8 Lessons From Naval Ravikant

If I were given a dream chance to interview someone, it would be Naval Ravikant, with Mark Manson being a close second. I recently picked up the highly recommended book - 'The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness', written by Eric Jorgenson and with a foreword by the formidable author, Tim Ferriss. It is a collection of tweets, philosophical quotes and interview excerpts - the best of the best that Naval Ravikant ( Co-Founder, Chairman & Former CEO - AngelList ). And what a collection it is...

Naval shares his thoughts on building happiness and wealth - personal and business fronts. He shares coveted reading lists and decodes why learning about psychology, technology and philosophy is a must for everyone hoping to make it big with their ideas/ ventures.

These are some of the best lessons from the 'Almanack'. The sections in quotes are direct quotes from the book. Happy Reading!

On Money & Making Money:

Naval views money and wealth creation as a skill set - that can be learned. He differentiates between earning money for status symbols and creating lifelong wealth and independence.

"Making money is not a thing you do — it’s a skill you learn. 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.

You will get rich by giving society what it wants but does not yet know how to get. At scale."

On Building Expertise & Skills For The Future:

This makes total sense in the post COVID world. He asks us to differentiate between specific knowledge and general knowledge - skillsets that are uniquely ours and applicable to different jobs and industries, rather than a pedigree.

If we are thinking of entrepreneurship, Naval's recommendation is to start as soon as possible - get some 'skin in the game' by being accountable for what you build and sell. If you learn how to build and sell, you will have immense leverage over working for someone else.

Arm yourself with specific knowledge, accountability, and leverage.

Specific knowledge is knowledge you cannot be trained for.

If society can train you, it can train someone else and replace you.

Specific knowledge cannot be taught, but it can be learned.

On Understanding Your Strengths & Playing To Them:

Do you know what makes you unique? He shares three powerful ways to reflect on our childhood days for clues to understanding what are specific skills/ traits that only we have and are excellent in. Can you apply it to your current/ future career/ business?

Did you play a lot of games when you were younger? You may understand game theory.

Could you pick up an instrument and quickly learn and play it? You have musical talent.

An obsessive personality: you dive into things and remember them quickly. No one can compete with you on being you.

On Creativity & Time:

Naval constantly harps on the power of being responsible and accountable, publically. If you can't build and sell a product / idea via a business - he suggests two other ways that are making the new age entrepreneurs.

Code/ Create Media: You don't have any entry barriers for this and if you succeed, you have all the leverage.

Coding or creating media content are making the new age wealth creators. The world's most successful startups are those that built superior code for something that the world wanted.

The other kind is like Casey Neistat and Lilly Singh, who used YouTube to build their empires. Or a Joe Rogan or Tim Ferriss with their podcasts. Can you use your unique knowledge/talent to create a media-driven business?

The most important pre-requisite to creating wealth is - it should make money even when you sleep.

Embrace accountability, and take business risks under your own name. Society will reward you with responsibility, equity, and leverage.

Code and media are permissionless leverage. They’re the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that works for you while you sleep. If you can’t code, write books and blogs, record videos and podcasts.

Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true. You don’t get rich by spending your time to save money. You get rich by saving your time to make money.

On Decision Making:

Thinking deeply and making the right decisions, often in a swift way, even when considering multiple options - this is the quality of a truly successful person. Naval suggests that accurate decision making can happen with clear thoughts and learning concepts from scratch.

He calls this - 'Mental models'.

Another interesting concept I loved was the metaphor of eliminating unnecessary choices and taking the route uphill - when there are two paths, look for the path that will ensure long term success over the short term.

Decision making is everything. Collect mental models… [they] are really just compact ways for you to recall your own knowledge.

Eliminate options. Should I marry this person? Should I take this job?Should I buy this house? If he cannot decide, the answer is no.

Run uphill - Simple heuristic: If you’re evenly split on a difficult decision, take the path more painful in the short term.

On Developing Mental Models:

We discussed 'mental models'. How to develop or build 'mental models' for yourself? An avid reader, Naval suggests the same for everyone. He reads at least one hour every day and says it doesn't matter what you start off with - as long as you embed the joy of reading in your life.

He loves reading about technology, philosophy and psychology because they help him create logical mental models and make informed decisions. 

How do you develop mental models?Reading. How do you develop a habit of reading. Read what you love until you love to read.

On Being Happy:

Having taken up a vow to remove anger from his life and finding value in diet, exercise and meditation, Naval shares a unique worldview of happiness - it's a journey of today, not a destination to be reached. It's about the meaning you create for yourself every single day - a choice to do right by yourself first and then by people who matter to you.

It's about building in time for yourself and then your family and work. It's about surrounding yourself with the right people and ideas - it's a conscious choice.

Maybe happiness is not something you inherit or even choose, but a highly personal skill that can be learned, like fitness or nutrition.Happiness, love, and passion…aren’t things you find — they’re choices you make.

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.

What habits can help you build the skill of happiness? These are some suggestions from Naval.

• Meditation and being present in the moment.
• Asking yourself, what’s the positive side of this?
• Identify your desires and ask yourself, is this that important that I’ll be unhappy unless this goes my way?
• Working out every day.
• Tell your friends you are a happy person. Then you will be forced to conform to it (you are using a consistency bias against you).

On Motivating Yourself:

The author asked Naval - What are the two principles that he would pass down to his kids? This is his answer.

Read everything that you can. Not just the things that society tells you are ‘good’ books. Develop a love for reading. Eventually, you will guide yourself to the things that you should and want to be reading.

Develop mathematics and persuasion skills. These are related to reading and help you navigate the real world. You don’t have to know a lot of math, just the basics.

I am definitely going back to this treasure trove of wisdom many more times. Let me know what you thought of the book. Thank you for reading!