January 9, 2025
Dear Fellow Traveler,
Sometimes life feels like a series of eras. There’s the person you were, the person you’re becoming, and those rare moments where you cross a threshold that changes everything.
Five years ago, I was sitting in my living room when my brother pulled me over to watch a YouTube video called How Much I Earn in a Week as a Doctor & YouTuber. It was a 25-minute glimpse into the life of Ali Abdaal—a doctor-turned-entrepreneur making $20,000 a month of passive income online.
That video cracked my worldview wide open.
Here was someone who looked like me, came from a similar background, and was succeeding in ways I didn’t even know were possible. Until then, my understanding of success was confined to traditional paths: study hard, get a good job, and climb the corporate ladder. But Ali’s story introduced an entirely new dimension—a world where creativity, business, and freedom could coexist.
That video didn’t just inspire me; it launched me. I threw myself into learning everything I could. I started a YouTube channel, launched a newsletter, and began building something. At the time, I couldn’t have imagined what it would become or how far it would take me.
Five years later, I found myself sitting across from Ali at his dining table in Hong Kong, sharing a coffee and recording a podcast together.
It felt surreal.
Finally meeting Ali wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment thing. It took years of groundwork.
In 2020, I joined his Not Overthinking podcast community for $10 a month. It was a small group where we discussed podcast ideas, and for six months, I got to interact with Ali and his brother, Taimur. Later, when Ali published his book, I reached out to request an early review copy. I filmed a video promoting it, which he noticed and shared on his social media.
Over time, I joined his Part-Time YouTuber Accelerator and became one of his standout students. I showed up to every call, implemented everything he taught, and my channel began to take off.
When I knew I’d be visiting Hong Kong, I reached out. To my surprise, he said yes—not just to meeting up, but to filming a podcast together.
Our day started with coffee at a café near his apartment. Ali bought me two matcha lattes (without me even asking). We talked about business, life, and the unique challenges of being creators.
One thing stood out: how deeply he listens. He doesn’t rush to fill silence or speak for the sake of it. He takes a moment to think, then offers a thoughtful, considered response.
He recommended a few books to help deal with some of the challenges I was facing in (Get Scalable, Traction, The Great CEO Within) and shared insights about balancing ambition with life. “You can grow the business while staying within the box you’ve drawn for yourself,” he told me.
After coffee, we walked back to his apartment, where I met his wife, Izzy. We set up for the podcast, moving lights and tweaking the setup. Recording felt like an out-of-body experience.
Five years earlier, I was watching his videos from my bedroom. Now, I was sitting across from him, swapping stories and laughing about our shared challenges—like the eternal question of what to do with weekends when you’re self-employed.
Later, we had lunch with an interesting group: my girlfriend Ophelia, Ali's wife Izzy, and Michia Rohrssen and his wife Janice—Michia being an entrepreneur who had casually sold his company for $110 million (insane).
We discussed religion, homeschooling, and the trade-offs of modern life. It wasn’t just intellectually stimulating—it was a glimpse into the kind of community I want to build.
That lunch shifted something in me.
Most of my conversations—whether with friends or family—require me to explain what I do or why I care about it. But here, there was no need for context. Everyone at the table understood the challenges of building something from scratch.
It was liberating to skip the surface-level stuff and dive into deeper topics. How do you scale while staying sane? How do you handle criticism? What’s the balance between ambition and contentment?
For years, I’ve been building in a vacuum. This was the first time I felt like I was truly surrounded by people who get it.
At one point, I shared a goal that feels audacious to most people: hitting $100,000 in monthly revenue.
If I told my friends or family, they’d laugh. They’d tell me it’s unrealistic, that I should aim lower.
But when I told Ali, he didn’t flinch. “Oh, that’s easy,” he said, matter-of-factly. “You’ll hit that in the next few years, no problem. You’re already nearly halfway there.”
It wasn’t just the words—it was the confidence behind them. Here was someone who’d already achieved it, looking me in the eye and saying, you’ve got this.
That moment reignited something in me. It reminded me why I started and how far I’ve come.
Ali didn’t have to meet me, let alone spend hours with me, buy me lunch twice, or feature me on his channel. He did it all without expecting anything in return.
Building relationships takes time. I didn’t just DM Ali out of the blue—I spent years contributing, learning, and showing up. If you want to connect with someone, don’t make it about what they can do for you. Provide value, and let the relationship grow naturally.
Being around people on the same path is transformative. It’s not about echo chambers—it’s about finding those who challenge you to think bigger and go further.
Five years ago, the idea of meeting Ali felt impossible. Now it’s reality. It’s a reminder to aim high and trust the process.
Ali, if you’re reading this: thank you. For your work, your kindness, and the time you shared. Meeting you felt like closing one chapter of my journey and opening another.
And to you, dear reader: wherever you are in your journey, remember that the seeds you plant today can lead to extraordinary things.
Expect my podcast with Ali to go live in the next 1-2 months.
Here’s to building something remarkable,
Aman
P.S. If you’re ready to take the next step in your own career journey, check out the Software Engineering Accelerator. Over 3-6 months, we’ll work together to land your dream job—guaranteed. Let’s make it happen.
"You overestimate what you can do in a year, but underestimate what you can do in ten."
-Bill Gates
📘 The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
I recently finished reading The Comfort Crisis, and it absolutely blew me away. The central thesis is simple but deeply impactful: modernity has made life far too comfortable, and this ease has brought along a host of unexpected problems. For example, Easter connects our chronic dissatisfaction and declining mental health to the lack of physical challenges in our lives. He also argues that we’ve grown so averse to discomfort that it’s stifling our ability to grow, adapt, and thrive.
What makes the book especially engaging is its narrative structure. It’s not just a collection of facts and studies—it’s the story of Easter’s month-long caribou hunting trip in Alaska. The vivid descriptions of his time in the wild make you feel like you’re right there with him, experiencing the isolation, the harshness of nature, and the unexpected beauty of it all. Beyond the storytelling, the book is packed with actionable takeaways, like embracing micro-doses of discomfort daily and understanding how “misogi” challenges can reshape your perspective.
If you’re looking for something that will inspire you to step outside your comfort zone and rethink how you live your life, I can’t recommend this book enough.
📕 Never Enough by Andrew Wilkinson
This is one of the best memoirs I’ve read in a long time. Never Enough charts Andrew Wilkinson’s journey from earning $6.25/hour as a barista at 18 (barely scraping through high school) to becoming a billionaire by 38. It’s not just about the business strategies he used to get there—it’s a brutally honest look at how success and wealth don’t necessarily solve the deeper challenges of life.
The most shocking takeaway for me was Wilkinson’s insight into hedonic adaptation. Even among billionaires, jealousy and comparison run rampant. Wilkinson talks about how he and his ultra-wealthy friends envied people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk—not because they wanted more money to spend, but because they craved the status and power that came with being even richer. It’s a sobering reminder that the chase for “more” never ends unless you consciously decide to step off the hamster wheel.
What stuck with me most was Wilkinson’s reflection on gratitude. He emphasizes the importance of pausing to appreciate how far you’ve come and recognizing that, at one point, you’re likely living the life you once dreamed about. If you’re into memoirs that are equal parts inspiring and humbling, this is a must-read.