Naval Ravikant: The Angel Philosopher (2017)

1. Prioritize Health First

Establish a clear hierarchy of priorities, starting with your own physical, mental, and spiritual health, followed by family, and then external work/world, to ensure fundamental well-being is addressed first.

2. Reduce External Desire

Cultivate happiness by reducing desire, particularly for external things, as this leads to a state of contentment and internal silence.

3. Accept Present, Reduce Desire

Increase happiness and contentment by reducing desires and accepting the current state of things, which keeps the mind present and less focused on the future or past.

4. Debug Your Thoughts

Practice running your brain in ‘debug mode’ by observing your thoughts and questioning unnecessary future planning or past regretting, redirecting focus to the present task.

5. Train Your Mind with Intent

View your mind as a muscle that can be trained and reconditioned; with constant awareness and intent, you can unpack and rewrite your mental programs, emotions, thoughts, and reactions.

6. Define Non-Negotiable Values

Define your foundational values as non-negotiable principles you’ve deliberately chosen to live by, committing to them as a permanent way of life.

7. Embrace Long-Term Thinking

Adopt a long-term thinking approach in all aspects of life, seeking out people and projects with compounding benefits and avoiding those who engage in short-term thinking, even with others.

8. Eliminate Anger

Eliminate anger from your own behavior and actively remove angry people from your life, recognizing anger as a self-damaging emotion.

9. Be Honest with Self

Be honest to avoid lying to yourself, as self-deception disconnects you from reality and can lead you down the wrong path.

10. Less Emotion, More Interpretation

Approach life’s events with less emotion, especially anger, recognizing that outcomes are largely shaped by your interpretation of sensory inputs.

11. Control Your Mental State

Recognize that you have the ability to control your internal mental state, and explore techniques beyond external substances (like drugs) to achieve this control.

12. Life is a Single Player Game

Recognize that life is fundamentally a ‘single-player game’ where your internal experiences and interpretations are paramount, shifting focus from external validation to internal well-being.

13. Overcome Jealousy by Whole-Swap

Overcome jealousy by realizing you cannot cherry-pick desirable aspects of others’ lives; you must be that entire person, including their challenges and internal state. If you’re not willing to make a wholesale swap, there’s no point in being jealous.

14. Avoid Social Affirmation for Inner Work

When doing internal work (e.g., self-improvement, happiness), avoid seeking social affirmation, as true internal transformation is a lonely task and external validation can dilute its seriousness.

15. Focus on Micro-Improvements

Focus on ‘micro’ improvements by changing yourself, then your family and neighbors, rather than abstract ‘macro’ goals like changing the world, which can be less effective and more overwhelming.

16. Avoid Strong Identities

Avoid creating strong identities or labels for yourself (e.g., political, philosophical), as they can lock you into defending pre-packaged beliefs and prevent you from seeing the truth.

17. Focus on Present Moment

Increase your focus on the present moment to fully experience life, appreciate beauty, and cultivate gratitude, as excessive future planning or past regretting can destroy happiness.

18. Master the Basics

Prioritize learning the basics across various fields thoroughly and repeatedly, as life primarily involves applying these fundamentals, reserving advanced study for areas of true passion.

19. Listen to Your Inner Voice

Stop beating yourself up with external expectations and instead listen to your inner voice, doing only what you genuinely want to do to fully be yourself.

20. Be Uniquely You

Focus on being authentically yourself and identifying your unique qualifications, rather than emulating others, to find the people, businesses, projects, or art that most need your specific talents.

21. Avoid Moral Shortcomings

Avoid moral shortcomings and actions you wouldn’t be proud of, as these damage your self-respect and self-esteem, which is crucial for well-being.

22. Make Hard Choices Now

Make hard choices in the present (e.g., healthy eating, exercise, ethical behavior, saving) to ensure an easier and healthier life in the long term, avoiding the trap of easy choices leading to a harder future.

23. Explain Simply to a Child

Evaluate true knowledge by whether someone can explain complex concepts simply enough for a child to understand, as this indicates intrinsic, ground-up understanding rather than superficial knowledge.

24. Simplify Complex Explanations

Strive to explain complicated things in simple ways, as this is a mark of genius and true understanding, avoiding the charlatan’s tendency to complicate simple concepts.

25. Communicate Clearly, Avoid Show-Off

Avoid using overly complex vocabulary to impress or show off; instead, adjust your language to your audience’s understanding to ensure honest and clear communication.

26. Understand Basics Deeply

Prioritize a deep understanding of fundamental basics over memorizing complicated concepts, ensuring you can re-derive knowledge from first principles when needed.

27. Release Preconceived Notions

To see reality clearly, release preconceived notions of how things ‘should be,’ as these biases cloud your perception.

28. Embrace Suffering as Truth

View suffering or pain as a ‘moment of truth’ that forces you to embrace reality as it is, providing a crucial opportunity for meaningful change and progress.

29. Acknowledge Reality Publicly

Reduce your desire for specific outcomes to see the truth more clearly; in business, publicly acknowledge when things aren’t going well to prevent self-delusion and encourage honest assessment.

30. Adjust Desires to Reality

Recognize that personal suffering often stems from your desires colliding with reality; the solution is to adjust your desires, not to wish reality were different.

31. Value Good Decision-Making

Recognize the immense leverage of good decision-making; even a small improvement in accuracy (e.g., 10%) can lead to hundreds of times more value and compensation.

32. Avoid Mistakes for Success

Approach success by focusing on avoiding mistakes and eliminating what won’t work, rather than trying to predict what will work, acknowledging fundamental ignorance about the future.

33. Set Up Systems, Not Goals

Set up systems, not specific goals, by using your judgment to identify environments where you can thrive and then building a system to create that environment, increasing your statistical likelihood of success.

34. Reject External Happiness Delusion

Recognize and combat the fundamental delusion that external circumstances or acquiring things will bring lasting happiness; instead, understand that happiness is not found through external desiring.

35. Internalize Peace, Joy, Happiness

Understand that changing the outside world will not bring lasting peace, joy, or happiness; these states must be cultivated internally.

36. Find Your Own Life Meaning

Seek to find your own personal meaning in life, recognizing that external answers will likely sound like nonsense; the process of questioning is more important than the answer itself.

37. Create Your Own Meaning

Accept that there is no inherent, universal meaning to life, and therefore, you must actively create your own meaning and purpose.

38. Be You, Not Your Idols

Stop trying to be like historical figures or idols; instead, embrace being yourself in the present moment, as even your idols would likely trade places with your current existence.

39. Weaken Sense of Self

Cultivate a weaker sense of self to live more in the present and appreciate reality like a child, rather than seeking happiness through external circumstances.

40. Invest in Books

View books as investments, not expenses, and be willing to spend money on them, even when financially constrained, because they can meaningfully change your life.

41. Re-read Great Books

Focus on identifying and deeply absorbing a select number of ‘great books’ that resonate with you, rather than trying to read everything. Re-reading is encouraged for absorption.

42. Treat Books Like Blogs

Treat books like blog archives, skimming, jumping around, and reading only the interesting parts without feeling guilty about not finishing the entire book.

43. Read Daily, Any Content

Make reading a daily habit, regardless of what you read, as consistent engagement will eventually lead you to content that dramatically improves your life.

44. Uncondition Old Habits

Regularly examine your habits, questioning if they still serve your current goals for happiness, health, and accomplishment, and be willing to uncondition yourself from those that don’t.

45. Cultivate Present Moment

Deliberately cultivate experiences, states of mind, locations, and activities that help you get out of your ‘monkey mind’ (uncontrolled thinking) to live more in the present.

46. Morning Workout Checkpoint

Use a consistent morning workout as a ‘checkpoint’ to immediately understand and feel the negative consequences of late-night activities like drinking, which can motivate you to reduce them.

47. Choose Sober Social Circles

Narrow your social circle and the types of events you attend to only include those where you don’t feel the need to drink to be comfortable or happy.

48. Cultivate Stillness to Reduce Drinking

Cultivate states of ’not thinking too much’ through alternative means to reduce the urge to drink, especially if drinking is used as a way to quiet the mind.

49. Non-Negotiable Morning Workout

Make your daily workout non-negotiable by completing it first thing in the morning, regardless of other demands, as a commitment to your top priority.

50. Remove Missing, Find Happiness

Understand happiness as a default state achieved by removing the sense that something is missing in your life, rather than by adding positive external circumstances.

51. Don’t Cling to Happiness

Avoid trying to ‘stay happy’ or cling to moments of happiness, as this desire creates mental movement and attachment, pulling you out of the present state of contentment.

52. Embrace Insignificance, Reduce Expectation

Adopt a perspective of your own insignificance and the impermanence of your works to reduce expectations about how life ‘should’ be, leading to greater acceptance and less cause for unhappiness.

53. Rest Mind Until Problem Arrives

Question whether you need to solve a problem immediately when your mind wanders, recognizing that most thoughts don’t require immediate action; instead, rest your mind and immerse yourself only when the problem is truly present.

54. Practice Singular Focus

Practice singular focus by fully immersing yourself in the current conversation or task, as this leads to greater presence, happiness, and effectiveness.

55. Activate Monkey Mind Only When Needed

Consciously choose not to activate your ‘monkey mind’ (anxious, worried thoughts) until it’s genuinely needed for problem-solving, conserving mental energy and preventing it from defining your identity.

56. Live in Body and Awareness

Shift your focus from constant internal monologue to living more in your body and awareness, recognizing that much of your internal chatter is programmed.

57. Associate with Radical Honesty

Prioritize radical honesty by only associating with people around whom you can be fully authentic, avoiding environments that force you to disconnect your thoughts from your words, which can pull you out of the present.

58. Cultivate Peer Relationships

Cultivate only peer relationships, refusing to interact with anyone you cannot treat as an equal or who cannot treat you as an equal.

59. Address Conflict Without Anger

When dealing with conflict, state your position and intentions clearly and fairly, but remove anger and excessive emotion, as they have unnecessary negative consequences.

60. Delay Responses 24 Hours

When receiving an unhappy email or feeling angry, delay your response for 24 hours to allow emotions to subside and ensure a calmer, more rational mental state.

61. Observe Your Mental State

Cultivate awareness of your mental state by observing it, as this recognition alone can lead to calmness and separation from uncontrolled thoughts.

62. Practice Meditation

Practice meditation (e.g., sitting alone for 30 minutes) as a direct way to struggle with and gain control over your internal mental state.

63. Reframe Mistakes Long-Term

Reframe past ‘mistakes’ by adopting a very long-term point of view and removing emotion from their evaluation.

64. Filter Relationships by Values

Apply a strict filter for close relationships: the closer someone wants to be to you, the higher their values must align with yours.

65. Be Worthy of a Mate

To attract a worthy partner, focus on developing your own worthiness and values.

66. Embrace Ethical Sacrifices

Understand that ethical behavior often requires short-term sacrifices, but these lead to significant long-term benefits.

67. Beware Self-Proclaimed Honesty

Be wary of people who excessively talk about their own honesty or values, as this can be a telltale sign they are covering for dishonesty or a lack of integrity.

68. Identify Internal Moral Compass

Identify people with high integrity by observing if they have an internal moral compass that prevents them from engaging in unfair or unethical dealings, even when others aren’t watching.

69. Negotiate with High Integrity People

Seek to negotiate with high-integrity individuals, as these negotiations are often easier and lead to long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with compounding benefits.

70. Load Up on Mental Models

Load your mind with diverse mental models (e.g., from evolution, game theory, Charlie Munger) to improve your decision-making and better predict the future.

71. Maximize Personal Success, Minimize Failure

Aim to be the most successful version of yourself by setting up systems that minimize failure across many possible outcomes, rather than striving for a single, maximal success that might be fragile.

72. Commit for 10 Years

Commit to projects or careers for at least 10 years, enjoying the journey itself, as a good outcome typically requires this long-term dedication and is never guaranteed.

73. Be Patient with Capable People

Be patient with capable individuals (and yourself), recognizing that consistent success for talented people often takes a longer timescale than expected.

74. Verify Beliefs with Science

In any philosophical or spiritual pursuit, reconcile beliefs with science and evolution, and reject any pieces you cannot verify for yourself.

75. Test Everything, Keep Useful

Approach new ideas and practices with an experimental mindset: try everything, test it for yourself, be skeptical, and only keep what proves useful, discarding the rest.

76. Two-Factor Calendar Authentication

Implement a ’two-factor authentication’ for your calendar by delaying commitments, checking back later with a clear mind, or only committing if you’re willing to do it right now, to prevent ‘present you’ from over-committing ‘future you.’

77. Commit Only If ‘Hell Yes’

Adopt the ‘hell yes or no’ approach: if you’re not willing to do something right now, don’t commit to doing it in the future.

78. Reject Afterlife Concept

Reject the concept of an everlasting afterlife based on a short earthly life, as it lacks evidence and can distract from the present.

79. Cultivate Love for Reading

Cultivate a love for reading so that it becomes a natural activity you turn to when bored, rather than relying on strict discipline.

80. Avoid Future Delusions

Be wary of future-oriented delusions (like the singularity or afterlife) that promise future salvation, as they can distract you from living fully in the present moment and appreciating what you have today.

81. Build Skyscraper Foundation

In entrepreneurial or long-term projects, adopt a ‘skyscraper foundation’ mindset, focusing on long-term thinking and fixating on foundational elements, even early on.

82. Seek Deep Passion & Knowledge

When evaluating founders (or projects), look for deep domain knowledge, an understanding of difficulties, and an unwavering, long-term passion for the work itself, beyond just vision or execution.

83. Read for Pure Enjoyment

Read diverse materials, including what others might consider ‘junk’ or reprehensible, simply because you are interested, without needing external justification or a specific mission.

84. Read Diversely, Avoid Herd

Cultivate diverse reading habits, avoiding only reading popular bestsellers, to foster independent thinking and expose yourself to non-average ideas that can lead to unique insights.

85. Seek Non-Average Knowledge

To achieve non-average outcomes (success, happiness), avoid reading only average or best-selling books focused on social conditioning; instead, seek out unique and contrarian sources of knowledge.

86. Learn with Contrarian Mindset

Adopt a contrarian mindset in your learning, pursuing what genuinely interests you regardless of social approval or outcome.

87. Embrace Outsider Mindset

Embrace an ‘outsider’ or ’loser’ mindset, believing you won’t be popular or accepted, as this can free you to pursue your own path and increase your likelihood of finding a winning strategy.

88. Drop Books Quickly

When starting a book, read quickly and be prepared to skim, skip chapters, or drop the book entirely if it doesn’t meaningfully capture your attention within the first chapter.

89. Discard Untrue Books

Discard books that contain fundamental factual untruths or contradictions early on, as they can corrupt your understanding and make it difficult to discern truth from falsehood.

90. Avoid Deluded Authors

Evaluate authors for signs of knowing lies or complete delusion; if present, avoid filling your mind with their content to protect your ability to separate truth from fiction.

91. Get Gist, Put Down Book

For non-fiction books, once you’ve grasped the main point and its implications, feel comfortable putting the book down without finishing, as much of the rest may be repetitive examples.

92. Buy Many, Read Few

Don’t feel guilty about buying many books and only reading a small percentage, as the value gained from the few you do read makes the overall investment worthwhile.

93. Multiple Copies of Great Books

For truly impactful books, buy multiple copies to have them readily available and to share with others.

94. Read When Bored

Read whenever you are bored, leveraging moments of idleness (e.g., in a Lyft, morning, before bed) to engage with books, rather than forcing a strict schedule.

95. Break Habits with Desire

Understand that habits can be completely broken, not just replaced, but it requires significant work, effort, and strong desire motivators for big changes.

96. Avoid Mind Suppression

Avoid suppressing your monkey mind, as suppression is just the mind playing games with itself; instead, aim to turn it off or get out of it.

97. Switch to Self-Limiting Alcohol

If you choose to drink, consider switching from hard alcohol to red wine, as it can be more self-limiting due to its physiological effects (e.g., headaches after a few glasses).

98. Avoid Absolute Habit Rules

Avoid using absolute terms like ’never’ or ‘always’ for habits, as they can feel limiting; instead, aim to naturally reach a state where you don’t need or desire the habit.

99. Criticize Generally, Praise Specifically

When criticizing, focus on the general approach or class of activities, not the person; when praising, be specific and identify the best example of the behavior.

100. Minimize Past Clinging

Minimize clinging to past memories or regrets, as comparing them to the present can be a source of unhappiness.

101. Distill Insights on Twitter

Use platforms like Twitter to distill fundamental insights into concise aphorisms (140 characters), which forces clarity and helps solidify understanding.

102. Broad Exposure, Double Down on Winners

In investing (or similar high-uncertainty domains), adopt a strategy of broad exposure to many opportunities, with the option to double down on clear winners, rather than trying to pick a few winners upfront.

103. Study Science Devotionally

Approach learning science and mathematics with a sense of devotion and awe, viewing them as the study of truth and the laws of the universe, which can provide a spiritual experience.

104. De-emphasize Rote Memorization

In an age of abundant information (Google, smartphones), de-emphasize rote memorization and focus on understanding fundamental concepts.