7 Mistakes to Avoid While Building Your First Business

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I've made many a mistake over the years growing my business. Here are 7 that I've learned recently and am thinking about a lot at the moment. I hope you learn something useful from it. Enjoy x
🔗 LINKS MENTIONED:
My Business Coaching Bundle: play.aliabdaal.com/business-c...
Dan Go's KZbin: / @danfounder
📖 Check out my New York Times Bestselling book Feel-Good Productivity: go.feelgoodproductivity.com/m...
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By the way, you can watch this video in a few other languages by changing the audio settings xx
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WHO AM I?
If we haven’t yet before - Hey 👋 I’m Ali, a doctor-turned-entrepreneur and I’ve somehow become the world’s most followed productivity expert. Through my videos here on this channel, my podcast Deep Dive and writing, I share evidence-based strategies and tools to help you be more productive and build a life you love.
PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜
⌚️Timestamps:
0:00 Why I'm making this video
0:35 1. Not having a goal
3:54 2. Having too many goals
7:12 3. Multiple paths
10:46 4. Focus
12:18 5. Sequencing
13:59 6. Metrics
15:43 7. Thinking time

[@betterchapter]

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. You don’t try to forget about the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.

[@Dr_Ayman_1]

0:00 Why I'm making this video 3:50 1. Not having a goal 3:54 2. Having too many goals 7:12 3. Multiple paths 10:46 4. Focus 12:18 5. Sequencing 13:59 6. Metrics 15:43 7. Thinking time

[@qwerrewq2709]

To all the followers of Ali. Yes, he s given some valuable advice.... But remember that his job (role) at KZbin is to create content ALWAYS, so please don't get overwhelmed from his "videos" and don't fall at the toxic productivity, don't be just a receiver, apply what you learned and go a head at the journey of productivity. HAVE A NICE DAY!

[@chachiem]

My teacher in high school had us make 5 goals for the school year. No more, no less. Then, we had to prioritize them in a way we felt they needed to be prioritized. Like, listed most import to least important or most attainable or harder to achieve. And focus on the first goal on the priority list. Until it was achieved. Yes, the less prioritized goals were able to be changed as needed. By the end of the year, everyone accomplished every goal they originally made, and then some because they added more goals after the original goals achieved after making realistic goals. The teacher said it was a focus/prioritizing/goal setting assignment. Everyone aced it if they achieved their first 3 goals as those were the most important goals to be achieved.

[@mariustomas]

Thank you, Ali, for helping to specify the 1 goal. The “2 list method” helped a lot to write 5 goals and now, as I’m watching the part about goals, I connected them to 1 clear goal. Keep on the momentum ⭐️

[@d7writes]

There are so many insights packed into this short video. Thanks for putting this one together, Ali!

[@LeYuen]

I need to write summary from your videos everytime I watched it. Because it's so worth it to keep it as my motivation when I'm down. Thanks Ali

[@nathaliperera]

ALI, the value you are giving is crazy. keep up the good work.

[@youngaggedick699]

Your videos is always clear to the point helping and also referencing to my own life. I absolutely love these buisness tips that are so valueble if you need a sense of awareness towards different situations. When i was in highschool watching your videos had purpel my own progress, mostly focusing on literature, doing better in group discussions.

[@AprilAdventuring]

Great advice! Focusing on one goal has been majorly helpful for me too. I used to give energy to too many social channels and have found much more success focusing solely on growing KZbin first :) Letting go of the rest can be challenging, but necessary!

[@AyushiVerma-fw3wp]

You are the elder brother I always needed.

[@_skyeline]

Hi Ali! Thanks for being an inspiration for me starting my own channel and life journey

[@thepwporg]

As someone who took the leap 8 months ago, this video could not be more accurate. Great video, Ali!

[@JamilaMusayeva]

These are some really great advice! I love learning business advice from you, Ali!

[@TalesOfTrillions]

I used to sail my business ship without a compass too, but now I'm setting my sights on clear goals. Thanks for the wake-up call Ali!

[@bhaswatibhowmik3668]

That bee analogy completely changed my brain's attention span radar sensitivity. Right after that analogy I rewinded to the beginning of the video and started taking notes. All of a sudden instead of being overwhelmed by everything happening in life right now I made a GOALS list for the year and a to-do list for tomorrow 😲Love your videos!

[@mdabusaqibalamansari9979]

Hey Ali. I'm from India and my exams just got over and I've just bought your book from Amazon, very excited to read it once it arrives. Your videos have helped me a lot and I already know this book is going to be awesome

[@andrewjames6600]

Thanks Ali. I started a business of my own because of your influence called Organic Chemistry Simplified. I help students overcome the hurdle of the hardest course on the premed track. Will take these tips into account. I hope one day to speak with you.

[@CodieSanchezCT]

Rare that people share the real. Love this friend.

[@codingforweb-official]

Thank you for your advices, really helpful, especially about the goal, and metrics. Probably I need to change my vision about the business, and how to make it right, thank yoou again!

[@GOATiology]

Great video! Thanks Ali!!

[@Yenzi769]

Your videos have truly been a game-changer for me, Ali. Keep up the amazing work!

[@smithfusselman7782]

Glad we have a man that tells us things that are actually useful that he’s experienced vs just random stuff he’s heard that he has no idea about

[@jonathanclaeskens6168]

Hi Ali! Thanks for making all these honest and insighful videos! :D

[@marinemom03]

Ali, you are my favorite You Tube channel and the best teacher ever! Thank you!

[@afamilyfrenzy]

The energy scattering diagram (with arrows)... Is the the core concept from Essentialism by McEeown... 10/10 recommend

[@smitinathan]

Love this! Sequence vs. series absolutely resonates!

[@arkanaahmed]

Thank you Ali for your videos, they are really life changing

[@user-et9mh6tg1v]

Goals help stay disciplined. I do set realistic ones, tuning deadline to 50/50 acheivable so i would have to push myself if i feel i might miss on the goal.

[@AldoJames]

Time to think has to be one of the most underrated productivity tools there is so long as you don’t fall into the trap of overthinking everything

[@Notion688]

Numer 7, Thinking Time the most underrated thing.. Thank Ali brother for valuable content

[@ErikCohenExplains]

Great value as always, OKRs are great really sharpening the path towards achieving goals. Thanks Ali!

[@TriunfaconAmanfi]

The video that I need in this moment. Thank you ❤

[@Yahyanurneu]

I like your transparency ❤ Ali!

[@KT97379]

Hey guys for Focus, I suggest Dandapani’s “The Power of Unwavering focus” book. Great insights!

[@BillyWhaler]

Damn. I’m now 115 in line for 26 copies of the new book at my county library. Will buy this weekend😂

[@amuzeka]

Hey mate! Im just beggining my journey and would just like you to know that I really like your content! Congrats and Cheers

[@TheSismeon]

Goodhart's law, idk if its the same thing that happened to me but i had a similar cause for burning out in the past few months. I got misaligned because i started pursuing the metric as the goal but the metric was not what i wanted out of life, it was the thing the metric was for. Re-framing my mind to see the metric as only a metric for the goal again helped me get back on my feet. Anyways, good video!

[@TheCoreyGreen]

"What gets measured gets managed, what gets managed gets improved." Such a gem

[@mu0635]

Dude please make a video on high earning career ideas other than medicine and their respective scopes in whatever countries!! As basic as it sounds, a lot of people end up going for medicine just because of societal pressure, for the prestige and also majorly because they’ve got no better ideas. And it’d be really cool if you rate different aspects of each one of those like the way you did in your side hustles video :)

[@CPRforyourSocialLife]

Love this idea! And yes, SO needed by today's college students and future college students!

[@edsonrebello6192]

Bro provides the most value without anything in return true business genius

[@stefano.angeloni]

The most important thing is to always be honest with yourself and others

[@rushipatel8089]

Thanks man for everything ❤ Lots of love from 🇮🇳

[@FunnyAmped]

Hey Ali! Been following you for a while, I bought the book and I've been loving it. I just want to say that we need more of the classic old students video. Would appericiate it if you could do it!

[@TheProductivityDoctor]

I’ve started a channel on this 😊

[@TheProductivityDoctor]

@@lindabella900 true as well!

[@thissunchild]

Then start a channel yourself 😊

[@maryann_next]

This guy knows what he's talking about. "Series", that's a good approach to things

[@jonstenstrombuilds]

Love the bee analogy. Reminds me of the fly in the you2 book. Great tips!

[@UnboxingMaster007]

Your Videos is a blessing for my Eyes , so astonishing .

[@TermAndWander]

Thank you Ali. I picked up multiple takeaways

[@ankurgupta691]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts 😊

[@warneredits5052]

How is it possible to post that much of vidéos in so little time, good job to Ali's team 👏

[@fernando86736]

Estoy escuchando esto en ESPAÑOL y no me lo puedo creer Es una MARAVILLA (aunque hecho de menos la voz original en inglés 🤭)

[@Zaid___since2004]

I am from India and got shocked when I hear his voice in Hindi😂😂 Thenn I found that it's yt's feature😂

[@bestintentions6089]

neat how did you zoom out while moving camera closer? operator? neat trick if there isn't

[@dan__iel]

really helpful!! thanks a lot

[@Pixels-jd7ri]

I feel like whenever a video is sponsored, it’d be great if it didn’t have ads. So, in a way the person sponsoring is sponsoring KZbin premium for us as well. Just a thought.

[@taniaasimionesei]

Hey 👋 always looking forward to your videos, and I tried twice to get the Business Coaching Bundle that you recommended in this video but no luck 😢 nothing in the inbox or junk folder. Is there any other way I can get it by any chance?

[@St0icis]

thank you very much for the french translation, i was tired of reading subtitles on eachs videos you have made 😅😅

[@MQinsights]

"Its alot easier to steer a moving ship than a stationary ship" .love that

[@ErnestEnabulele]

Great video,it has really motivated me to wake up

[@arezunaseri4642]

Thank u for your invaluable video 😊 I found it at the righttime

[@ganyaka7916]

She’s entertaining and somehow calming when I watch her vlogss 😭

[@jayrangani]

Valuable insights 👍🏻

[@jcgabler8190]

You are amazing Ali and your team :-)

[@karvanselfimprovment]

Customer are 3 type 1. Brand based 2.quality based 3.price based.if you focus on no.1&2 you will catch 3 easily.no.2&3 are responsible for business growth.

[@trhuy5]

00:01 Not having clear goals for the business 01:37 Setting clear goals is crucial for providing direction to a team. 04:34 Setting too many goals can be overwhelming 05:58 Defining the one key goal is incredibly helpful for business success 09:12 Seek help from those who have already achieved your goal 10:42 Avoid splitting focus for better progress 13:47 Utilize metrics for tracking progress and staying on the right path. 15:22 Metrics can become the goal instead of guiding towards the true goal. 18:18 Having a growth mindset leads to progress

[@calebcode]

Your animated video makes feynman technique easy

[@ommimo]

just the things I needed to hear, thanks

[@techtherapy3093]

8:31 How to find those people who have already accomplished what we're trying to do it and most importantly where to find it? for example I need to do a service based agency where could I found a guy who had already succeed in that and how do I approach to them?

[@thecove6074]

Hey Ali, thank u and your team so much for the video. about the fifth lesson, focus on only 1 goal, how long should this focus period be? until i reached that goal? or for a fixed period of time like 2 weeks or 1 month?

[@KAILEY-hs5if]

2 weeks

[@jhonnyyance]

Muchas gracias por subir tus videos en español. Te admiro y sueño con ser como tú. Gracias 🙏

[@mustafajohn500]

I'm not new here. I have been watching your video since you started your Chanel 😊👌

[@lyaloka23]

thank you!!

[@Rani_designer]

The clip from Jack sparrow makes it much more interesting. Good one editor😊

[@princygoyal3986]

Great content really helpful.

[@Neditarts.]

you are so good and I get motivation whenever I see your videos 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@mowsumi_rani]

Thanks Ali..

[@HeRo-pg3ik]

شكرا لك ! متابعك من المغرب

[@Nintendudes491]

Go to 11:24, screen shot it, and look at it each and every day.

[@n.hemavathi3451]

Thanks for your video. I can analysis my mistakes through this video. First, i focus on many goals and second, i get easily distracted from my goal, so i want to focus on my work, and avoid to many goals. It benefits us.

[@SantanuDebnath1]

Thanks❤ for adding Hindi audio track ( love❤ from India )

[@dearblackgaymen]

The blindfold analogy was the one that made go "hmm". Then when Ali got vulnerable talkinga bout not wanting goals that were out of his control, I thought "THAT'S ME!!!!"

[@HellyWelly93]

The point about talking with others who have been through it before.....where do you meet them?! I've joined multiple online communities and none of them have been fruitful 😔

[@fatemekm____]

چقدر مهمونتون ادم نایس و دوست داشتنی و خوش برخوردی بود🤩🤩

[@ashshamserik9407]

Ali,your videos,nowadays, are too much valuable liking me to treat your contents like a book.

[@Kbhagat5050]

Thank you so much ali..I love your videos...❤... lot's of love to you 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗☺️☺️☺️🧿🦋 love from India 🇮🇳

[@FailCoach]

Failure isn't the opposite of success; it's part of the journey to it. Every misstep is a masterclass in disguise, teaching us resilience, grit, and the art of the pivot. Embrace it, learn from it, and come back stronger. 💪

[@jaygaming8841]

Hi my name is Jay question. Ive been watching your channel for a couple weeks now. Little back story. I'm a 22 year old dad married as well. I'm stressed and kinda of struggling to find work. I'm wanting to go on my own business journey. What would you recommend

[@KAILEY-hs5if]

GlossGenius

[@rishabhverma231]

Get going bro... no matter how many mistakes you know, you will commit many, that's the journey, keep focusing on your goals and family and have faith in yourself. I am in a similar position, so its like I am saying it to myself. 😃😂

[@kuri_curry]

Realistically, As you have a family to support, you may need to talk to your wife regarding your business journey. And what exactly it will look like. You need money for food, shelter, possibly school for your offspring. And on the business side, there's always expenditures like materials, ads, transportation. If you CAN afford to go all into your personal business then why not? If not, you may have to go half and half or so until you slowly can fully support yourself and your family via your own business.

[@mdabusaqibalamansari9979]

Ali, thanks for this very beneficial video. I have one question, i don't have a company and the E-book in that you kindly provided in the description is asking about my company names and how many people work in it. Will I not be able to get that book?

[@saimbinkhalid2757]

same here !

[@Gareth.W]

Just put "HubSpot" as the company name... I did and it worked fine!

[@mdabusaqibalamansari9979]

​@@saimbinkhalid2757buddy I got the e-books both mentioned in this video and in Ali's latest video. Just type anything in the company name and website and it will give you the PDF

great video thanks

[@geronimocramos]

😂 Lewis Howes told me that bee analogy at summit. Did you get that from him too?

[@LeoYang-OU]

Thanks Ali

[@FeliciaJagger]

Well explained. Thank you for bringing up this video. Financial education is indeed required for more than 70% of the society in the country as very few are literate on the subject ..... Thanks to Gianna Everett the lady you recommended.....

[@EarnestMorgan-iq9ds]

That woman totally changed my life for good. I have come across individuals but none is as honest as Everett . So surprised you know her too.

[@Foodismedicine777]

Thanks for sharing

[@Foodismedicine777]

@@MrAllabdaal I would really like that

[@vitorsantana4840]

Bonitão, e a masterclass sobre o Anki?

[@catwalkproduccion2340]

En español! Te amo! ❤❤💚💚💚💚💗🤍🤍🤍🤍😍🥰🥰💞💓💘

[@DesignerMehedi]

Thanks ❤

[@_KiwiDad]

You doing okay man? Your eyes look more tired than I've ever seen them. It reminds me of when I was a new parent.

[@sathwikkanneganti]

Hey Ali, I feel like you're trying to make a change in how you do things. I'm seeing this in the thumbnails, content delivery (and a couple other things that I may not be able to pinpoint). I could be wrong. But if I'm not, I wish you all the best. I'm guessing that all this is in the pursuit of doing more fulfilling work. Rooting for you :)

[@Cottagewitchcraftco]

My question is how do I choose how much to make as my goal? Should I say $60k/year? Should i put it at $100k a year? Am I limiting myself thinking oh there’s no way I can make it to $100k so don’t bother having it as a goal? I’m growing my business from a hobby to a full time business this year 👍

[@AsToldByCanadianImmigrants]

@ali your second timestamp has a small error missing the colon so it isn't registering - 035 1. Not having a goal. just a heads up. Thank you for all your help and guidance and sharing this verrrryyy relatable and valuable insights.