I just finished The Alamanak of Naval Ravikant by ERIC JORGENSON. This is my 9th book this year and so far it’s my favorite! I was excited all the time and I actually finished the book in a day!
The principles he was sharing were quite simple but hard to stick to. I’d like to share the top 3 HIGHLIGHTS for me of this book!
1. “Escape competition through authenticity”, No one can compete with you if you are fundamentally building and marketing something that is an extension of who you are.
Ever since I jumped into the AI industry I’ve been constantly telling myself, I have to do this, I have to do that to KEEP UP, but wasn’t paying that much attention to what I’m genuinely interested in. Thanks for the wake-up call.
2. I would rather understand the basics really well than memorize all kinds of complicated concepts I can’t stitch together and can’t derive from the basics
Since I’m from the architecture industry, almost everything I touch or see nowadays is new to me. I am constantly in a position to learn something from 0, so I really want to keep this message in mind as I learn more complex concepts.
3. You will never be worth more than you think you’re worth.
Kind of cliche, but I liked it! I truly agree with the importance to give permission to ourselves to believe in ourselves!
Extras
Below are all the other highlights that didn’t make it to my top3 because it was either A) something I’ve already learned from other books, or B) Not that much important.
• Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status your place in the social hierarchy
• Learn to Sell, learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable
• 99% effort is wasted: When you find the 1 % of your discipline which will not be wasted, go all-in and forget about the rest
• Trying to build business relationships well in advance of doing business is a complete waste of time
• The less you’re obsessing over it, the more you’re doing to do it in a natural way
• You should not grind at a lot of work until you figure out what you should be working on
• There is no skill called “business”. Avoid business magazines and business classes
• Study microeconomics, game theory, psychology, persuasion, ethics, mathematics, computers.
• The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner
• The people who have the ability to fail in public under their own names actually gain a lot of power
• The year I generated the most wealth for myself was actually the year I worked the least hard and cared the least about the future
• You start as a salaried employee, But you want to work your way up to try and get higher leverage, more accountability, and specific knowledge.
• Any end goal will just lead to another goal, lead to another goal, We just play games in life
• I’m always “working” it looks like work to others, but it feels like play to me, and that is how I know no one can compete with me on
• It never happens in the timescale you want, or they want, but it does happen
• Praise specifically, criticize generally
• It’s not about having correct judgment, It’s about avoiding incorrect judgments
• Agent-Principle problem; When you are the agent and you are doing it on somebody else’s behalf, you can do a bad job, you just don’t care
• It’s worth reading a microeconomics textbook from start to finish
• Reading science math philosophy one hour per day will likely put you at the upper echelon of human success within 7 years
• Happiness to me is mainly not suffering, not desiring, not thinking too much about the future or the past, really embracing the present moment and the reality of what is and the way it is
• The real winners are the ones who step out of the game entirely, who don’t even play the game, who rise above it
• The more you judge, the more you separate yourself, you’ll feel good for an instant, but you see negativity everywhere. The world just reflects your own feelings back at you
• When you’re 30 what would you advise your old self?
• Just read for its own sake. There is no such thing as junk. Eventually, you’ll guide yourself to the things that you want to be reading
