The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

Naval Ravikant is one of the most thoughtful entrepreneurs and philosophers of our time. He built companies, invested in a lot of prominent tech startup, and made a name for himself. In this tweets and podcasts he shares lessons on building wealth and being happy. This book is a collection of his writings and interviews, compiled nicely into themes.

There are two core themes in the book: building wealth and happiness. To build wealth, you need to combine specific knowledge with leverage and do it for long enough time frame. Specific knowledge is something you are uniquely good at. It can be one skill or a combination of several. Specific knowledge can be learned, but cannot be taught. Leverage comes in 3 forms: capital, labor, and media/code. The best companies use all 3 forms of leverage to scale their business.

You can be rich but unhappy. Good health, a loving family, and a calm mind cannot be bought. They have to be earned. Naval advices to focus on physical, mental, and spiritual health. Working out regularly and meditating for an hour a day, and reading all the time helps with achieving physical and mental calm.

No matter how hard I try, it's impossible to convey all the wisdom in the book. I highly recommend giving it a read. This book is a treasure hunt of wisdom that will make you think for days.