The Art of Doing… Nothing?
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” — Blaise Pascal
Yup. Nothing. Have you ever tried it? No, really… have you? It’s pretty difficult, scratch that, near-impossible to sit there… alone… with your thoughts. No phone. No music. No TV. NOTHING.
Enter Naval Ravikant: Co-founder of AngelList and early investor in Uber, Twitter, Clubhouse, Postmates… the list goes on. In a bio filled with everything, Naval is an expert at doing nothing.
So… how’d Naval get so good at, well, doing nothing? Meditation. His method? No fancy apps or mantras. He sits and and watches his thoughts go by without effort for 60 minutes.
Naval explains the practice in this clip from his legendary appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.
Here’s another clip from Naval on Clubhouse describing the practice.
The Benefits of Naval Ravikant’s “Art of Doing Nothing” Meditation Practice
“Proper meditation — proper examination — should ruin the life that you’re currently living. It should cause you to leave relationships. It should cause you to re-establish boundaries with family members and colleagues. It should cause you to quit your job. It should cause you to change your eating patterns … If it doesn’t do that, it’s not real examination. If it doesn’t come attached with destruction of your current life, then you can’t create the new life in which you will not have the anxiety.” — Naval Ravikant
There are quite a few. But perhaps the biggest? It’ll destroy your current life… in a good way. Naval explains further here.
Naval says the “Art of Doing Nothing” meditation practice also helps clear out his “mental inbox” — listen here.
Oh, did we mention it’ll cure your “spiritual obesity”? Because it does that too.
“The spiritual body is completely covered up — you lost touch with it because modern society is so full of choices and distractions that we’re just always amusing ourselves. We’re amusing ourselves to death … You want to give that a chance to emerge. And, right now, I would argue that most people are spiritually obese — and I mean like 300-pound obese; I don’t mean 180-pound obese … That means that their true self, which they’ve lost connection with — their subconscious, is buried under layers and layers of non-inspection.” — Naval Ravikant
Naval dives deeper in this short clip.
In fact, Naval’s “Art of Doing Nothing” meditation is so powerful that it can induce psychedelic experiences. Naval explains here.
Sounds like a pretty powerful practice to add to your life… So powerful that…
Meditation Is the Most Important Thing Naval Does Every Day
“When the best hour of my day is spent by myself, then the world has very little to offer me. I can still participate in it, but it doesn’t have that grip on me that it used to — I don’t fear solitary confinement. And I think that is a superpower.” — Naval Ravikant
Naval explains further in this short clip.
So, there you have it: Naval Ravikant’s “Art of Doing Nothing” meditation practice. Convinced of the benefits? Give it a try. And remember: The art of doing nothing is the key to a life of everything.
