Afterpage

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

Eric Jorgenson

For people thinking about long-term wealth, career choices, and how to be happier, who like short, dense ideas. It's a collection of Naval Ravikant's tweets and talks, so expect principles rather than a step-by-step guide.

A week with this book

A short summary today, then one small action a day for six days. Free for your first book.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant Eric Jorgenson

Free for your first book. No card. One click to stop.

Day 1

The ideas the week uses

Eric Jorgenson collected years of investor Naval Ravikant's posts and interviews into one short book on two topics: building wealth and being happy. Naval's view is that both are skills you can learn.

  1. Seek wealth, not money or status. Naval distinguishes wealth, meaning assets that earn while you sleep, from money and from status. Wealth creation can be positive-sum; status games are always zero-sum.
  2. Build specific knowledge. Specific knowledge is what you know that's hard to train someone else to do, often found by following your genuine curiosity. It feels like play to you and work to others.
  3. Use leverage. Naval describes forms of leverage: labor, capital, and, newest, code and media. Code and media need no one's permission and can work for you at no extra cost per use.
  4. Play long-term games with long-term people. Returns in wealth, relationships, and knowledge come from compounding. Pick people and work you'd be glad to stay with for years, and build a reputation for integrity.
  5. Happiness is a skill. Naval sees happiness as a default state you return to when you're not wanting something. Every desire is a choice to be unhappy until you get it, so choose desires carefully and train peace through habits like meditation.

Where it overreachesMuch of the advice reflects a successful tech investor's position, and some of it is easier to follow with a cushion of savings. It's a book of aphorisms, so some ideas are stated more than argued.

Days 2 to 7

How to apply The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

10 to 20 minutes each, with a two-minute version for a bad day.

Printable week card (one page)

  1. 2Find your specific knowledgeWrite down three things you do that feel like play to you but look like work to others.
  2. 3Audit your leverageList what you produce each week and mark which items keep working after you stop.
  3. 4Make one thing that scalesSpend 20 minutes making one small piece of media or code that could help others without you present.
  4. 5Name your long-term peopleWrite down five people you'd want to work with or learn from for the next ten years, and contact one.
  5. 6Examine one desirePick one thing you strongly want right now and write down how much of your peace it's costing.
  6. 7Sit for ten minutesSit quietly for ten minutes with no phone and no goal, then write one line about what came up.

Sample

Day 3, in full

This is what lands in your inbox that morning.

AfterpageDay 3 of 7 · Action

Audit your leverage

Today’s action · 10 to 20 minutes

List what you produce each week and mark which items keep working after you stop.

How

Write your main outputs: meetings, emails, code, writing, products, videos. Mark L for anything that keeps creating value without more of your time. Then write one way to turn a non-L task into something reusable, like a template, a guide, or a short video.

Why this one

Naval argues that code and media are leverage anyone can use without permission. Work that scales separates your earnings from your hours.

If today is a bad day

Write one task you repeat often that you could turn into a reusable guide.

In short

Questions about this book

Who is The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson for?

For people thinking about long-term wealth, career choices, and how to be happier, who like short, dense ideas. It's a collection of Naval Ravikant's tweets and talks, so expect principles rather than a step-by-step guide.

What are the main ideas in The Almanack of Naval Ravikant?

Eric Jorgenson collected years of investor Naval Ravikant's posts and interviews into one short book on two topics: building wealth and being happy. Naval's view is that both are skills you can learn. Seek wealth, not money or status; Build specific knowledge; Use leverage; Play long-term games with long-term people; Happiness is a skill.

What do you do in the Afterpage week for The Almanack of Naval Ravikant?

Day 1 is a short summary. Then one action a day, each 10 to 20 minutes: Find your specific knowledge; Audit your leverage; Make one thing that scales; Name your long-term people; Examine one desire; Sit for ten minutes. Day 7 also has a recap.

Where does The Almanack of Naval Ravikant overreach?

Much of the advice reflects a successful tech investor's position, and some of it is easier to follow with a cushion of savings. It's a book of aphorisms, so some ideas are stated more than argued.

What is the first action in the The Almanack of Naval Ravikant week?

Find your specific knowledge. Write down three things you do that feel like play to you but look like work to others. If you only have two minutes: Write one thing people regularly ask you for help with.

More like this