There is a quote that says: Teachers die, but books live on.

Books are teachers as they teach us wisdom of thousands of years. Teachers come and go, but books carry on. I am happy to share with you my first blog and it turns around a book written by Eric Jorgenson about a great man and an icon in startup culture, called Naval Ravikant. I like the concise way and the eloquent words when Eric said : "Naval is broadly followed because he is a rare combination of successful and happy." It is like we should make distinction between success and happiness. SUCESS CAN COSTS YOUR HAPPINESS ? It is not time to stop and rethink ?

This article will be divided into three main parts : who is Naval ? how is in daily life ? and what are his advices on building wealth and living happily ?

who is Naval Ravikant :

“Past can never be the present.”

Naval and his mother moved from New Delhi to the US when his was too young. He didn’t have many friends and spent a lot of time reading. His real friends were books. His first job was with an illegal catering company in the back of a van delivering Indian food when he was fifteen. He was a totally unknown kid in New York , an “immigrants trying to survive” situation. Then,

Naval Ravikant is an Indian entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder, chairman and former CEO of AngelList. He has invested early-stage in over 200 companies including Uber, FourSquare, Twitter, Wish.com, Poshmark, Postmates, Thumbtack, Notion, SnapLogic, Opendoor, Clubhouse, Stack Overflow, Bolt, OpenDNS, Yammer, and Clearview AI, with over 70 total exits and more than 10 Unicorn companies. Wikipedia

How is Naval Ravikant :

Naval is smart and courageous. He is rarely part of any consensus, and the uniqueness of his life, lifestyle, family dynamics, and startup successes is a reflection of conscious choices he’s made to do things differently.

He :

→ Questions nearly everything.

→ Can think from first principles.

→ Tests things well.

→ Is good at not fooling himself.

→ Changes his mind regularly.

→ Laughs a lot.

→ Thinks holistically.

→ Thinks long-term.

→ And…doesn’t take himself too goddamn seriously.

Building wealth and living happily:

Here are some Naval's principles:

FIND AND BUILD SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE

The specific knowledge, for Naval, is sort of combination of unique traits from your DNA, your unique upbringing, and your response to it. It’s almost baked into your personality and your identity. Did you not meet someone who is a natural at sales ? Specific knowledge cannot be taught, but it can be learned. It's found much more by pursuing your innate talents, your genuine curiosity, and your passion. It’s not by going to school.

BECOMING PERPETUAL LERANER

"You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy", said Naval.

COMPOUND INTEREST

You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy.

DON'T TAKE YOURSELF SO SERIOUSLY. YOU’RE JUST A MONKEY WITH A PLAN.

No need to detail this :p

SAVING YOURSELF

Doctors won’t make you healthy. Nutritionists won’t make you slim. Teachers won’t make you smart. Gurus won’t make you calm. Mentors won’t make you rich. Trainers won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself.

IMAPATIENCE WITH ACTIONS, PATIENCE WITH RESULTS

NAVAL'S RULES

CONCLUSION

That is it for this first article. I hope you found it useful. There are much more interesting details in this book to read .

👋 Thanks for reading, for the next blog.