I am a bit old to take advantage of Ravikant’s advice on building a brand, a business and a life. His advice is pretty much opposite of what I heard over 50 years ago when I started my career. At that time, it was important to climb the corporate ladder. You got promoted by working long hours and making your boss look good. When your boss looks good, he or she gets promoted and then hopefully good things trickle down to you. Honestly, I can’t say that that strategy worked too well for me in the corporate world. Often the good things and results that I did accomplish went unnoticed and I did not get the credit that I deserved many times in my corporate career. But things are definitely very different. Young people, either out of high school or college, have to think entrepreneurial. Their goal should be to work for themselves and not for corporations or people who can take advantage of them. Technology is so important, particularly understanding how to use AI.
Listed below are some of Ravikant’s words of wisdom. I actually think that the first one on the list is the most important and true.
Earn with your mind, not your time.
Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.
The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner.
When you’re studying something, like a geography or history class, and you realize you are never going to use the information, drop the class. It’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of your brain energy.
Following your genuine intellectual curiosity is a better foundation for a career than following whatever is making money right now.
There are basically three really big decisions you make in your early life: where you live, who you’re with, and what you do.
Be a maker who makes something interesting people want. Show your craft, practice your craft, and the right people will eventually find you.
It’s actually really important to have empty space. If you don’t have a day or two every week in your calendar where you’re not always in meetings, and you’re not always busy, then you’re not going to be able to think.
Reading science, math, and philosophy one hour per day will likely put you at the upper echelon of human success within seven years.
A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things outside of their control.
Spent money on books. I never viewed that as an expense. That’s an investment to me.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness (Jorgenson, Eric)
Esot-eric 