Almanack of Naval Ravikant

If you're looking toward the long-term goal of getting wealthy, you should ask yourself, "Is this authentic to me? Is it myself that I am projecting?" And then, "Am I productizing it? Am I scaling it? Am I scaling with labor or with capital or with code or with media?" So it's a very handy, simple mnemonic.

You do need to be deep in something because otherwise you'll be a mile wide and an inch deep and you won't get what you want out of life. You can only achieve mastery in one or two things. It's usually things you're obsessed about. 

If you don't have the underlying experience, then it just reads like a collection of quotes. It's cool, it's inspirational for a moment, maybe you'll make a nice poster out of it. But then you forget it and move on. Mental models are really just compact ways for you to recall your own knowledge. 

One day, I realized with all these people I was jealous of, I couldn't just choose little aspects of their life. I couldn't say I want his body, I want her money, I want his personality. You have to be that person. Do you want to actually be that person with all of their reactions, their desires, their family, their happiness level, their outlook o... See more

It's only after you're bored you have the great ideas. It's never going to be when you're stressed, or busy, running around or rushed. Make the time. 

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. I'm looking for "freedom from," int... See more

If you have two choices to make, and they're relatively equal choices, take the path more difficult and more painful in the short term. 

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. 

We waste our time with short-term thinking and busywork. Warren Buffett spends a year deciding and a day acting. That act lasts decades.