I first came across Naval on a podcast on YouTube. He immediately captured my attention, as he had some interesting thoughts and ideas on wealth, happiness and life.

I then started to research him, and found out that he is the co-founder, chairman and former CEO of AngelList. I then started to see more quotes from him on social media, which ultimately led me to reading this book.

Book Overview

Throughout the book, Naval points out that getting rich is not just about luck; happiness is not just a trait we are born with. These aspirations may seem out of reach, but building wealth and being happy are skills we can learn.

Naval’s experience is shared from the last ten years. This is shared as a curation of his most insightful interviews and poignant reflections. This isn’t a how-to book, or a step-by-step gimmick. Instead, through Naval’s own words, you will learn how to walk your own unique path toward a happier, wealthier life.

Key Takeaways

1. Wealth is a long-term game.

You won’t be successful overnight. You have to build that success with compound interest in many ways.

Compound interest in money is how most people think about it, and it can be important. Growing your money through the magic of compound interest on investments is wonderful. Still, it’s not the only thing you should focus on growing over the long term.

You want to grow your character, connections and reputation over the long term. This compounds over time when you build a connection with someone and treat them right. They’re then more likely to help you with your work, as they then understand that you’re someone they can count on.

You need to think long-term and understand that timescales are different, depending on whatever you’re doing. Play the long game – try to succeed over years and decades, not just days and weeks.

2. Specific Knowledge

Everyone has talents, knowledge and skills.

The knowledge that we learn and discover on our own is what makes us unique. These are things we learn by exploring and failing at multiple items, and they can’t be taught in school and university.

The internet has allowed us to use all our interests and make a unique niche for ourselves. This is why we get to be ourselves and create a brand that is an extension of us.

In the book, you can read the detailed example of how Naval used specific business knowledge, science, technology to create a successful brand for himself as a Tech CEO of AngelList.

3. Happiness is learned.

Happiness is not a destination. It’s not a success. It’s not money. Naval calls it a skill that we all can learn.

As our desires keep moving, our happiness rolls with it. Ultimately, we get on a Hedonic Treadmill. The rise in income results in no permanent gain in happiness and nor does any major event in our lives.

The concept of happiness is different for everyone.

For Naval, happiness is freedom from pain and desires. For some, it’s peace of mind. Finding the meaning for yourself is essential to honing that skill.

When we start taking control of our happiness, life will look like the gift it is, and we will be amazed at how beautiful it is.

Favourite Quotes

1. The more desire I have for something to work out a certain way, the less likely I am to see the truth.
2. The reality is life is a single-player game. You’re born alone. You’re going to die alone. All of your interpretations are alone. All your memories are alone. You’re gone in three generations, and nobody cares. Before you showed up, nobody cared. It’s all single player.
3. A happy person isn’t someone who’s happy all the time. It’s someone who effortlessly interprets events in such a way that they don’t lose their innate peace.
4. If you have nothing in your life, but you have at least one person that loves you unconditionally, it’ll do wonders for your self-esteem.
5. Escape competition through authenticity.
6. Specific knowledge is found much more by pursuing your innate talents, your genuine curiosity, and your passion. It’s not by going to school for whatever is the hottest job; it’s not by going into whatever field investors say is the hottest.
7. The hardest thing is not doing what you want—it’s knowing what you want.
8. Memory and identity are burdens from the past preventing us from living freely in the present.
9. Explain what you learned to someone else. Teaching forces learning.
10. You’re going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work.