“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.”
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgensen
Salutations, bibliophiles.
Today, I’m very excited to bring you
.Noah writes
, where he explores how live a better life, make better decisions, and understand the world around us.Here, he shares the book that made him — The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. Enjoy!
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I was 21 years old when I learned how to read books.
To clarify, I knew how to read. At least, I could sound out the letters to make the words. But I only knew how to love books, learn books, and escape into books when I was 21. A man named Naval Ravikant taught me.
I luckily happened upon The Almanack of Naval Ravikant while researching “leverage” because I was obsessed with making money. I saw the book available as a free PDF online (yes, the author put it there) and I was not expecting what was inside.
I was just starting my senior year of University and I was completely lost. Probably not a unique feeling but it was unenjoyable nonetheless. I lived my whole life chasing my goal of playing basketball on television. I started working out before school when I was 12, left home to the United States to play more basketball when I was 16 and fought injury after injury until I was nearly 20. Then, I finally quit.
I could hardly recognize myself. I went from exercising for 2-3 hours a day to once a month. I went from the Dean's List to an average student. I went from driving to coasting. I spent a lot of time deep in thought looking for answers.
I was sitting in the library trying to study for my finals on the verge of tears when I realized why I lost. My whole life I had been chasing a goal. Not a dream, a goal. I woke up every day and worked for it, so it was not a dream to me.
There aren’t many situations where you have a door closed and locked on you at 19 years old. My knee injuries were too chronic and no doctor or physio could fix them. The door I woke up each morning and ran towards finally closed. And I was lost. Until a year after I quit, when I picked up (downloaded, actually) The Almanack of Naval Ravikant.
Not only was I an occasional reader at best, I despised digital books. They didn’t have that same cozy feeling of leaning back in a chair and flipping real pages. That’s why I was shocked when I realized hours had gone by, and the book was finished. That was the only time I ever started and finished a book in a single sitting (not including Calvin and Hobbes).
It felt like a borderline religious text on Health, Wealth and Happiness. In reality, Eric Jorgensen had collected every published article, interview, podcast and tweet by Naval and compiled and organized it into a book. I stopped highlighting passages that spoke to me when I saw more bright yellow than white left of the pages I read.
“Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want”
“Happiness, love, and passion… aren’t things you find – they’re choices you make”
“Simple heuristic: if you’re evenly split on a difficult decision, take the path more painful in the short term”
“You can get almost anything you want out of life, as long as it’s one thing and you want it far more than anything else”
“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.”
And it goes on and on. The wisdom in the pages led me to buy the book in paperback to have a physical reminder in my room to revisit it. But then the book came, and it felt too small to fit all the knowledge properly. I had the book professionally custom printed as large as a textbook, something I had never even considered doing to a book.
Now I’ve picked up The Almanack of Naval dozens of times, each time learning something new. I also read history books, and science. And psychology, and science-fiction and everything in between. I found love between the pages.
After reading Naval, life felt clearer. I started waking up at 5am again. I started working out every day again. I joined a club basketball team (careful not to hurt myself again). I got two jobs on campus. I became the student head of my favorite clubs. And now, I’m starting my first business and my first book club.
Naval flipped my life around. I work harder. I love harder. And I enjoy life so much more.
Thank you Naval,
Noah
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It’s fascinating that sometimes just the right book and advice is there at just the right time. I’m glad that your discovery of this one led you into a lifetime of enjoyment.
Thank you for sharing this. I've heard of Naval Ravikant but haven't looked into him too much - but will do now.
“Simple heuristic: if you’re evenly split on a difficult decision, take the path more painful in the short term.” This is something I learned for myself while doing a multi-day coastal hike. When there was a choice of two paths, it was almost always better to take the steeper path. Ducking out and taking the easier path usually meant I had to turn back and take the harder path anyway.