DDeep Dive with Ali Abdaal
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The Cultural Tutor15 February 2024

How To Build A 1.5 Million Following As An Online Writer - The Cultural Tutor

5Frameworks
13Insights

Frameworks in this episode

Insights & moments

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

Myth Buster· 2

Myth Buster1:19:30

Forget picking a niche — you are your own niche

but but rather than picking a niche to to capture to enter just just just you are your own Niche

The Cultural Tutor · 1:22:00

this is something I really believe you got to trust your instincts that spark within you as a writer as a Creator

The Cultural Tutor · 1:28:00
Myth Buster2:02:00

You can optimise the spark out of existence

I'd like to remind people that this sort of routine isn't the only way

The Cultural Tutor · 2:02:00

if ever I've written anything good it's not because I had a good routine or because I was being productive it all came from Passion…

The Cultural Tutor · 2:02:30

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take40:00

You are a writer if you write today, not if you have a book deal

a lot of people think oh I'd love to be a wrer well if you're writing you already are

The Cultural Tutor · 40:30

every every action is an expression of our priorities we find the time to eat every day

The Cultural Tutor · 41:00

Explainer· 3

Explainer17:30

Why 'The Cultural Tutor' and not his own name

it wasn't a desire for anonymity so much it was as I said what I wanted to offer people was cultural tutoring

The Cultural Tutor · 17:30

as a as Bruce Wayne you're just one man but as Batman you're a symbol

The Cultural Tutor · 18:30
Explainer34:30

Trick yourself into thinking it matters, because raised stakes raise performance

there's that that great saying I don't know who came up with it but um How We Do Anything Is How We Do everything

The Cultural Tutor · 34:30

if you trick yourself into thinking this is all that matters then suddenly the stakes are raised when the stakes are higher we all perform…

The Cultural Tutor · 35:00
Explainer1:13:30

Clickbait is fine if you back it up with something worth reading

what I tell myself is I can clickbait people click bear people as long as I back it up with something really valuable and good…

The Cultural Tutor · 1:14:00

I do think when people watch the things you make read the things you write they can usually tell how much you cared about it

The Cultural Tutor · 1:15:30

Story· 4

Story03:30

Law degree, 300 rejections, and an application to manage Bayern Munich

at least not a published writer I've got a bunch of unpublished novels I've tried to get some novels published in the past which um…

The Cultural Tutor · 04:00

I did also apply to be the manager of Bayern Munich when I when I when I was when I was 15 they responded declining

The Cultural Tutor · 04:30
Story08:00

The Mulan moment: quitting McDonald's with less than no money

I'm going to quit my job at McDonald's and I'm going to throw everything at the wall

The Cultural Tutor · 08:30

I was like look guys I can't come because I've got to shift to McDonald's

The Cultural Tutor · 10:00
Story45:30

The thread that added 80,000 followers in a day

and then I open my laptop and I and I wrote This Thread about entitled it the the the danger of minimalist design and the…

The Cultural Tutor · 46:00

it was on like 250,000 likes by the end of the day it had reached half a million um and my follow count had increased…

The Cultural Tutor · 46:30
Story49:30

The patron: a stranger DMs and offers to pay him to keep writing

he said how how much money do you want I'll pay you how how much do you need um to live on and to buy…

The Cultural Tutor · 50:30

there's a great line for from John Ruskin um one of my favorite writers and historians he says all all all a writer needs is…

The Cultural Tutor · 51:00

Takeaway· 3

Takeaway1:40:30

The followers are not the source of the happiness

but now I've got that I see much more clearly how quickly that can all disappear and be taken away

The Cultural Tutor · 1:41:00

if even in that position you can just just stop yourself for a moment take you know take take a minute to yourself and and…

The Cultural Tutor · 1:44:30
Takeaway1:45:30

The bill: saying no to friends, and probably years off his life

I wouldn't have been able to do what I've done for 400 plus days if I hadn't said no to a lot of people and…

The Cultural Tutor · 1:46:00

know it's probably taking years off my life I don't know I'm probably not as you know not going to live as long as I…

The Cultural Tutor · 1:46:30
Takeaway1:58:30

What you lack is deadlines, not ideas

he told me once what you lack is deadlines not ideas

The Cultural Tutor · 1:58:30

ideas are cheap there's like 10 billion ideas and you can think of 100 ideas a day the difficult is in picking one and executing…

The Cultural Tutor · 1:59:00