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Naval Ravikant Original Text

How to Get Rich (without getting lucky):

— Naval (@naval) May 31, 2018

Wealth

• “Creating wealth” is a set of skills I learned myself, and I believe anyone can learn it too.
• “Creating wealth” is a positive-sum game, and I believe anyone can become rich.
• There is a way to make money, the moral way. It is possible to get rich by following the right path. If you secretly despise wealth, wealth will despise you.
• Pursue wealth, not money or status.
• Wealth is the asset that gives you passive income, money is just a “receipt” that allows you to borrow others' time, and status is just your position in society.
• The purpose of wealth is "freedom", that’s it. The ultimate function of money is that you don’t have to be present at a specific time and place to do something you don't want to do.
• The game of acquiring wealth is all about “becoming your own sovereign king.”
• You will not become rich by selling your time, you must own assets: a business, to gain wealth and freedom.

Work

• Choosing what work to do > Working with the right people > Working hard.
• The most effective way to work (especially in knowledge fields) is to sprint when inspiration strikes, then rest, reassess, and repeat. Create a “sprint, rest, evaluate” “cyclical marathon."
• Inspiration is easily lost, act immediately when you have inspiration.
• Those who claim to work 80-120 hours a week are just bragging. No one can really work 80 hours and still be mentally clear. Your brain will deteriorate, and you won’t have good ideas.

Action

• Be impatient with "action," and very patient with "results." I think this is a great life philosophy.
• Very successful people often have an action bias.
• Become the best in the world in your field. Continuously redefine what you are doing until it becomes true.

Compound Interest

• Lifelong learning, reading, and creating will create amazing compound effects.
• There is no "get rich quick" scheme in this world, only those who get rich by selling you such dreams.
• You must truly enjoy what you do, so that you can invest repeatedly without getting tired. As long as the time is long enough, you will receive monetary returns. But this time could be anywhere from 10 to 20 years. Sometimes it could be 5 years.
• My personal wealth does not explode in a year. It comes a little here, a little there, more opportunities, more businesses, more investments, etc.
• A large part of life wisdom is understanding how your actions create long-term compound effects. The longer your perspective, the more people around you will feel you are full of wisdom.
• Learn to "refine" something repeatedly. All returns in life, whether wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compounding.
• The number of times you refine will drive you forward on the learning curve.
• Choose a field where you can apply a long-term mindset, and work with people who have a long-term mindset.

Arm yourself with these three things: Specific Knowledge, Accountability, and Leverage.

Specific Knowledge

• The internet has greatly expanded career possibilities. Most people have not understood this yet.
• No matter what your passion is, the internet can allow you to scale it.
• As long as you understand how to provide society with what it wants but cannot learn, you can scale to wealth.
• There are too many ways to create products, businesses, and opportunities; money is a byproduct that comes after you create.
• If your goal is just to make money, you won't find the right "thing." You won’t choose what you are truly passionate about, so you won’t invest deeply enough.
• The world craves authenticity. Create products in the areas you are naturally good at.
• Specific knowledge is knowledge that no one can teach you. If schools can teach it, then others can teach it, and you will be replaced.
• The only way to impart specific knowledge is through apprenticeship, not school.
• Specific knowledge usually involves high skills or high creativity, and cannot be outsourced or automated.
• The characteristic of refining specific knowledge: it is play for you, but work for others.
• How to gain specific knowledge? Pursue true curiosity and passion, not what everyone is currently obsessed with.
• Make good use of specific knowledge, operate leverage, and then you will get what you deserve.
• Learn sales, learn to create products. Mastering these two points makes you invincible.

Accountability

• “Taking full responsibility” is very important, it is the foundation for you to gain leverage and credit.
• Take full responsibility, solve problems that people cannot solve, and bear business risks in your name. Customers will line up behind you, and society will reward you with equity, responsibility, and leverage.
• The mindset of “taking full responsibility” is something you can establish right now. Judgment and leverage usually come later.

Leverage

• Creating wealth requires leverage. The leverage used by entrepreneurs includes: capital, human resources, and products with no marginal cost of replication (software and media content).
• Capital is money. To obtain money, you must have specific knowledge, accountability, and prove you can make the right judgments.
• Human resources are the people who work for you. This is the oldest and most sought-after leverage. Having human leverage will make your parents proud, but do not waste your life chasing this.
• Capital and human resources are “permission-based leverage.” Everyone is chasing capital, but people must agree to give it to you. Everyone wants to be a boss, but `someone must be willing to follow you.
• Software and media content are “permissionless leverage.” They are the leverage in the hands of the new wealthy class. You can create applications and media content that earn money while you sleep.
• There is a large army of robots available for you to use for free; they are just packed and compressed in databases. (Note: this could be AWS, Azure, or cloud computing, or any SaaS service, or even LLM.)
• Content leverage: If you cannot code, then write a book or blog, make videos, or podcasts.
• Leverage is a multiplier of judgment.

Collaborating with Others

• Ignore those who manipulate political maneuvers (status game). They gain status by attacking those who earn money the right way.
• Work partners must have three qualities: high intelligence, energy, and integrity, these three points are non-negotiable.
• Do not work with cynics and pessimists. Their beliefs will become self-fulfilling.

Business

• “Business” as a discipline does not exist; do not read business magazines or take any business courses.
• Correct judgment comes from wrong experiences, but mastering basic skills can help you build judgment faster.
• Study microeconomics, game theory, psychology, persuasion, ethics, mathematics, and computers.
• A good investor will not sell you his investment methods.

Time Management

• “Reading” is faster than “listening,” and “doing” is faster than “watching."
• You should be busy enough that you don't have time to "have coffee" with people, but keep your calendar extremely simple. My calendar hardly has any “meetings”; I am mostly busy creating something.
• A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to achieve great accomplishments.
• Calculate how much your time is worth. If solving a problem saves you less money than your time value, ignore it. If outsourcing a job costs less than your time value, outsource it.

Personal Life

• When you truly become rich, you will find that this is not what you wanted.
• The first thing you will notice is that you have a lot of money, but you are still you. If you are happy, then you are happy; if you are not happy, then you are not happy. If you were already peaceful, fulfilled, and at ease, you are still that person.
• A healthy body, a relaxed mind, and a loving family are three things that money cannot buy; you can only cultivate them through effort. These three things will give you happiness and peace that no amount of money can provide.
• If you understand human evolution, you do not need a fitness coach or a nutrition influencer. (That is: move and eat like a primitive person.)
• Happiness is the result of removing “personal problems.” You can change your mindset, not see it as “personal,” or not see it as a “problem”; or really solve the problem to gain happiness.
• Ironically, the way to bring you happiness is to stop seeking happiness.
• The freedom enjoyed by frugal and simple people is unimaginable to those who fervently pursue quality of life.
• The essence of competing with yourself is learning, because learning is improving upon yesterday’s self.
• No amount of mediocre art will add up to a great art.
• Be optimistic overall, but skeptical in details.
• Reject most advice. But remember, you must listen to a lot of advice to know which ones to take in and which ones to reject.

Reference

• 幫你讀《如何不靠運氣致富》 - by 加恩 - 書不起
• Naval on Twitter: “How to Get Rich (without getting lucky):” / Twitter
• How to Get Rich - YouTube