · The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss
  • ★★★ People tend to assume that the makers of something big like Airbnb just got lucky with an incredible idea; the Joe Gebbia interview made Ali realise that Gebbia had been designing products his whole life. — 00:01:18 · Airbnb
  • ★★★ Ali calls Tim Ferriss's interview with Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia the single best podcast episode he has ever listened to. — 00:01:48 · The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss, Airbnb
  • ★ Ali says he listens to about ten podcasts every week. — 00:01:48

00:02:09 — EATasty, his friend Lucia's website of simple recipes for eating more ethically

  • ★★ EATasty, a website set up by Ali's university friend Lucia, gives simple recipes for anyone who wants to start eating more ethically. — 00:02:17
  • ★★ Ali says that for now he does not really care about eating ethically; he cares more about eating healthily. — 00:02:17
  • ★★ Ali, who has been quite a meat eater for the past 24 years, says he has come across evidence suggesting that plant-based diets, perhaps vegan or vegetarian, are healthier in the long run than meat-based ones. (hedged) — 00:02:17
  • ★★ EATasty's one-page formula of herbs and spices, vegetables, sauce, protein, toppings and sides helps Ali, who knows nothing about cooking but likes systems, mix and match decent meals such as chickpea curries and lentils with vegetables. — 00:02:46
  • ★★ Over the past few weeks Ali has been cooking with EATasty's formula, making chickpea curries and lentils with vegetables. — 00:02:46

00:03:31 — Coco, the Disney Pixar animated film

  • ★★ Ali found the Disney Pixar film Coco, about a Mexican boy whose family dislikes his love of the guitar, really heartwarming: he and his friends were in happy tears by the end. — 00:03:44
  • ★★ Watching Coco has inspired Ali to get better at the guitar. — 00:03:44
  • ★★ Seth Godin, an entrepreneur who has written many books on entrepreneurship and marketing, is recommended by many of the company and startup founders Ali has heard interviewed on The Tim Ferriss Show. — 00:04:14 · The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss

00:04:22 — Seth Godin's blog and his podcast Startup School

  • ★★ Seth Godin's podcast Startup School, which Ali has listened to for the past few weeks, has taught him a lot about entrepreneurship and setting up a business. — 00:04:46
  • ★★ Running his own business, Ali wishes he had come across Seth Godin earlier: it would have helped him avoid many of the mistakes he has made. — 00:04:46
  • ★★ Seth Godin's blog has been running for more than ten years, Ali says, with a post of two or three paragraphs every day. (hedged) — 00:04:46
  • ★★ Ali recommends Seth Godin's blog and has signed up to its mailing list: the posts are short and get to the core of a topic, cutting out all the fluff. — 00:05:15
  • ★ Ali is trying to take inspiration from Seth Godin's writing for his own weekly email newsletter. — 00:05:15

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Coco · EATasty · Joe Gebbia · Seth Godin · The Tim Ferriss Show

Also: Airbnb · Lucia · Seth Godin's Startup School · Seth's Blog · The 4-Hour Workweek · Tim Ferriss

Also centred on Seth Godin: Monthly Favourites #8 - Ali Abdaal

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