Burak Bakay

Summary of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

A Guide to Wealth and Happiness — Eric Jorgenson | Wisdom of Naval Ravikant

This book is not a traditional narrative. It’s a curated collection of Naval’s interviews, tweets, essays, and principles. It distills decades of experience in entrepreneurship, investing, philosophy, and life optimisation.

The wisdom centers on two major themes:
1) Building Wealth
2) Achieving Happiness

Below is the complete deep breakdown.

PART I — WEALTH

🔵 1. What Wealth Really Means

Naval differentiates:

  • Wealth: Assets that earn while you sleep (businesses, ownership, code, media).
  • Money: How we transfer time and wealth.
  • Status: Relative position in a hierarchy (zero-sum).

“Seek wealth, not money or status.”

Wealth = freedom, autonomy, and compounding.

🔵 2. The Foundations of Wealth

You won’t get rich renting out your time

If your income requires your presence,
you can’t scale and you can’t get wealthy.

Wealth requires:

  • Product that scales infinitely (code, media, content, products)
  • Ownership (equity in business, brand, or asset)

“You must own equity in a business to get wealthy.”

Play Long-Term Games with Long-Term People

Wealth comes from:

  • Compounding
  • Reputation
  • Trust
  • Consistency

Short-term thinkers chase hype.
Long-term thinkers build empires.

🔵 3. Find Your Specific Knowledge

Specific Knowledge =
Something unique you can do because of who you are — not something easily taught.

It comes from:

  • Curiosity
  • Obsession
  • Play
  • Natural skill
  • Life experience

Examples:

  • Coding
  • Design
  • Storytelling
  • Marketing
  • Negotiation
  • Fitness expertise
  • Product intuition

“Specific knowledge is learned by pursuing your genuine curiosity, not by following the latest trend.”

Key point:
No one can compete with you on being you.

🔵 4. Leverage: The Force Multiplier

One of Naval’s most important frameworks:
Leverage is how you get disproportionate results compared to your input.

There are three types:

1) Labor Leverage

People working for you
(oldest, weakest form)

2) Capital Leverage

Money working for you
(stronger but requires trust + skill)

3) Code & Media (Permissionless Leverage)

Content
Software
YouTube
Podcasts
Tweets
Books

This is the strongest leverage because:

  • You don’t need permission
  • You can reach millions instantly
  • Cost of replication: zero

“Fortunes are built by leveraging code and media.”

Naval calls this infinite leverage.

🔵 5. Become the Best in the World at What You Do

Not literally #1 globally.
But you must niche down until you are.

Example:
Not “best marketer”
→ Best Google Ads scaling strategist for luxury furniture brands

You combine:

  • Specific knowledge
  • Experience
  • Curiosity
  • Industry expertise

🔵 6. Learn to Build and Sell

To create massive wealth:

  • You must be excellent at building (product, code, systems)
  • AND excellent at selling (communicating, persuading, storytelling)

Most people are only good at one.
True wealth creators master both.

🔵 7. Work Like a Lion

Not hourly, not like a factory.

Work in intense sprints:

  • Long periods of preparation
  • Explosive output
  • High-quality decisions
  • Deep work instead of busywork

🔵 8. Judgment Is the Most Important Skill

Naval emphasises:

“Judgment is the mark of a real founder.”

Superior judgment =
Better decisions with less information.

This comes from:

  • Reading
  • Silence
  • Thinking
  • Observing patterns
  • Experience
  • Understanding reality objectively

🔵 9. You Don’t Need to Be Managed

Entrepreneurs and high-performers:

  • Motivate themselves
  • Direct themselves
  • Solve their own problems
  • Don’t wait for permission

🔵 10. Building Wealth Ethically

Wealth must be earned without taking from others.

Naval’s principle:

“I’m not interested in being rich if I can’t be ethical.”

Wealth through:

  • Service
  • Solving problems
  • Creating value
  • Helping society

Not through:

  • Rent extraction
  • Exploitation
  • Shortcuts
  • Manipulation

PART II — HAPPINESS

Naval sees happiness as a skill, not a coincidence.

🔵 11. Happiness Is Your Default State

“Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”

We suffer because:

  • We want more
  • We compare
  • We worry
  • We replay past pain

Happiness = subtracting, not adding.

Remove:

  • Desires
  • Ego
  • Comparison
  • Fear
  • Overthinking
  • Noise

🔵 12. Peace Comes from Within

Not from:

  • Money
  • Fame
  • Love
  • Success

All external.
Peace comes from:

  • Stillness
  • Self-awareness
  • Acceptance

Naval practices:

  • Meditation
  • Long walks
  • Disconnecting
  • Silence

🔵 13. Learn to See Reality Clearly

You are unhappy because:

  • You misjudge
  • You exaggerate problems
  • You attach labels
  • You let emotions distort truth

He teaches “mental models” and:

  • First-principles thinking
  • Viewing sensations objectively
  • Detaching from narrative

🔵 14. Desire Is a Form of Suffering

When you want something, you suffer until you get it.
When you get it, you immediately want the next thing.

Solution:

  • Reduce desires
  • Focus on enjoyment
  • Focus on presence
  • Be grateful

🔵 15. Create a Calm Mind

Naval’s practices:

  • Meditation
  • Journaling
  • Avoiding conflict
  • Minimalism
  • Clean environment
  • Good sleep
  • Healthy eating
  • Nature
  • Physical health

He views peace as the foundation of:

  • Creativity
  • Intelligence
  • Good decisions
  • Happiness

🔵 16. Happiness Habits

Detailed habits include:

  • Avoiding anger
  • Being present
  • Letting go of outcomes
  • Accepting impermanence
  • Living in alignment with values
  • Choosing the right environment and people

🔵 17. The Meaning of Life According to Naval

He is not mystical.
His philosophy is grounded in:

  • Rationality
  • Peace
  • Awareness

He believes:

  • Life is self-defined
  • Meaning is personal
  • Presence is the ultimate experience

PART III — NAVAL’S FOUNDATIONAL QUOTES

Some core quotes:

• “Escape competition through authenticity.”
• “Earn with your mind, not your time.”
• “Play long-term games with long-term people.”
• “Desire is a contract to be unhappy.”
• “Meditate. It’s the art of doing nothing.”
• “The world is full of money; grab your share.”
• “The biggest superpower is the ability to change yourself.”
• “Happiness is a choice and a skill.”
• “Learn to love reading.”

PART IV — THE ULTIMATE TAKEAWAYS

1. For Wealth

  • Build specific knowledge
  • Leverage code/media
  • Own equity
  • Play long-term
  • Learn to sell
  • Use judgment
  • Avoid competition
  • Be authentic

2. For Happiness

  • Reduce desires
  • Practice meditation
  • Focus on peace
  • Don’t chase status
  • Be present
  • Prioritise health
  • Remove noise

3. For Life

  • Freedom is the ultimate goal
  • Wealth enables freedom
  • Peace enables happiness
  • Learning enables both

Digital Marketing & eCommerce

Burak Bakay

I’m founder and director of The Digital Agency; a certified Google Partner and Shopify Partner digital marketing agency operating in London and Istanbul. The Digital Agency has a solid track record of delivering high growth in eCommerce, Facebook & Google advertising, social media communication, search engine optimization, eCommerce and website production through 16 years of experience with 140 brands in 500 projects. Visit The Digital Agency here.