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Charmaine Yu

Want to know the best way to study? How to find a career that you will genuinely love? How to reset your dopamine levels? How to have a happy relationship? How to get rich?
Ali Abdaal probably has answers for you.
The Hong Kong-based British content creator and entrepreneur, who has nearly 6.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.1 million followers on Instagram, will speak at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Amphitheatre on December 8 to explain how to make 2026 “the best year of your life”.
Abdaal began his YouTube channel in 2017, while he was a medical student at the University of Cambridge, in England. He started by sharing exam tips and revision techniques.
Even after he graduated in 2018 and began training as a doctor, he continued to expand his content, providing evidence-based insights into productivity, personal finances and mental health – even his recent journey into marriage and fatherhood.
In a world of flux, Abdaal is sympathetic to young workers who feel lost and are looking to pivot their careers.

He left the medical industry in 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic led to a loss of full-time employment. At the same time, he realised that his successful online content and businesses interested him much more than medicine.
“The happiest doctors I know are the ones working three days a week, but to work three days a week, I need to have a side income. So that was what started my entrepreneurial journey,” Abdaal tells the Post.
Today, he is the founder of three digital enterprises: Part-Time YouTuber Academy, a course that teaches people how to build and monetise an online platform; VoicePal, an AI-powered writing tool; and LifeOS, a comprehensive course and online template to help beat procrastination. He works with a team of developers to run them.
Currently, he is working on the Lifestyle Business Academy, an online course that aims to provide business mentorship and help people achieve financial freedom.
Attitudes towards work, productivity and fulfilment have changed since previous generations, Abdaal says. His mother was a single parent and UK immigrant, raising two sons on a junior doctor’s salary. Financial security was what she and her generation sought.
“But the problem with a secure job is that it can often feel like a secure prison,” he says.












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A post shared by Ali Abdaal (@aliabdaal)



Drawing on the cultural zeitgeist of quiet quitting, he proposes that “people wouldn’t want to ‘quiet quit’ if they had autonomy, mastery and purpose”.
He says that with economic recession and AI monopoly on the horizon, the social contract of climbing the corporate ladder is now “kind of dead”.
He sees a return to the independent businesses and apprenticeship models that made up the pre-industrial-revolution economy, explaining that the concept of mega corporations like those that exist today is a fairly new one.
“My hot take is that in the world of AI, we’ll be moving back towards small businesses, small teams and just a couple of insanely huge conglomerates. But I think this will be more fulfilling and interesting for people, whether you’re an entrepreneur or you’re part of a small team.”
For Abdaal, developing a range of skills is the one thing that can better guarantee security. “In starting my own businesses, I’ve developed so many skills that I will never be broke again in my life,” he claims.
But productivity is not just about money and business; it is the essence that regulates life. His 2023 book, Feel-Good Productivity, details science-backed tips to make productivity feel like fun rather than a burden.

It is small, innocuous tweaks that can help you achieve big goals, he says. For example, he says as he sits in a cafe, if he wants to feel more energised at that very moment, “I’d probably uncross my legs, sit up straight and breathe a little bit. If I were at my desk, I’d be like, ‘Oh, let me put some music on.’”
The principles of productivity can similarly be applied to relationships. Abdaal and his wife, Izzy Sealey – also a doctor turned content creator and entrepreneur – set up calendar invites for their weekly date nights. Every night, two hours on his calendar are blocked off to spend time with his baby daughter, preventing his team from scheduling anything in that window.
Viewing the personal sphere through the lens of productivity is controversial to some, Abdaal admits. “Some people are like, ‘You send calendar invites to your wife? What kind of fascist are you?’”
He acknowledges that such a system works for specific people, adding that Sealey previously made notes on all 30 dates she went on when she began to date seriously, including him.
As a content creator who offers life and business advice, authenticity is central but often a tricky task in the online world. In his “How to Get Rich” YouTube video from April, commenters admired his transparency in sharing hard-to-swallow pills. Still, one of his more recent videos on fatherhood garnered divided opinions on outsourcing domestic work.


To Abdaal, authenticity is not about saying everything that comes to mind, but putting uncomfortable topics that typically happen behind closed doors to the forefront. These topics include parenting, relationships, burnout and the unabashed desire to build wealth.
He enjoys taking part in these conversations despite some of the pushback, and his sights are now set on his talk at the Hong Kong Jockey Club and his future goals.
In 2026, he aims to continue growing his businesses and creating online content. “I’ve been doing YouTube videos now for eight years, so my primary goal with it is to just continue to enjoy it, rather than any metrics.”
Abdaal also looks forward to spending more time with family and watching his daughter grow up.
“Hopefully she’ll start to speak soon,” he smiles.


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Wellness

How to make 2026 the best year of your life? YouTuber Ali Abdaal says he has the answers

Ali Abdaal, a former doctor who is now a digital creator, entrepreneur and YouTube star, sits at a cafe in Causeway Bay. Abdaal will speak at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Amphitheatre on December 8 to explain how to make 2026 “the best year of your life”. Photo: Nora Tam

Abdaal is a Hong Kong-based British content creator and entrepreneur who has nearly 6.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.1 million followers on Instagram. Photo: Nora Tam

Abdaal says that the principles of productivity can be applied to relationships. Photo: Nora Tam

He was once Singapore’s fastest man. Here’s how he lives a happy, healthy life

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A still from a video Shyam posted on Instagram that shows him sprint training in Singapore. Photo: Instagram/u.k.shyam1037

Shyam does step-ups with weights in the gym. Such exercises help him maintain the strength sprinting requires. Photo: UK Shyam 

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Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

An entrepreneur with 7.6 million followers across social media, Abdaal will share tips on subjects from careers to love at a Hong Kong talk


An entrepreneur with 7.6 million followers across social media, Abdaal will share tips on subjects from careers to love at a Hong Kong talk.


How to make 2026 the best year of your life? YouTuber Ali Abdaal says he has the answers

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}An entrepreneur with 7.6 million followers across social media, Abdaal will share tips on subjects from careers to love at a Hong Kong talk

An entrepreneur with 7.6 million followers across social media, Abdaal will share tips on subjects from careers to love at a Hong Kong talk