In 'Anything You Want,' Derek Sivers shares 40 powerful lessons learned from his experience of accidentally starting and growing CD Baby into a successful business. The book emphasizes the importance of creating a business that is a 'utopia' or perfect world, where the focus is on making dreams come true for both the entrepreneur and the customers. Sivers stresses that business is not just about money but about helping people and making them happy. He also highlights the advantages of starting with no money, the irrelevance of traditional business plans, and the importance of prioritizing customer needs over personal gain. The book includes memorable stories of his mistakes and successes, including his interactions with Steve Jobs and the impact of his decisions on his business.
This 29-page guide, available as a free PDF download, is a call to action for individuals feeling trapped by mediocrity. It emphasizes the importance of non-conformity, practical tips for achieving personal goals, and stories from various inspirational figures. The guide covers topics such as the two most important questions in the universe, why ruling and changing the world are interrelated, and life lessons from the author's experiences. It is designed to inspire readers to take action and live a more fulfilling life.
Based on Chris Guillebeau's popular online manifesto 'A Brief Guide to World Domination,' this book encourages readers to challenge conventional norms and live unconventional, remarkable lives. It explores creative self-employment, radical goal-setting, contrarian travel, and embracing life as a constant adventure. The book is organized into three parts: The Remarkable Life, Reclaiming Work, and The Power of Convergence, providing practical advice and inspiring stories to help readers design their own path to success and make a meaningful impact.
The Personal MBA distills the most valuable business lessons into simple, memorable mental models that can be applied to real-world challenges. The book covers a wide array of topics including entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, and systems design. It is designed to provide a self-directed crash course in business, helping readers understand and analyze the fundamental elements that make every successful business function. The book emphasizes the importance of creating value, effective marketing, and delivering on promises, and it includes a recommended reading list to further enhance business knowledge.
In 'Authority,' Nathan Barry provides a detailed plan for researching, writing, and selling a book. The book emphasizes the importance of establishing a consistent writing habit, teaching what you know to establish expertise, and implementing effective marketing strategies. It includes practical advice on finding an audience, writing epic blog posts, and pricing your book based on the value it delivers. Barry also discusses post-launch strategies, such as maintaining sales through continuous teaching and writing, and managing updates and refunds[2][3][5].
In 'Feel-Good Productivity,' Dr. Ali Abdaal challenges the conventional notion that productivity is about hard work and discipline. Instead, he argues that the secret to productivity is feeling good. Drawing on decades of psychological research, Abdaal introduces the three hidden 'energisers' that underpin enjoyable productivity, the three 'blockers' to overcome procrastination, and the three 'sustainers' to prevent burnout. The book includes inspiring stories from founders, Olympians, and Nobel-winning scientists and provides simple, actionable changes to make work more enjoyable and sustainable. Abdaal's approach focuses on cultivating a deeper energy for work, balancing well-being with productivity, and enjoying the journey.
In 'The Obstacle Is the Way', Ryan Holiday presents a framework for turning obstacles into successes. Drawing from the philosophy of Stoicism and the writings of Marcus Aurelius, Holiday outlines three disciplines: perception, action, and will. He illustrates these principles with historical anecdotes from figures such as John D. Rockefeller, Amelia Earhart, Ulysses S. Grant, and Steve Jobs. The book emphasizes the importance of perception in shaping one's response to obstacles, the need for intentional and creative action, and the cultivation of will to persist through challenges. Holiday argues that by adopting these Stoic principles, individuals can transform their obstacles into opportunities for growth and success.
In 'Show Your Work!', Austin Kleon provides a manifesto for succeeding as any kind of artist or entrepreneur in the digital age. The book emphasizes the importance of generosity over genius, getting 'findable' by using the network, and self-discovery through sharing your creative process. It offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, and productive, including chapters on sharing something small every day, engaging with your audience, and the etiquette of sharing online. The book is filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples to inspire and guide readers in their creative journeys[2][3][4].
Atomic Habits by James Clear provides a practical and scientifically-backed guide to forming good habits and breaking bad ones. The book introduces the Four Laws of Behavior Change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. It also emphasizes the importance of small, incremental changes (atomic habits) that compound over time to produce significant results. Clear discusses techniques such as habit stacking, optimizing the environment to support desired habits, and focusing on continuous improvement rather than goal fixation. The book is filled with actionable strategies, real-life examples, and stories from various fields, making it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their habits and achieve personal growth[2][4][5].
In this book, Mark Manson argues against the typical self-help advice of constant positivity, instead suggesting that life's struggles give it meaning. He emphasizes the need to focus on what truly matters and to accept and confront painful truths. The book is divided into nine chapters and uses blunt honesty and profanity to illustrate its ideas, encouraging readers to find meaning through values they can control and to replace uncontrollable values with more meaningful ones.
In this eBook, Chris Guillebeau shares his journey of becoming a full-time writer in 279 days. The book provides practical advice on creating and growing a successful online presence, including tips on scheduling, writing, marketing, building relationships, and avoiding common pitfalls. It is aimed at bloggers, writers, and anyone interested in expanding their influence using social media.
Designing Web Applications by Nathan Barry provides practical advice on creating web applications that are efficient and easy to use. The book emphasizes the importance of designing for user experience, optimizing for the fewest clicks, and understanding the mental models of users. It covers topics such as avoiding common UX design mistakes, increasing conversions, and simplifying software. The book includes hands-on exercises and real-world examples to help designers and developers improve their web application design skills.
The App Design Handbook is a comprehensive guide that helps transform app ideas into well-designed interfaces. It covers the process of validating ideas, trimming features to the minimum, and sketching interactions. The book is designed for both non-designers and designers to improve their skills in creating user-friendly apps.
There are loads of people out there who want to be become online creators, but they’re not sure how to get going, or if their business will be a success. It can be a super confusing world to navigate - but once you unlock it you can find financial freedom and a fulfilling career. Today’s guest is Nathan Barry, an online writer and software developer who created Convertkit, a product that helps people with online newsletters reach new audiences. We’re going to be talking all about how to build an online creator business, how to make writing a habit, and you’ll see exactly how Nathan built his ebook empire.
Sponsored by Huel - go to https://www.huel.com/deepdive and with your first order you’ll get a free t-shirt and shaker.
Sponsored by Trading 212 - download the Trading 212 app https://trading212.com/promocodes/ALI and use the promo code "ALI" after signing up and depositing to receive a random free share worth up to £100. This is not financial advice. Investments can fall and rise. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Other fees may apply*. Capital is at risk.
Sponsored by Kajabi - go to https://www.kajabi.com/ali to get FREE access to the keynote.
📚Check out my New York Times Bestselling book Feel-Good Productivity!
Amazon
Website
Season 7 Episode 11
00:00 Intro
02:05 Making money is a skill
10:20 Having a job vs. having a business
17:58 You set the pace
25:39 Do you need to level up your skills?
32:57 Setting big goals
41:55 Nathan's first apps
46:43 Getting into ebooks
58:30 Writing 1000 words a day
1:07:18 Working in public
1:15:56 How to make writing a habit
1:26:17 Publishing and managing your projects
1:31:06 Running a personal blog
1:44:15 Being honest about yourself online
1:58:19 The ladders of wealth
2:11:16 The billion-dollar creator
2:22:54 The three laws of flywheels
2:36:28 Final words of advice
🔗 CONNECT WITH NATHAN
💻 Website
👥 Linkedin
🐦 Twitter
🔗 CONNECT WITH ALI
📲 Join My Telegram Community
🎥 YouTube Channel
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
💻 Website
👥 Linkedin
📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED
Nathan Fried
David Heinemeier Hansson
Authority by Nathan Barry
The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau
A Brief Guide To World Domination by Chris Guillebeau
279 Days to Overnight Success by Chris Guillebeau
Designing Web Applications by Nathan Barry
Nick Huber
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
Jocko Podcast 394: Lessons from the Stoics. Discipline, Leadership, Life. With Ryan Holiday.
Sasha Grief blog post
Jarrod Drysdale blog post
The Ladders of Wealth Creation by Nathan Barry
Billion Dollar Creator
ConvertKit
📄SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT
Visit the website for the transcript and highlights from the conversation - https://aliabdaal.com/podcast/
🎙 ABOUT THE PODCAST
Deep Dive is the podcast that delves into the minds of entrepreneurs, creators and other inspiring people to uncover the philosophies, strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives.
Want to start your own podcast? We use Transistor! https://go.aliabdaal.com/transistor
🎧 LISTEN FOR FREE
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7gZkflC...
RSS - https://feeds.transistor.fm/deep-dive
🙏 LEAVE A REVIEW
If you enjoyed listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help others discover the show :) https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
👋🏼 GET IN TOUCH
You can also Tweet @AliAbdaal with any feedback, ideas or thoughts about the lessons you've learnt from the episodes and we can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏
PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜
Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal 
