I started reading Naval a long time ago.
He’s become one of my favorite thinkers.
Whenever I’m in doubt or need clarity, I often turn to his words for wisdom.
Over time, I’ve fallen in love with almost everything he says.
Maybe it’s just me—but I regularly share his insights with my friends, colleagues, and even family.
Just so you know, I’ve read The Almanack of Naval Ravikant multiple times. It’s a goldmine of clarity, perspective, and timeless advice.
Based on my reading and reflections, I’ve curated some of Naval’s most powerful messages.
Let’s dive in.
Success comes from dissatisfaction. Is success worth it then?
Not wanting something is as good as having it.
Happiness is being satisfied with what you have.
If the end goal is happiness, why not cut to the chase and just go straight for it?
The reason to win the game is to be free of it.
Most of the gains in life come from suffering in the short term so you can get paid in the long term.
Money solves all your money problems.
The loop of desire, dopamine, and unfulfillment—you have to enjoy the journey.
You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom.
Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep.
Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.
Wealth games are positive-sum. Status games are zero-sum.
Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.
Reading is faster than listening. Doing is faster than watching.
Self-esteem is a reputation you have with yourself.
Treat yourself like others should have treated you.
Earn your own self-respect.
The great artists always have this ability to start over.
Creating anything great requires going back to zero.
Most people don’t want to go back to zero—it’s painful and hard.
If you’re so smart, why aren’t you happy?
Intentions don’t matter. Actions do. That’s why being ethical is hard.
You can be smart and happy.
Happiness is a choice. First, identify yourself as someone who’s going to be happy.
You escape competition through authenticity.
99% of effort is wasted.
Find what feels like play to you but looks like work to others.
Earn with your mind, not your time.
Don’t do things you don’t want to do. There’s so little time.
The overscheduled life is not worth living.
You’re going to learn best when you’re having fun.
Freedom is the ability to act at the moment of curiosity.
People make long-term life decisions too quickly and thoughtlessly.
It’s not 10,000 hours to mastery—it’s 10,000 iterations.
Every failure is a learning experience—as long as you learn, it’s a win.
It’s okay if you had 50 failed dates or job interviews. One good one compounds.
Most people are stuck in the gray zone—they’re half in.
The less you think about yourself, the more you can focus on a mission, God, or others.
Peace of mind is not what we want—we want peace from the mind.
The mind can eat you alive if you let it. There’s more to you than the mind.
Each moment disappears. Be there for it.
If your mind is elsewhere, that moment is dead to you.
Everything arises within your consciousness. You’ve got nowhere else to experience it.
Trying to find stability in transient things is building castles on sand.
You are born, you sense, and you die—what matters is how you interpret that.
The mind is good at solving new problems… but it’s bad at making hard decisions.
We think we can’t change ourselves but we can; we think we can change others but we can’t.
The fastest way to alienate someone is to tell them to change.
Are you in love with the person, or just their potential?
You escape competition through authenticity.
Compliment the behavior you want to see—not criticize what you don’t.
You will get out of life whatever is acceptable to you.
If you can’t decide, the answer is no.
When in doubt, take the path that’s more painful in the short term.
Take the choice that will leave you more equanimous in the long term.
Three things that really matter: Who you’re with, what you’re doing, and where you live.
Where you live affects your friends, dating pool, job, food, air, and water.
On mental things, understanding is more important than discipline.
When you see the truth in something, you can’t unsee it.
Life is always throwing truth at you—it’s about whether you choose to see it.
Wisdom cannot be transmitted—it must be discovered firsthand.
We all believe we’re the exception to the rule—until we learn we’re not.
A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought — they must be earned.
Play long-term games with long-term people.
Escape competition through authenticity.
You will get rich by giving society what it wants but does not yet know how to get. At scale.
The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner.
Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.
The secret to public speaking is to speak as if you were alone.
The fundamental delusion — there is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever.
Don’t debate people in the media when you can debate them in the marketplace.
Before you can lie to another, you must first lie to yourself.
The best teachers are on the Internet. The best books are on the Internet. The best peers are on the Internet.
You make your own luck if you stay at it long enough.
The power to make and break habits and learning how to do that is really important.
Happiness is a choice and a skill and you can dedicate yourself to learning that skill and making that choice.
The first rule of handling conflict is don’t hang around people who are constantly engaging in conflict.
People spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking about what they should be doing.
The people who succeed are irrationally passionate about something.
If you see a get rich quick scheme, that’s someone else trying to get rich off of you.
If you try to micromanage yourself all you’re going to do is make yourself miserable.
If it entertains you now but will bore you someday, it’s a distraction. Keep looking.
Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.
All the benefits in life come from compound interest — money, relationships, habits — anything of importance.
If you can’t see yourself working with someone for life, don’t work with them for a day.
Earn with your mind, not your time.
The older the problem, the older the solution.
People who try to look smart by pointing out obvious exceptions actually signal the opposite.
Clear thinkers appeal to their own authority.
To be honest, speak without identity.
Truth is that which has predictive power.
Watch every thought. Always ask, why am I having this thought?
All greatness comes from suffering.
Love is given, not received.
Happiness is a state where nothing is missing.
If you don’t love yourself who will?
Morality and ethics automatically emerge when we realize the long term consequences of our actions.
Happiness is being satisfied with what you have. Success comes from dissatisfaction.
Not wanting something is as good as having it.
Two paths to happiness: one is success—you get what you want. The other is not wanting in the first place.
The reason to win the game is to be free of it.
I would have done everything the same… except with less anger, less emotion, less internal suffering. That was optional.
You end up with a series of miserable successes.
Fame is high cost… no privacy, weirdos, and you’re forced to perform.
You’re puppeted by a person you’re not even.
The world really lacks authenticity… everyone wants to be seen as something they’re not.
No one’s going to like you more than you like yourself.
Live up to your own moral code rigorously.
Pride is the enemy of learning.
Your natural order is freedom.
You can be smart and happy.
You can be smart and happy – it’s a choice.
You can focus to remove all unnecessary desires.
— Shailesh Thakran
That’s all, folks.
Please share your thoughts or your favorite statement from Naval.
