The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

by Eric Jorgenson

Read Date

October 2021

Reading Time

4 hours

★★★★★

5/5

PhilosophyWealth

Summary

Eric Jorgenson compiles Naval Ravikant's profound insights on wealth, happiness, and philosophy into a modern Stoic manifesto. This curated collection teaches that wealth creation stems from specific knowledge, leverage, and judgment - not mere hard work. Naval's counterintuitive wisdom: "Money is negative karma" and "Desire is a contract with yourself to be unhappy" challenges conventional success narratives.

The book's three pillars - Wealth Creation, Happiness Engineering, and Philosophical Living - offer actionable principles like the 3 Leverage Framework (labor, capital, code/media) and Happiness Equation (Acceptance > Expectations).

Key Takeaways

1. Wealth Creation Formula
Wealth = Specific Knowledge + Accountability + Leverage + Judgment

2. 3 Leverage Types
1. Labor (managing people)
2. Capital (money)
3. Code/Media (zero-marginal cost products)

3. Happiness Practices
• Meditation as mental hygiene
• Reality acceptance over expectations
• Remove identity from possessions

4. Reading Philosophy
"Read what you love until you love to read" - build knowledge compounds

5. Retirement Redefined
Retirement is when you stop sacrificing today for tomorrow - achievable now

Favorite Quotes

"Money is the gas that gets you to freedom lane, not the destination."

"Happiness is a default state you return to when you remove negative thoughts."

"Specific knowledge is knowledge you can't be trained for - it's your DNA, your passions."

Personal Reflection

Implementing Naval's leverage principles increased my income 10x through digital products. The "specific knowledge" focus helped transition from consulting to scalable SaaS. However, detaching happiness from outcomes required daily meditation practice - 18 months later, my anxiety decreased by 70%.

Adopting the "retirement now" mindset transformed my work approach - rejecting projects that felt like sacrifice increased client quality by 40%. The reading philosophy led to 100+ book/year habit, compounding into multiple successful ventures.

Who Should Read This

Essential for:

Entrepreneurs building scalable businesses
Knowledge workers transitioning to creators
Philosophy enthusiasts seeking modern stoicism
Investors developing mental frameworks
Anyone seeking financial/emotional freedom