Here are some notes on Eric Jorgensons’s “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant”

How to eat be wealthy

  • Learn to build, learn to sell. “If you can do both, you’re unstoppable.”
    • “Building” is not limited to tech.
    • Making money — just like learning to build or sell (or peace/happiness) — is a skill and can be learned.
      • Don’t be afraid of any book — or any skill to learn (× Scott Young, “no hard skills, only missing prerequisites”)
      • Get your foundations right. Learn basic maths, statistics, microeconomics — what has been true and verified. Focus on getting them right and perfected, rather than advancing into complex topics.
        • Many more complex topics (macroeconomics) are not falsifiable, so we cannot know if they’re true.
    • Create something — if you cannot code, start a blog, a podcast, shoot videos, write books…
    • Build what society needs (but doesn’t know it wants it), and then scale it.
    • Doing business is a positive-sum game.
  • Use leverage. Leverage are resources that multiply the effect of your decisions.
    • Use leverage to increase your returns — (automated) labour, money (capital), reputation, building a product with no cost of replication (memberships, books, videos, code, etc.)
    • Permissioned vs permissionless leverage: capital and labour require people willing to give it to you or work for you; code, automated labour and media are permissionless — use it.
    • Media with no cost of replication tend to coincide with permissionless leverage.
  • Build a reputation for yourself, by taking risks (ownership) under your own name. “Without accountability, you can’t build credibility.”
    • And if you fail but gave it your best (and were honest), people will generally forgive you anyway.
    • Reputation tips the balance for two people with the exact same talent, skills.
    • The more accountability, the more financial reward. Work your way up. The more risk you take, the more invested you are, the bigger the financial reward.
      • Work in smaller companies to work your way up more easily.
    • Build your brand in preparation for the moment when an opportunity will arise. Create a reputation for yourself.
  • Be paid for your output, not your input. What you produce — not how many hours you put in. This lets you focus on results (× Measure What Matters) rather than “busy-work”; motivates you to be more efficient. “If you do something incredible to move the needle on the business, they have to pay you.”
    • Financial freedom can only be achieved through wealth (passive income — equity, investments, ownership in business), not salaried or wage labour. “Having assets that earn while you sleep.”
  • Develop your special knowledge — something born out of a personal obsession, that feels like play, and that cannot be directly taught.
    • Specific knowledge comes from your uniqueness, from being you; “each one is the best at being themselves.”
      • Everyone has something unique they can offer. Celebrate people’s uniqueness, encourage them to be the full expression of themselves (× All About Love) “You can make people happy just by uniquely expressing yourself on the Internet.”
        • “Most of life is a search of who and what needs you the most.” Find your people.
        • “Escape competition through authenticity.”
      • Remember what you were good at as a kid, what you did effortlessly — or things people around you noticed about you.
    • “When specific knowledge is taught, it’s through apprenticeships, not schools.” (× Mentorship; Shopclass as Soulcraft)
    • Become the best in the world at what you do — redefine what you do until this is true.
      • “Productize yourself”
    • Special knowledge can be formed by building a team — where the combination of skills is the special knowledge.

Happiness

  • “Peace is happiness at rest, and happiness is peace in motion. You can convert peace into happiness anytime you want. But peace is what you want most of the time.”
  • Train your brain for happiness routines. You can train (prime) your brain for happiness or gratitude; your brain then becomes better and faster it.

General life

  • “Almost all biases or time-saving heuristics. For important decisions, discard memory and identity, and focus on the problem.”
  • Be mindful of who you live with, who you surround yourself with and spend time with, and which company you work for. “The single most important thing about a company is the alumni network you’re going to build.”
  • You can only make progress and change when you’re starting with the truth; when you’re being honest with yourself. (× Psycho-Cybernetics)
  • “The greatest superpower is the ability to change yourself.” Do not cling to your identity too much.
  • “You can almost always be both honest and positive — not blunt”
  • “I’m very famous for being rude at parties, events, dinners, where the moment I figure out it’s a waste of my time, I leave immediately.”
    • “Value your time. It is all you have.”
  • Do walking meetings.
  • “The best workout for you is one you’re excited to do every day.”
  • “You’re going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. […] Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work.”