5 Life Lessons I Learned from the Almanack of Naval Ravikant
Last Updated on May 26, 2022
By combining elements of science and reason with the conventional knowledge that has been passed down through the ages, Naval Ravikant has developed a devoted following. It’s unlikely to hear an investor discussing happiness or other life philosophies.
Naval has gone above and above to inform the public about what he learned from his early struggles in life, using Twitter and interviews to do so.
His tweetstorm in 2018 about how to get rich without chance drew a lot of attention. It has over 130k likes and hundreds of retweets as of today.
This tweetstorm was the reason behind my curiosity about knowing who was Naval and how he can share such interesting insights on life.
So, from the “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant,” here are 5 life lessons on how to be grateful, happy, wealthy, and successful in life.
1. Power Of Specific Knowledge
What distinguishes us is the knowledge we acquire and discover on our own. These are skills that we develop through experimenting with and failing at a variety of tasks; they are not taught in schools or colleges.
It is not possible to impart specific information inside the confines of a classroom setting due to the fact that every single student is being instructed on the same material, regardless of their individual background, motivations, and areas of interest. It has nothing to do with you at all.
Apprenticeships are commonly used to pass along specific information. Reading “business” books won’t teach you nearly as much as shadowing someone with 10+ years of expertise in the industry.
Joe Rogan’s unique expertise with podcasting, anchoring, and martial arts cannot be duplicated. And it is because of this understanding that JRE is such a popular podcast.
The internet has allowed us to combine all of our passions and create our own niche. This is why we have the opportunity to be ourselves and build a brand that reflects our personality.
“The first thing to notice about specific knowledge is that you can’t be trained for it… [it’s] found much more by pursuing your innate talents, your genuine curiosity, and your passion…Very often specific knowledge is at the edge of knowledge. It’s also stuff that’s just being figured out or is really hard to figure out… [It] tends to be technical and creative. It’s on the bleeding edge of technology, on the bleeding edge of art, on the bleeding edge of communication.”
Naval Ravikant
It also helps us to be unconcerned about competitors because we are our sole competition. Nobody, no matter how hard they try, will ever be able to replace you.
Building specific expertise takes time and effort. Only if you have a genuine interest in the subject matter will you be able to delve into it to its full depths. When it seems to others like labor, it should feel like play to you.
The correct kind of work should recharge your batteries while you work. You don’t feel fatigued or burned out, but rather energetic and alive.
2. Be curious and learn new things
If you want to be an entrepreneur, you should be curious about everything. Not only the new, cutting-edge technologies and ideas, but also about the history, cultures and societies across the globe.
This curiosity will boost your learning capacity and make you a more open-minded person. Curiosity is a quality that will help you to work with diverse people, cultures and ecosystems and make you more diverse as an entrepreneur.
Additionally, curiosity will help you to develop an interest in new things, try new activities and meet new people. A person who is curious has the habit of reading books, blogs, magazines and newspapers even if they do not think they will learn anything new.
That is the reason curiosity is such a valuable quality to have as an entrepreneur.
“The beauty of the internet is the entire library of Alexandria times 10 is at your fingertips at all times. It’s not the means of education or the means of learning are scarce, the means of learning are abundant. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce. So, you really have to cultivate the desire.”
Naval Ravikant
You may learn how to build websites from scratch (like I did with Wealest) or you can learn simple SEO techniques. You can also learn how to code, shoot and edit videos, or write movies.
The internet is constantly open and accessible, so it’s your personal curiosity library. If you want to get the most out of it, you just need to get your curiosity back!
3. Reading will make a difference in your life
“I always spent money on books,” Naval remarked in an interview with Shane Parrish. That was never an expense to me. To me, that’s an investment.”
When I was in school, I was instructed that books should be read in their entirety, from front to back, and that before beginning a new book, one should ensure that the one they are now reading has been completed.
To my great relief, I am no longer enrolled in classes. And, owing to Naval, I no longer complete books. I read whatever interests me, skipping sections and closing the book when it becomes too boring.
I was reading Life Of Pi the other day, and I genuinely found some chapters to be really boring. If I were the old me I would have wasted time reading those pages with mere habit of completing books. But after observing how Naval reads, I have found that way to be really helpful for me.
As Naval says:
“I don’t actually read a lot of books. I pick up a lot of books and only get through a few, which form the foundation of my knowledge.”
Naval Ravikant
There are far too many intriguing books in the world, therefore finishing a book for the sake of finishing it even when its not feeding your curiosity is pointless.
4. Happiness is skill that you Learn (Yes, I am not joking!!)
In Joe Rogan experience podcast, Joe Rogan inquired as to whether or not Naval is happy and fulfilled in his life, to which Naval responded that he had attained contentment before he amassed his wealth.
In point of fact, Naval believes that happiness is something that can be developed via practice by anyone.
The unfortunate truth is that life is played entirely solo. You enter the world by yourself. You’re going to die alone. He explains this point even better in his words, as he says:
“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.”
Naval Ravikant
You can’t have one part of somebody else’s life (such as their abs, money, or celebrity) separated from the other parts of their life if you want that part of their life.
Would you be interested in making a trade with someone who is well-known? Then you would also be required to embrace the feelings of fear and vulnerability, in addition to the other drawbacks that come along with celebrity.
Maybe happiness is not something you inherit or even choose, but a highly personal skill that can be learned, like fitness or nutrition.
Naval Ravikant
A comparable mental model, which Warren Buffet refers to as a “inner and outward scorecard,” is used by him.
The mental model says, ask yourself, “Would you rather have everyone think you’re the world’s worst lover, but be the world’s greatest lover yourself, or would you rather have everyone think you’re the world’s worst lover, but be the world’s best lover yourself?”
Your response to that question will disclose what is more important to you: your accomplishments or what other people think of you.
5. The First Principle Model (An Interesting Framework Of Thinking)
The ability to comprehend the fundamental constituent parts of a product, system, or topic is referred to as “first principles thinking,” and it is one of the philosophical tenets that Naval adheres to.
In theory, first principles thinking compels you to delve deeper and deeper until you are only left with the fundamental realities of a situation.
Only then can you say that you have reached the end of your investigation.
For instance, Elon Musk planned to launch his rockets to Mars, but he discovered that the cost of rockets is exceedingly expensive.
Buying a rocket for $65 million was not just impossible; it was also anchored in assumptions about how rockets have always been built and how much they should cost. Therefore, he returned to the fundamentals of the matter. He questioned and responded to issues of the most fundamental nature.
What components make up a rocket? carbon fiber, aluminum alloys designed specifically for aerospace use, titanium, and copper. How much those materials are worth on the public market? Just 2% of the regular cost of the rocket.
Therefore, he made the decision to construct his own. This is the best example of first principles thinking. Musk chose to base his approach to problem solving on basic principles as opposed to believing the “truths” he had been informed about the “real” cost of building a rocket.
Winding Up
No matter what you do, how you do it, if you are happy or not, according to Naval Ravikant and lessons which we learnt just now point towards the possibility that everything is attainable through deep curiosity and learning. Read, write and be accountable.
