3 LIFE LESSONS FROM SILICON VALLEY’S MOST SUCCESSFUL INVESTOR

I’ve seen so many quotes on the socials from some dude named Naval Ravikant, that I thought he was a modern day Marcus Aurelius type philosopher.

Turns out, that assumption was true.

I’m nearly through reading “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant,“ by Eric Jorgenson, who did the world a favor, and collected philosophy, quotes, and interviews from Naval over the years and compiled these thoughts into a digestible book.

Naval, long admired and adored by entrepreneur and podcaster Tim Ferriss who wrote the foreword, was born in Delhi, India and moved to Queens, NY at age 9. Naval later earned his way into Dartmouth and studied computer science and economics.

At age 25, Naval founded Epinions, a user-generated content website, then became a venture partner at August Capital, and founded Vast.com. At age 34, Naval launched AngelList and was an early investor in Uber in 2010.

In 2018, at age 43, Naval was named “Angel Investor of the Year.”

I underlined so many sentences, and quotes from Naval that I didn’t know where to begin with this week’s newsletter. I promise, I’ll refer to this book many more times in the future.

However, here’s 3 major concepts and quotes from the book that stuck with me:

Earn with your mind, not your time.
No one can compete with your authentic self.
Health above everything else.

Earn with your mind, not your time:

Get paid for your judgement, not the hours you work.
Every human should aspire to being knowledgeable about certain things and being paid for our unique knowledge.
CEOs are highly paid because of their leverage.
Being at the extreme in your art is very important in the age of leverage.
Value your time at an hourly rate, and ruthlessly spend to save time at that rate. You will never be worth more than you think you’re worth.

No one can compete with your authentic self:

Escape competition through authenticity.
When you’re competing with people, it’s because you’re copying them. It’s because you’re trying to do the same thing. But every human is different. Don’t copy.
Focus on the thing that you are really into.
Specific knowledge is found much more by pursing your innate talents, your genuine curiosity, and your passion.
No one can compete with you on being you.
You’ll never be good at being somebody else.

❝

“Tension is who you think you should be.
Relaxation is who you are.”

—Buddhist saying

Health above everything else:

My number one priority in life, above my happiness, above my family, above my work, is my own health.
It starts with physical health. Second, it’s my mental health. Third, it’s my spiritual health.
In the morning, I work out, and however long it takes is how long it takes. I do not start my day until I’ve worked out.
The important thing is to do something every day. It doesn’t matter what it is. The best workout for you is one you’re excited enough to do every day.
Most of our suffering comes from avoidance.
Meditation is intermittent fasting for the mind.
Life-hack: When in bed, meditate. Either you will have a deep meditation or fall asleep. Victory either way.

There is so much more from Naval. The good news is, you can download a free PDF of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, A Guide to Wealth and Happiness from the website.

Want the book instead of the download, here’s your link: https://amzn.to/47xyTnI

More quotes from Naval Ravikant: https://www.99signals.com/naval-ravikant-quotes/

My Mission: help one million people a day become the best version of themselves through living an Ascent Life.

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