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

Earn with your mind, not your time.

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

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.

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.

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. [78]

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

You’re going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work. [8]

As long as I have a book in my hand, I don’t feel like I’m wasting time.” —Charlie Munger

I would combine radical honesty with an old rule Warren Buffett has, which is praise specifically, criticize generally.

Happiness is being satisfied with what you have.

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

Wealth is assets that earn while you sleep.

Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.

I think business networking is a complete waste of time. And I know there are people and companies popularizing this concept because it serves them and their business model well, but the reality is if you’re building something interesting, you will always have more people who will want to know you. Trying to build business relationships well in advance of doing business is a complete waste of time. I have a much more comfortable philosophy: “Be a maker who makes something interesting people want. Show your craft, practice your craft, and the right people will eventually find you.

The closer you want to get to me, the better your values have to be.

Explain what you learned to someone else. Teaching forces learning.

We constantly walk around thinking, “I need this,” or “I need that,” trapped in the web of desires. Happiness is the state when nothing is missing.

Memory and identity are burdens from the past preventing us from living freely in the present.

Compound interest also happens in your reputation. If you have a sterling reputation and you keep building it for decades upon decades, people will notice. Your reputation will literally end up being thousands or tens of thousands of times more valuable than somebody else who was very talented but is not keeping the compound interest in reputation going.