So I recently read: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

The Internet is full of vast amounts of knowledge and it keeps on bloating itself. We have got access to so much data that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find quality material that you can actually use. Then there are some gems that are available that once you stumble onto, you can not get enough of it.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, created, compiled, and edited by Eric Jorgenson is one such gem. This crisp book is one of the best things I stumbled upon this year. In fact, this book is one of the most hopeful pieces of gift or advice one can give oneself in this craptastic of a year.

For the uninitiated, Naval Ravikant is an Indian American who is an investor in tech, runs a podcast, tweets about a variety of things but he focuses on his own life’s philosophies. This book is sort of an Interview in which Eric asked Naval to explain some of his best Tweets. Naval goes in detail about what the Tweet meant. There is so much to learn from this book, that I could use advice from this book again and again. This could be the go-to book whenever one doesn’t want to get trapped into fallacies of motivational speakers and life coaching. I first read about Naval Ravikant in Tim Ferris’ Tools of Titans but I didn’t go deeper then. I could have.

The book has Illustrations by Jack Butcher and each of them is so inspiring that they make great minimal posters on your wall. A Foreword by Tim Ferriss and this podcast can help you get more background by Naval Ravikant.

Ways to read this:

• Free PDF
• Read on Web
• Download EPUB
• Download MOBI
• Buy Printed or Kindle Edition from my affiliated link:

Some of my top clippings from this book which I found fascinating.

Basic arithmetic and numeracy are way more important in life than doing calculus. Similarly, being able to convey yourself simply using ordinary English words is far more important than being able to write poetry, having an extensive vocabulary, or speaking seven different foreign languages.

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

Earn with your mind, not your time.

… money is not going to solve all of your problems, but it’s going to solve all of your money problems.

Figure out what you’re good at, and start helping other people with it. Give it away. Pay it forward. Karma works because people are consistent. On a long enough timescale, you will attract what you project. But don’t measure—your patience will run out if you count.

Whether in commerce, science, or politics—history remembers the artists.

If you’re evenly split on a difficult decision, take the path more painful in the short term.

We think of ourselves as fixed and the world as malleable, but it’s really we who are malleable, and the world is largely fixed.

When you’re young, you have time. You have health, but you have no money. When you’re middle-aged, you have money and you have health, but you have no time. When you’re old, you have money and you have time, but you have no health. So the trifecta is trying to get all three at once.

You’re gone in three generations, and nobody cares. Before you showed up, nobody cared. It’s all a single-player game.

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.

Life-hack: When in bed, meditate. Either you will have a deep meditation or fall asleep. Victory either way.

Value your time. It is all you have. It’s more important than your money. It’s more important than your friends. It is more important than anything. Your time is all you have. Do not waste your time…

When I was younger … my old definition was “freedom to.” Freedom to do anything I want. Freedom to do whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like. Now, the freedom I’m looking for is internal freedom. It’s “freedom from.” Freedom from reaction. Freedom from feeling angry. Freedom from being sad. Freedom from being forced to do things.

Inspiration is perishable—act on it immediately.