The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness

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Here, I’ve collected four of the most impactful things I learned while writing this book in my own words. The ability to singularly focus is related to the ability to lose yourself and be present, happy, and (ironically) more effective.” My whole life people have defined entrepreneurship as “people who seek risk to grow a business.” Yet some of the best entrepreneurs and investors are the best at minimizing risk. Someone who manages money in a real estate fund could be the next step up. Dealing with a large number of developers and purchasing substantial volumes of home inventory might give them a lot of capital leverage. There is no fundamental, intrinsic purposeful meaning to the Universe. If there was, then you would just ask the next question. You’d say, ‘Why is that the meaning?’ It would be, as physicist Richard Feynman said, it would be ‘turtles all the way down.’ The ‘why’s’ would keep accumulating. There is no answer you could give that wouldn’t have another ‘why.’“

If something is your number one priority, then you will do it. That’s just the way life works. If you’ve got a fuzzy basket of ten or fifteen different priorities, you’re going to end up getting none of them.” The single word ‘leverage’ is a fantastic summary of ways to extend your impact beyond a linear, hourly input-output. If you can only earn with your own hourly time, the only way to build wealth is incredibly deep specialization (doctor, lawyer, etc). By creating and using leverage (through money, employees, or products) you can create more value for more people in the same amount of time.Read science, math, and philosophy. But be selective. Read the fundamentals like On The Origin of Species and The Wealth of Nations. Then reread them; it’s better to read a book that you’re excited about a hundred times than it is to read one hundred average books that don’t.

LABOUR: Humans who work for you. This is the oldest form of leverage, and it isn’t very effective in today’s society. Managing others can be a nightmare because it necessitates exceptional leadership abilities. 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.” However, if you want to acquire freedom, the chance to spend more time with your family, help those in need, dance more, or whatever it is that your spiritual self craves, you’re on the right path. For that, you’ll need to learn how to play the money game right. Fearing that you’ll lose what you’ve earned and being unhappy with what you have is an unhealthy approach. Moreover, the end goal isn’t more money, so keep that in mind. You have to see this mad creature in operation before you feel a certain distaste toward it and start separating yourself from it. In that separation is liberation. You realize, “Oh, I don’t want to be that person. Why am I so out of control?” Awareness alone calms you down.[4]You have to figure out how to scale it because if you only build one, that’s not enough. You’ve got to build thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or millions, or billions of them so everybody can have one.”

Below are my five favorite big ideas from the book, rewritten for brevity. 1. Understand How to Create Wealth You’re more likely to have skills society does not yet know how to train other people to do. If someone can train other people how to do something, then they can replace you. If they can replace you, then they don’t have to pay you a lot. You want to know how to do something other people don’t know how to do at the time period when those skills are in demand.“ 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.” Once I came to that realization, jealousy faded away because I don’t want to be anybody else. I’m perfectly happy being me.” There are so many ways to create wealth, to create products, to create businesses, and to get paid by society as a byproduct.”The concept of Accountability helped me reconcile this middle ground. Choosing to be accountable is choosing to be responsible for an outcome.The undertaking might be incredibly risky, or not very risky at all. The rewards might be enormous or very tiny. Usually, risk and reward are related. Make a big bet, get a big reward. Your personal set of skills and knowledge can give you an edge knowing where to take on accountability. 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.”