DDeep Dive with Ali Abdaal
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Season 5 Wrap04 May 2023

7 Lessons To Build A Life You Love - Season 5 Wrap

9Frameworks
16Insights

Frameworks in this episode

Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 2

Myth Buster04:30

Struggling to focus isn't automatically ADHD

“people are like I struggle to focus on my schoolwork or with my whatever web design side hustle I must have ADHD as like an…”

Ali Abdaal · 04:30
Myth Buster31:00

Productivity isn't grinding — it's dream-oriented

“I like to think that productivity is really dream oriented that everyone should have a dream and if they don't they probably do and they're…”

Guest · 31:30

“one of the tragedies of the world is we spend all of our time thinking about our parents and our spouses and our children and…”

Guest · 31:30

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take13:00

"I don't watch TV, I don't watch movies, I just consume books"

“the joy that you get from a book if you've read a book is so much deeper than the Joe you get from watching a…”

Guest · 13:30

Explainer· 4

Explainer00:30

Why season five focused on health and relationships

“I chronically under best in my health and in relationships and in consuming content and learning about those sorts of things”

Ali Abdaal · 00:30

“the episode that I did with a psychologist Dr Arya felt more of a therapy session than I did a podcast episode”

Ali Abdaal · 01:00
Explainer03:30

The gut-brain axis: three physical connections

“the chattiest organ between your brain and your gut is your gut your gut is constantly telling your brain all sorts of different things and…”

Guest · 04:00
Explainer09:30

Nutrients used in place of SSRIs in controlled studies

“if we think about things like Omega-3s and B vitamins they've been used in place of anxiety and depression medications ssris that kind of stuff…”

Guest · 09:30

“it's a young field of research but it's super exciting and it's very solid research just showing that the magic that we can harness from…”

Guest · 10:00
Explainer1:06:00

Task freeze: why 15 to-dos makes you stop entirely

“I talked about task freeze where you see like 15 things you need to do and you just stop it's because you literally the planning…”

Guest · 1:06:30

Story· 3

Story21:00

The apartment lab: 130 newlyweds followed for six years

“in our apartment lab what we saw 130 newlywed couples and followed them for six years”

Guest · 21:00

“turning toward is like an emotional bank account that you build when you really connect with your partner”

Guest · 22:30
Story32:30

Watching the 50 greatest films is a legitimate horizon goal

“she said but that doesn't feel super productive and I said that sounds incredibly productive to me because it's your dream”

Guest · 32:30
Story40:30

Standing on one foot while brushing your teeth

“when you're brushing your teeth stand on one foot during the first minute of brushing your teeth and see if you can maintain that one…”

Guest · 41:00

“this is incremental change you're not even supposed to see it you're not even supposed to expect to see it”

Guest · 41:30

Q&A· 1

Q&A47:00

"Which self is the authentic one?" — Ali's default vs chosen self

“I am the happiest person in the world if I've spent five hours in the evening on my laptop from 6 pm to 11 p.m…”

Ali Abdaal · 47:00

“there is the conditioned self and there is true self there is the mind and identity and there is spirit”

Guest · 48:00

Tool· 2

Tool13:30

Video Speed Controller and the 3x default

“I use an app on my on my computer called uh video speed controller uh you can increment the speed by 0.1 increments”

Guest · 14:00

“YouTube on my computer automatically plays a 3X speed for everything”

Guest · 14:00
Tool16:30

How To Take Over The World: five primary sources per episode

“what he'll do is he'll read like five primary sources and he'll produce like a two to three hour uh biography podcast”

Guest · 16:30

Takeaway· 3

Takeaway18:30

Books vs podcasts: which medium for which job

“there's no point me listening to a podcast about nuclear because I know nothing about the topic and so to get the foundational groundwork the…”

Ali Abdaal · 19:00

“the lead time from something being discovered to appearing in a podcast is faster than the lead time for something being discovered to be published…”

Guest · 18:00
Takeaway46:00

A-players leave — and that's the success metric

“I've hired 140 people in last three years and so many of them have gone to start their own businesses and I'm proud of that”

Guest · 46:00

“that's my success metric if I can go and create that”

Guest · 46:30
Takeaway1:06:30

The pull-based holding tank for company work

“a much better system is this all sits in a holding tank and when I'm ready for the next thing I pull it in but…”

Guest · 1:08:30