Highlights: Almanack of Naval Ravikant
I've just finished reading the very enjoyable Almanack of Naval Ravikant. It's one of those rare books that made me want to read it as slowly as possible so I could really take in all the bits that resonated with me.
Naval is an incredibly clear thinker and manages to capture very cleanly his thoughts on a bunch of subjects that mean something to me, and that I catch myself thinking about a lot.
As Naval often mentions, none of what he says is intended as advice – you've got to figure out what all of this means to you, in your life. These highlights simply meant something to me.
If you haven't read it yet, I can't imagine you'll conclude it was a waste of your time.
Value your time. It is all you have. It's more important than your money. It's more important than your friends. It is more important than anything. Your time is all you have. Do not waste your time.
Whenever you can in life, optimize for independence rather than pay. If you have independence and you're accountable on your output, as opposed to your input, that's the dream.
Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.
Reading a book isn't a race – the better the book, the more slowly it should be absorbed.
People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can't fathom.
Retirement is when you stop sacrificing today for an imaginary tomorrow. When today is complete, in and of itself, you're retired.
It looks like work to others, but it feels like play to me.
Lusting for money is bad for us because it is a bottomless pit. It will always occupy your mind. If you love money, and you make it, there's never enough.
You can save money, you can live a little below your means, and you can find a certain freedom. That will give you the time and the energy to pursue your own internal peace and happiness.
I value freedom above everything else. All kinds of freedom: freedom to do what I want, freedom from things I don't want to do, freedom from my own emotions or things that may disturb my peace. For me, freedom is my number one value.
You cannot hide anything from yourself. Your own failures are written within your psyche, and they are obvious to you. If you have too many of these moral shortcomings, you will not respect yourself.
It takes time – even once you have all of the pieces in place, there is an indeterminate amount of time you have to put in. If you're counting, you'll run out of patience before success actually arrives.
Most of history was built by young people. They just got credit when they were older.
The only way to truly learn something is by doing it. Yes, listen to guidance. But don't wait.
Money buys you freedom in the material world. It's not going to make you happy, it's not going to solve your health problems, it's not going to make your family great, it's not going to make you fit, it's not going to make you calm. But it will solve a lot of external problems.
I would rather understand the basics really well than memorize all kinds of complicated concepts I can't stitch together and can't re-derive from the basics. If you can't re-derive concepts from the basics as you need them, you're lost. You're just memorizing.
It's actually really important to have empty space. If you don't have a day or two every week in your calendar where you're not always in meetings, and you're not always busy, then you're not going to be able to think. It's only after you're bored you have the great ideas. It's never going to be when you're stressed, or busy, running around or rushed. Make the time.
Almost all biases are time-saving heuristics. For important decisions, discard memory and identity, and focus on the problem.
I never ask if “I like it” or “I don't like it.” I think “this is what it is” or “this is what it isn't.” – Richard Feynman
The smaller the company, the more everyone feels like a principal. The less you feel like an agent, the better the job you're going to do. The more closely you can tie someone's compensation to the exact value they're creating, the more you turn them into a principal, and the less you turn them into an agent.
Don't take yourself so seriously. You're just a monkey with a plan.
It's really important to be able to un-condition yourself, to be able to take your habits apart and say, “Okay, this is a habit I probably picked up when I was a toddler trying to get my parent's attention. Now I've reinforced it and reinforced it, and I call it a part of my identity. Does it still serve me? Does it make me happier? Does it make me healthier? Does it make me accomplish whatever I set out to accomplish?”
Today, I believe happiness is really a default state. Happiness is there when you remove the sense of something missing in your life.
Happiness to me is mainly not suffering, not desiring, not thinking too much about the future or the past, really embracing the present moment and the reality of what is, and the way it is.
You're going to die one day, and none of this is going to mater. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work.
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.
By the time people realize they have enough money, they've lost their time and their health.
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.
When we get something, we assume the world owes it to us. If you're present, you'll realize how many gifts and how much abundance there is around us at all times. That's all you really need to do. I'm here now, and I have all these incredible things at my disposal.
A personal metric: how much of the day is spent doing things out of obligation rather than out of interest?
First, you know it. Then, you understand it. Then, you can explain it. Then, you can feel it. Finally, you are it.
I don't believe in hierarchical relationships. I don't want to be above anybody, and I don't want to be below anybody. If I can't treat someone like a peer and if they can't treat me like peer, I just don't want to interact with them.
You always have three options: you can change it, you can accept it, or you can leave it. What is not a good option is to sit around wishing you would change it but not changing it, wishing you could leave it but not leaving it and not accepting it.
Even if you can't come up with something positive, you can say, “Well, the Universe is going to teach me something now. Now I get to listen and learn."
Death is the most important thing that is ever going to happen to you. When you look at your death and you acknowledge it, rather than running away from it, it'll bring great meaning to your life.
There is no legacy. There's nothing to leave. We're all going to be gone. Our children will be gone. Our works will be dust. Our civilizations will be dust. Our planet will be dust. Our solar system will be dust. In the grand scheme of things, the Universe has been around for ten billion years. It'll be around for another ten billion years.
To make an original contribution, you have to be irrationally obsessed with something.
Impatience with actions, patience with results.
As Nivi said, inspiration is perishable. When you have inspiration, act on it right then and there.
The current environment programs the brain, but the clever brain can choose its upcoming environment.
Be aware there are no “adults.” Everyone makes it up as they go along. You have to find your own path, picking, choosing, and discarding as you see ft. Figure it out yourself, and do it.
Observe when you're angry. Anger is a loss of control over the situation. Anger is a contract you make with yourself to be in physical and mental and emotional turmoil until reality changes.
To have peace of mind, you have to have peace of body first.
I think after this life, it's very much like before you were born. Remember that? It's going to be just like that.
Health, love, and your mission, in that order. Nothing else matters.