What I've Learned Lately: From The Planet's Most Well Read Man, Naval Ravikant

W.I.L.L. POWER

This is the second instalment of What I've learned Lately. Knowledge is certainly power. With this W.I.L.L. Power series I'm hoping to put together knowledge garnered from podcasts and reading. As Neil deGrasse Tyson puts it: facts leads to knowledge, knowledge to wisdom, and hopefully wisdom to insight.

NAVAL RAVIKANT ON THE TIM FERRISS SHOW

Naval is the CEO and a co-founder of AngelList. He describes himself as an entrepreneur who hates having to solve same problem twice.

As Tim Ferriss states in the show notes for this episode: "Naval has refined his way of living in very unique ways, and you can borrow what he’s learned, read the books that have changed him, and experiment with the habits he has developed through trial and error."

I took many notes from this podcast. I've attempted to group together some of the golden points contained within, much of it in bullet form.

ON HAPPINESS AND HONESTY

• happiness is internal and a skill you develop; conflicts with the American Dream

• importance of honesty

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool."

- Richard P. Feynman

Naval names many books in this podcast. The first of which comes up is also a favourite of Ferriss: - Surely You Must Be Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman

• He's intrigued by the sciences; in physics you have to speak the truth

• living in the present moment is the highest calling and source of all happiness (use cognitive therapy, Buddhism, whatever)

• if you want to be happy, you have to be present; and at its core in being present you have to be honest

ENTREPRENEURSHIP/INVESTING

• almost everyone on this planet will eventually work for themselves - information revolution - we're all meant to work for ourselves

• a founder could also be considered a creator

• what he looks for in investing in people:

• smart/intelligence

• energy/perseverance

• integrity/ethical (what you do despite the money)

• otherwise you have a hard-working, smart crook - requires longitudinal relationships

• great new companies look strange in the beginning

INFLUENCERS, BOOKS, AND BLOGS

• who he calls the rational Buddhists: e.g. Sam Harris

• The Book of Life: Daily Meditations with Krishnamurti by Jiddu Krishnamurti

• Striking Thoughts by Bruce Lee

• Naval notes our short attention spans; how everyone wants to cut to the chase

• the older the problem, the older the solution: read older books for older problems

• don't feel obligated to finish a book

• On blogs: efficient source of info; be careful about sources; filter info that comes at you;

• Melting Asphalt blog

• Scott Adams (completely self made) - read his post "the day you became a better writer"

• guard your time even more carefully than you guard your money

MEDITATION

• what works best for him: choice-less awareness/non-judgmental awareness

• walking, accept moment you are in; "observe don't judge" - even for 10 minutes

• internal response: "try to be alert and watch your thoughts

• "enlightenment is the space between your thoughts"

• be aware of your thoughts, don't judge - create as much space between your thoughts as possible

• 90% of his thoughts are fear; 10% probably desire (another form of fear!)

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone," wrote the French philosopher Blaise Pascal.

• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

• the point of meditation is to clear your mind

• Sam Harris "Waking Up" podcast

HABITS

• when older we are a collection of thousands of habits; you become your habits

• wants his life to be effortless

• create habits that he can sustain

• key purchase: Tippanyaki grill (Japanese table top grill; cook stuff really quick, may only need salt) - Presto brand (not perfect, $50)

• hack in habits that are easier, more pleasurable than old habits

• he dropped caffeine, hard liquor, does not drink much wine these days

• TF: sugar cravings: get enough Na+/salt, BCAA (few grams)

• TF: sometimes easier to change a bunch of habits at once (especially if subtracting habits)

• don't say "going to", actually do it

• give committments to friends, family, colleagues to break habits

• every time you find a weakness about yourself, you can hack that to improve yourself

MORE BOOKS

• Book MOST gifted: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

• humans first animals talk to each other telling stories

• storytelling monkeys that get out of control

• "orthogonal" - comes out of left field

Must reads

• The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley

• Poor Charlie’s Almanac by Charlie Munger

• The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

• realizing how little you matter is important for your own happiness

• he doesn't watch movies (cartoons Rick and Morty)

• Illusions by Richard Bach - some great mental hacks

• live your life as a movie

• we're each living the movie of our lives; you're the hero of the movie

• helps you keep your life moving along in a positive way

• would make you do stuff rather than just thinking about it or saying you'll do it

• if someone pisses you off, they're the villain

• TF: what would Mullenwig do (super calm)

• talk about yourself in 3rd person - ahhh look at Tim, Tim is angry, why is Tim angry...

• if we verbalize all of our thoughts, we'd be locked

• 90% of the time we are dreaming to ourselves; be conscious to this

• one interpretation of Buddha - enlightened one...

• TF talked about lucid dreaming

• Ongame theory: The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley

• another must read: Influence by Robert Cialdini - persuade anyone - maintain your honesty

• don't feel the obligation to finish a book; feel free to skip around

• Good science fiction/tech read: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

• graphic novels: V for Vendetta, Watchmen

• TF recommends fiction before bed especially if trouble sleeping (I do this as well and highly recommend these books)

• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

• The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

• the most egotistical author :) (from title alone) - The Secret Life of Salvadore Dali by Salvadore Dali

• “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” by Richard Feynman

• reading is powerful; figure out how to read

• if you learn how to learn is the ultimate meta skill; it's your wildcard

LIFE HACKS

• protect your time; say "no" more often (I've heard others talk about being relentless about saying "no". Derek Sivers says if something is not a "Hell yes", than you should likely say no to it.)

• be yourself; don't worry about what others think/expect; self actualize

• love more, fear less (@nickisnpdx follows this principle as well!)

• chill out; everything will be fine

• longterm, you get what you deserve

• be worthy of a worthy mate - Charlie Munger: Poor Charlie’s Almanac by Charlie Munger (collection of his speeches)

• when the student is ready, the master appears (Buddhism)

• don't wake up to an alarm clock; better to wake up naturally (natural light the best)

• (Maybe consider Philips wake up lights)

• Study showed may sleep better if crackling of a fireplace or a snoring dog

• to Naval "ohm" means "accept"

• You have 3 options in life: you can accept it, change it, or leave it

• He asks listeners: "What is the one book that you've read that has had the most impact on your life" and to list in comments section

• knowledge is very personal (to the individual); it's unique to the person learning

• there is no one prescription for all (appropriate for this trained pharmacist)

• He just wants to have collection of great books

• generally, the older the book, the better the material

• CR: For me: maybe Pillars of the Earth because it was a gateway drug to keep reading and to keep learning

• When TF asked him where to find Naval on the internet.social media, he replied: "we all need to find ourselves; you don't need to find me"

ALSO IN THE W.I.L.L. POWER SERIES

• Neil deGrasse Tyson

Stay curious. Maintain a beginner's mind. Keep learning. Keep moving.