What “ The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant” Taught Me

I have listened to and read many books over the last year, many have taught me amazing things, but this one gripped my attention like no other.

The book's concept is unlike anything I’ve read before, Its unique style is due to the fact the book is an account of tweets, interviews, and podcast conversations. The author decided that the knowledge and wisdom Naval had given was too valuable to waste.

The author is Eric Jorgenson, and as stated in the title, it's an almanack of Naval Ravikant.

So who even is Naval? He is an Indian-American entrepreneur and a very successful investor. He could now also be described as a philosopher due to his unorthodox ideas and insights. 

The book is split into two parts, Wealth and Happiness.

I’m only going to mention the lessons that I wrote down after I finished reading, which are essentially my key takeaways. The book is filled with other useful information and I will definitely be reading it again someday.

Wealth

The first key takeaway is the power of specific knowledge, which is basically knowledge and skills that can’t be taught, they can only be acquired through experience.

“Specific knowledge cannot be taught, but it can be learned.”

Naval expresses the importance of specific knowledge and how to use it to your advantage, stating that specific knowledge is an extremely powerful tool for becoming wealthy. 

One of the biggest lessons this book taught me was that you can’t get rich renting out your time, even if you’re on a high-income wage. And to use specific knowledge to give society what it needs but does not yet know how to get. By doing so, they will pay you greatly in return.

Another important takeaway from this book was his emphasis on how passionate you must be about your goal to succeed, and that working extremely hard at something you love will look like work to everyone else, but will feel like play to me. 

Naval also mentions how these days, people get paid a ridiculous amount of money just by being themselves, and every one of us is the best in the world at doing so.

Happiness 

This section of the book is filled with the things Naval has spoken about in terms of what happiness is and how someone might get it. 

Probably the main takeaway from this whole section is Naval's unusual opinion on how someone might be happy, and that happiness is a choice, it is something people have to work at.

“Maybe happiness is not something you inherit or even choose, but a highly personal skill that can be learned, like fitness or nutrition.”

Naval also believes happiness is a form of peace. 

“You’ll notice when I say happiness, I mean peace. When a lot of people say happiness, they mean joy or bliss, but I’ll take peace.”

I have always wondered what happiness is, as it has always been something quite rare in my life, it always seemed to be extremely circumstantial. 

So, reading this section was quite life-changing, as it opened my eyes and made me realise that if happiness was a form of peace, and peace is something I could work at, I could increase my chances of being happy in the future. 

Summary

I read this book earlier this year, and it has made a massive difference.

It’s even the reason I’m even writing this blog right now, His insights into specific knowledge, choosing something I’m passionate about, and giving society what it needs were the words that led to me start writing.

The second section is responsible for changing the way I view happiness and peace, since reading it, I have made a conscious effort to work on it as if it were a skill and I have been much happier since. 

It’s safe to say Naval has had a huge impact on my life, as I know he has many others. 

If you’re looking for a self-help book that covers all bases, this is the one for you. These are the golden nuggets I took from the book, however, there are many more to choose from. Many of which could impact you all the same.