Book Byte #60 "The Almanack of Naval Ravikant" by Eric Jorgenson

A Guide to Wealth and Happiness

📣 Curious Quotes from the Author

“Getting rich is about knowing what to do, who to do it with, and when to do it.”

“Study microeconomics, game theory, psychology, persuasion, ethics, mathematics, and computers.”

“The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner.”

“Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.”

“The reality is life is a single-player game. You’re born alone. You’re going to die alone. All of your interpretations are alone. All your memories are alone. You’re gone in three generations, and nobody cares. Before you showed up, nobody cared. It’s all single player.”

“I have lowered my identity. I have lowered the chattering of my mind. I don’t care about things that don’t really matter. I don’t get involved in politics. I don’t hang around unhappy people. I really value my time on this earth. I read philosophy. I meditate.”

“If you’re not willing to do a wholesale, 24/7, 100 percent swap with who that person is, then there is no point in being jealous.”

“The more desire I have for something to work out a certain way, the less likely I am to see the truth.”

“Realize that in modern society, the downside risk is not that large. Even personal bankruptcy can wipe the debts clean in good ecosystems. I’m most familiar with Silicon Valley, but generally, people will forgive failures as long as you were honest and made a high-integrity effort. There’s not really that much to fear in terms of failure, and so people should take on a lot more accountability than they do.”

“A happy person isn’t someone who’s happy all the time. It’s someone who effortlessly interprets events in such a way that they don’t lose their innate peace.”

“Earn with your mind, not your time.”

“Escape competition through authenticity.”

“If you have nothing in your life, but you have at least one person that loves you unconditionally, it’ll do wonders for your self-esteem.”

“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” —Buddhist saying”

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

“If I say I’m happy, that means I was sad at some point. If I say he’s attractive, then somebody else is unattractive. Every positive thought even has a seed of a negative thought within it and vice versa, which is why a lot of greatness in life comes out of suffering.”

“The hardest thing is not doing what you want—it’s knowing what you want.”

“Specific knowledge is found much more by pursuing your innate talents, your genuine curiosity, and your passion. It’s not by going to school for whatever is the hottest job; it’s not by going into whatever field investors say is the hottest.”

“Play iterated games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.”

Intentions don’t matter. Actions do. That’s why being ethical is hard.”

“Doctors won’t make you healthy. Nutritionists won’t make you slim. Teachers won’t make you smart. Gurus won’t make you calm. Mentors won’t make you rich. Trainers won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself.”

“Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.”

📚 Cognition of the Book’s Big Idea:

If you are unsure about a decision, the answer is "no."

A positive reputation is a significant asset.

If you secretly dislike wealth, you will fail to acquire it.

Money can provide freedom, but not if it is pursued solely for that purpose.

Happiness is the option to remain in the present moment.

A peaceful mind is a happy mind.

Finding what calms your mind and developing excellent habits are essential to happiness.

Lean into short-term suffering. Making money and being happy are both abilities. Both are fundamentally concerned with making sound decisions. You must avoid making terrible investments, whether it is with your time or money. That entails trusting your instincts. If you're unable to decide, say no. Investing wisely can lead to significant profits. This applies equally to reputation and capital. Happiness, on the other hand, is a conscious decision to live in the present moment and turn down the volume of your monkey mind. What is the best approach to accomplish this? Meditation.

🛠️Fixing the Tech Industry

Naval Ravikant is an interesting Individual. He has one of the most popular Podcast episodes on Joe Rogan. He has invested early-stage in over 200 companies including Uber, FourSquare, Twitter, Wish.com, Poshmark, Postmates, Thumbtack, Notion, SnapLogic, Opendoor, Clubhouse, Stack Overflow, Bolt, OpenDNS, Yammer, and Clearview AI, with over 70 total exits and more than 10 Unicorn companies. The man knows Tech and what catches on within the industry.

He talks a lot about his thought process and why he thinks the way he thinks about humans and how they use technology. He only invests in things now that he believes in. We can take some of his personality and apply it to our own lives as well.

When we invest our time at a company, we may just be doing it for a paycheck, but while we’re cashing that paycheck, a little bit of you is dying. An effective countermeasure would be to only work in companies in which you believe in their mission. Much more happiness will come out of that relationship than just choosing a boring industry that doesn’t interest you whatsoever. The reasoning being is that your lack of happiness will seep through to your work eventually, and you could be fired or worse laid off.

🤝Collaborate with others with this Social Media Prompt:

What would you Invest in personally if you had a lot of extra money? How much of what you just thought about right now had to do with your own personal development? If the answer is not a lot, you may want to reevaluate your priorities.

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