How Naval Ravikant Changed My Life

Reading The Almanack of Naval Ravikant changed my life. The book provides access to the Naval's wisdom acquired over many years and presents it in a very concise and understandable way. One quote stuck with me:

Read What You Like Until You Like To Read.

Naval Ravikant is a well-known entrepreneur, investor, and thought leader. He is also known for his philosophical insights on life, success, and happiness.

At first, the book's sections about reading and learning something new every day created the well-known "fear of missing out". I started reading like crazy. Anything that I wanted to read for years but never got to do it. For the past few months, I've read more than a dozen books. Some very technical pieces, like Understanding Distributed Systems or Fundamentals of Software Architecture; some psychology pieces, like The Art of Strategy; some business pieces, like Zero to One; and some philosophy, like Siddharta.

The point is not to brag. The point is, that I feel like a different person compared to a few months ago. I feel more confident in my abilities. I feel proactive. I feel calm. I feel ready to face the future.

While this is surely still the beginning of my frantic reading journey, I can already see the benefits of the 8th wonder of the world, Compound Interest. Not only, can I read faster now and better judge if a particular book is worth my time, but also, acquiring new concepts with an existing knowledge base feels easier than ever before.

So what's your point, Matej?

My point is: Learn. Learn something new every day and continue improving your skills. Acquire new techniques and tools. Grasp a broad spectrum of fundamental principles that our society is built on. If you don't know where to start, head on over to Naval's Recommended Reading and Read What You Like Until You Like To Read.