Book Study: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson

Hello everyone,

Over time, there has been a book I have been quite reluctant to read. I was not sure what I stood to gain from reading the book, or if there was actually knowledge to be gained from the book, since right from the time I got to know about the book from Bill Gates' book list, I thought it was a memoir based on the life of Naval Ravikant, the renowned investor. I have been one to pick up memoirs to read, unless I find the person intriguing or share a common interest with that person, like when I read the book on the games of Gary Kasparov, one of the greatest chess players to hold a chess piece.

The book The Almanack of Naval Ravikant was written by Eric Jorgenson, a product strategist, who founded the company Zaarly that helps homeowners to find trustworthy service providers. He also runs a blog where he teaches business to over a million people, called Evergreen. I guess it was through his company, Zaarly, that he got to know Naval Ravikant, since Ravikant is an investor in this company and business.

For those who do not know Naval Ravikant, here is a brief intro on what Wikipedia has to say about him:

Naval Ravikant (born November 5, 1974) is an Indian-born American entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder and chairman of AngelList, a platform for startups, investors, and job seekers. He is an angel investor who has made early-stage investments in companies including Uber, Twitter, Postmates, and Yammer. Ravikant is a recipient of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship. He also co-hosts a podcast with Brett Hall
From Wikipedia, and you can read up for more

The book is not like a memoir, but rather is about Naval Ravikant teaching, and trust me, the man sure has a lot to teach. In this review, I will be looking at the quote

“Earn with your mind, not your time.”

The quote stood out to me because, as a chess player, I have been using my mind to earn, making moves on and off the board, and as a writer, it is more about the words I can string together that perfectly explain what I have in my mind or thoughts. So I became interested in what this would mean, or better still, how else could the writer explain earn with your mind, not your time.

The break of the quote is centered on breaking the loop of working for time. You come into work at a certain time, clock in, and once it is time up, you clock out and head back home. Just like that, you have entered the system of the 9-to-5 jobs, where you keep working for your time. But through the quote you should shift your gear from time to mind, in other words, value. What can you offer that makes you stand out? What can you build on the side that brings in money for you even when you do not clock in at work? This is the working with the mind that the writer is talking about. Focus on building something that works for people, value-based; it could be a book that many could read for years to come, just like the author has done, or it could be like a product that solves a problem, and you get paid for that.

It boils down to providing value through the work your mind has done, not clocking in and out based on a clock or time. It can be simple to understan but trust me, it requires resilience to bet oneself to achieve it.

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_{I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.}

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Thanks For Reading!