#4 BookBites: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson

This article is the fourth of a series of articles called BookBites. These articles will include summaries, quotes and/or meanings from the books I’ve read. They serve as catalysts for me to reflect on and deeper understand these books and to give bite-sized views into these books to other readers. #3 BookBiteXL has been published by Boshra Javaheri.

Naval Ravikant is an icon in Silicon Valley and startup culture around the world. He has founded multiple successful companies like AngelList and is an angel investor himself, having bet on companies like Uber and Twitter.

What makes him such an interesting person to me is that he doesn’t just talk about success from the realm of finance, but he also shares his (very pragmatic) philosophies about life and happiness.

On wealth

We want to make money to solve all of our money problems.

The best way to stay away from the constant love of money is to not upgrade one’s lifestyle as one makes more money.

You cannot be financially free by renting out your time. Own a part of a company and play long term games with long term people. In a long term game, everybody is making each other rich — it’s positive-sum. We are baking the pie together and trying to make it as big as possible. In a short term game, everybody is making themselves rich — it’s a zero sum game. In a short term game, we are cutting up the pie.

Side note: If you aren’t aware of game theory, do read more about it to understand the above quote.

Money buys one freedom in the material world. It will remove a set of things that could get in the way of being happy, but it will not make one happy.

Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy. — How to get rich without getting lucky

Today, we can work hard, give society what it wants, and society will pay us for it. We can save all our money in bank accounts and invest it so that it compounds with time. And then, we will have all the time and energy to pursue our internal peace.

On judgement

Society has wired us to identify as conservative, libertarian yadda yadda. The moment you label yourself, you may find yourself representing things that come with that label but that you don’t necessarily believe in.

If all your beliefs line up into neat little bundles, you should be highly suspicious.

While making judgements and decisions, don’t always think about what is going to work in a particular situation. Rather, try to eliminate what is not going to work. Being successful isn’t about making the right judgements. It’s about identifying and avoiding incorrect judgements.

On happiness

Reality is neutral — it’s neither positive nor negative. The world just reflects our own feelings back to us. When we are born, we are a blank slate. As we go through life, we experience a set of sensory perceptions which we (choose to) interpret in a certain way.

Life is a single-player game — it’s up to us how we experience it and what we make of it.

Life is just the way it is and is independent of our expectations from it. We think of ourselves as fixed and the world as malleable but it’s really we who are malleable and the world is largely fixed.

Desire is a contract we make with ourselves to not be happy until we get what we want. Happiness is a choice and a skill we develop.

Living in delusions of the future is the single sure-shot path to being unhappy. We crave experiences that will make us feel present when it is those cravings themselves that take us away from the present moment.

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

On jealousy

Whenever I feel jealous of someone, I tell myself that I cannot just choose little aspects of their life. I have to be that person. If I am not willing to do a complete 24/7, 100% swap with who that person is,then there is no point in being jealous.

Choose to be yourself — you will never be as good as someone else. And no one else can ever be as good as you. The single most thing you can be best at is embracing and being your unique self.

On suffering

Easy choices right now mean a harder overall life.

Most of our suffering comes from avoidance. Most of the suffering from a cold shower is the part where you’re tip-toeing your way in. Once you’re in, you’re in. It’s not suffering. It’s just cold. Your body saying it’s cold is different from your mind saying it’s cold. Acknowledge your body saying it’s cold. Look at it. Deal with it. Accept it, but don’t mentally suffer over it. Taking a cold shower for two minutes isn’t going to kill you.

The mind shouldn’t be our master — but it should be our servant and tool so we can use it to our disposal without letting it overpower us.

Everything is more beautiful now because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now, and we will never be here again. — Homer, The Iliad

Stop asking ‘why?’ and start saying ‘wow!’

You can read the Almanack of Naval Ravikant for free at www.navalmanack.com

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