Almanack of Naval Ravikant — Pearls of Wisdom from Navalism
Naval Ravikant is an entrepreneur, technologist, angel investor, philosopher and founder of Angel list. His podcasts, tweets, public interviews and all the gems of knowledge he shared have been compiled into an online free book called “The almanack of Naval Ravikant” by Eric Jorgenson. This book is a trove of wisdom and makes you understand the philosophy behind the success of Naval and people like him!
I am a big fan of Naval and his philosophy, aptly named Navalism! He is someone who can succinctly articulate technology, science, mathematics and philosophy and weave all these facets really well! His podcast The beginning of infinity is my all-time favourite! Needless to say, I found “The almanack of Naval Ravikant” very fascinating! Following are some of my key takeaways from Navalism compiled from the book.
Understanding how to utilize leverages
In the industrial economy, people created wealth via two key leverages, capital and labour. In today’s knowledge economy, people are using other leverages like code and media to create wealth. Code and media are permissionless leverages that can be utilized to make your knowledge reach scale and in turn help in wealth creation. They democratize knowledge, unlike capital and labour which are controlled by market forces. Naval emphasizes a lot on understanding and using these leverages which are a boon of the 21st century.
How to get rich (Without getting lucky)
(There is a difference between being wealthy and having money — the former is a way to create assets or knowledge which earn money even when you are not actively working. Later is just a transactional aspect)
Naval’s Twitter account has a famous thread pinned to his profile which talks in detail about how to create your luck in most practical terms. If you haven’t read it yet, here is the link. Fundamentally, there are 4 ways to get lucky:
- Hope that luck finds you!
- Hustle until you stumble on it
- Prepare the mind and be sensitive about opportunities that others miss
- Become the best at what you do. Refine what you do until this is true. Opportunity will see you out and luck becomes your destiny.
Not surprisingly, Naval emphasizes #4. Becoming the best at what you do. No one can compete with you in being you! So it is critical that you find what you are best at and be relentless about refining your craft. When your work becomes an extension of who you are and what you love, it no longer remains work. It becomes a play, a passion and a life which no longer tires you but energizes you.
This minimalistic diagram defines the process of refinement in the most simple manner. However, the process of refinement is usually arduous, time-consuming and iterative. In Naval’s words,
“First, you know it.
Then, you understand it.
Then, you can explain it.
Then, you can feel it.
Finally, you are it.”
Solve via iteration and get paid via repetition
Once you have nailed your craft, redefined it via an iterative process, and socialized it in your industry, the luck starts being deterministic. The opportunities find you automatically and your craft becomes your destiny. The arduous efforts and time that you spent in mastering the skill become a key lever in wealth creation.
Earn with your mind and not time!
This is the key takeaway from navalism! Moving away from the relics of the industrial economy, a 40-hour work week, today’s knowledge workers are like athletes. They work in a flow, like a sprint, rest and do it again. With their specialised knowledge or craft, and ability to use the leverage of media and code, exponential wealth creation becomes the equation of your intelligence and not time.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
I have been following Naval’s podcasts for some time and even attempted to summarise one of the most comprehensive and complex podcasts with Brett Hall. You can refer Summary of ‘The beginning of infinity’ podcast by Naval Ravikant here. However, I had not read this book earlier. This is the most comprehensive effort of summarizing his philosophy. You can read the free online book here. Since this book is a compilation of various tweets, podcasts, interviews etc. you may find the flow a little abstract. Sometimes, you may have to re-read pages to get a complete narrative of a concept. However, the concept themselves are very deep and make you think, especially around wealth creation and judgment. You will enjoy it once you get a hang of the compilation and combine it with online interviews and podcasts etc.
(Visual credits: https://visualizevalue.com/blogs/feed/the-almanack-of-naval-ravikant )
