The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
Eric Jorgenson

Summary

Collection of advice from Naval Ravikant, a modern day philosopher imo

Notes

Making money is not a thing you do - it’s a skill you learn

You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity - a piece of a business to gain your financial freedom

Arm yourself w/ specific knowledge, accountability and leverage

Leverage is a force multiplier for your judgment

Productize yourself

Specific knowledge can’t be taught, it must be learned

Technology democratizes consumption but consolidates production. The best person in the world at anything gets to do it for everyone

Escape competition through authenticity

Intentions don’t matter, actions do. That’s why being ethical is hard.

Forget rich vs. poor or white collared vs. blue collared. It’s now leveraged vs. unleveraged

Knowledge workers train like athletes - train and sprint then rest and reassess

Earn with your mind, not your time

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes

3 biggest decisions in life: where you live, who you’re with and what you do

Whether in commerce, science of politics - history remembers the artists

Be a maker who makes something interesting people want. Show your craft, practice your craft and the right people will eventually find you

Judgment is underrated in today’s world

Very smart people tend to be weird since they insist on thinking everything through for themselves

Cynicism is easy. Mimicry is easy. Optimistic contrarians are the rarest breed.

Practice specifically, criticize generally

If faced with a difficult choice and you can’t decide, the answer is no

If you’re evenly split on a difficult decision, take the path more painful in the short term

Read what you love till you love to read

The three big ones in life are wealth, health and happiness. We pursue them in that order, but their importance is reverse

Don’t take yourself so seriously. You’re just a monkey with a plan

Happiness is not about positive or negative thoughts. It’s the absence of desire, especially the absence of desire of external things

There are no external forces affecting your emotions - as much as it may feel that way

Happiness, love and passion aren’t things you find - they’re choices you make

Happiness is being satisfied with what you have. Success comes from dissatisfaction. Choose.

The enemy of peace of mind is expectations drilled into you by society and other people

Embrace death

Be yourself with passionate intensity

To make an original contribution, you have to be irrationally obsessed with something

Most of our suffering comes from avoidance

The greatest superpower is the ability to change yourself

Impatience with actions, patient with results

Grind and sweat, toil and flood, face the abyss. It’s all part of becoming an overnight success.

Advice to my younger self ‘be exactly who you are’

To find a worthy mate, be worthy of a worthy mate - Charlie Munger

‍

‍