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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
Book was an easy read, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't take a lot away from it. It's Naval, so there is some of the "all-knowing guru" aura you have to ignore. But the man is an insightful individual, and while some will think most of it is common sense - sometimes it's nice to have a refresher course on the best practices in life, business, and philosophy. One of those reads where if I ever revisit it, I'm sure I'll pick up something new.
No doubt there are some nuggets of wisdom in here. They are, unfortunately, surrounded by dense forests of platitudes and broetry-like aphorisms that render the text hard for me to enjoy. The book describes a sense of self determinism that I feel resonates well with much of the audience, but to me it seems to come across more like the age-old boomer cry "if I could do it why can't you". That is in fact, how he starts out the book "you could strip away all my wealth and I could probably get it back again".
My favorite is when he removes himself from the line of criticism because "if the exceptions are obvious then either the author is dumb or you are" - gee thanks Naval. I could go on, but maybe this book just wasn't a good personal fit given my values and the way that I perceive life.
Parsing the book here were my useful takeaways:
- Read more
- Meditate more
- Stress less
- Worry only about what you can control, or don't worry at all
- Spend your time on things that matter to you
- Desires lead to unhappiness
- Peace > Happiness
Groundbreaking.
My favorite is when he removes himself from the line of criticism because "if the exceptions are obvious then either the author is dumb or you are" - gee thanks Naval. I could go on, but maybe this book just wasn't a good personal fit given my values and the way that I perceive life.
Parsing the book here were my useful takeaways:
- Read more
- Meditate more
- Stress less
- Worry only about what you can control, or don't worry at all
- Spend your time on things that matter to you
- Desires lead to unhappiness
- Peace > Happiness
Groundbreaking.
This was one of the hottest books of the year according to my Twitter feed, at least among the Silicon-valley type, tech/finance people I follow.
For me it was very much a book of two halves. The first half, on wealth, was fantastic. Five star. The second half, on happiness, fell off sharply and surprisingly became a bit of a slog by about 80% of the way through. One star.
I think the reason I didn't like the second part was because I am a happy person already - my life is wonderful - and I found myself disagreeing with about half of the statements made by Naval about how to find happiness. It is really a compendium of ideas that helped him find happiness, which is fine, but it is not universally applicable the way the ideas on wealth in the first part of the book are.
My worldview is considerably different from that of Naval. He proposes what he terms "rational Buddhism", which has some overlap but is considerably different to the Christian worldview that I subscribe to. In essence, his path to happiness is very self-centred, solipsistic and even nihilistic.
I spent two weeks one summer in Silicon Valley (SLAC more specifically) and my abiding memory of it was the general soullessness of the place. As a tourist there is nothing really to see or do - no museums, cultural points of interest or anything vaguely appealing except for the Rose Garden in nearby San Jose. The whole bay area is a productivity reserve for startups and hyper-driven Ayn Rand-type people. Individuality is all you've got, and your ability to "make it" is ultimately a function of your internal capacity for self-promotion. This is the target audience for Naval's ideas, and indeed where many of his aphorisms were fostered, as he himself is a Valley guru of sorts.
My own idea of happiness has hope as a central tenet – hope for a future that is better in some way, or a sense of potential that has yet to be fulfilled. If I thought at any moment I was at the peak it would be quite depressing. I obviously recognize that peaks in performance are a biological reality, so I expect that as I get older, or even in response to circumstances, the object of my hope will change, but I can’t imagine ever being happy without some hope for a realization of potential.
Naval’s Buddhist ideals prescribe the separation from all passion as the path to happiness, living for the present moment alone with no concern for anything or anyone else, and thereby transcending base emotions like anger. All well and good, but I can’t help feel that there is something missing in such a self-centered approach. I was surprised to learn towards the end of the book that Naval has a wife and child. Everything he had said up to that point made me think that the only important person in his life was himself. As a husband and father, much of my happiness is derived from family life – the love we all share and the never-ending sacrifices that foster love and joy. I suppose these differences ultimately boil down to our differing fundamental principles (Buddhism vs Christianity). But I couldn’t help but feel that there were some contradictions in some of his positions, particularly in the ostensible importance he ascribes to love while also saying you should never do anything out of duty (things you “should” do) or place anything above your own health.
Anyway, enough about what I didn’t like in the book. The first part was really great. Naval talks about how to position yourself to extract the most from your potential. His best idea is perhaps the challenge to become the best in the world at something, and keep changing your definition of what that something is until it is true. Then you can leverage your specific knowledge to compound your returns.
The advice in this section is presented simply but is profound. It is one of those books that inspire you to action. I found myself putting the book aside and finally starting work on a project I had been thinking about for some time. I think I may well return to the first half of the book in future.
Here are a few of the standout sentences for me:
“You have to get out of a relative mindset” – stop comparing yourself to other people.
“What making money will do is solve your money problems. It will remove a set of things that could get in the way of being happy, but it is not going to make you happy.”
“Death is the most important thing that is ever going to happen to you. When you look at your death and you acknowledge it, rather than running away from it, it’ll bring great meaning to your life.”
For me it was very much a book of two halves. The first half, on wealth, was fantastic. Five star. The second half, on happiness, fell off sharply and surprisingly became a bit of a slog by about 80% of the way through. One star.
I think the reason I didn't like the second part was because I am a happy person already - my life is wonderful - and I found myself disagreeing with about half of the statements made by Naval about how to find happiness. It is really a compendium of ideas that helped him find happiness, which is fine, but it is not universally applicable the way the ideas on wealth in the first part of the book are.
My worldview is considerably different from that of Naval. He proposes what he terms "rational Buddhism", which has some overlap but is considerably different to the Christian worldview that I subscribe to. In essence, his path to happiness is very self-centred, solipsistic and even nihilistic.
I spent two weeks one summer in Silicon Valley (SLAC more specifically) and my abiding memory of it was the general soullessness of the place. As a tourist there is nothing really to see or do - no museums, cultural points of interest or anything vaguely appealing except for the Rose Garden in nearby San Jose. The whole bay area is a productivity reserve for startups and hyper-driven Ayn Rand-type people. Individuality is all you've got, and your ability to "make it" is ultimately a function of your internal capacity for self-promotion. This is the target audience for Naval's ideas, and indeed where many of his aphorisms were fostered, as he himself is a Valley guru of sorts.
My own idea of happiness has hope as a central tenet – hope for a future that is better in some way, or a sense of potential that has yet to be fulfilled. If I thought at any moment I was at the peak it would be quite depressing. I obviously recognize that peaks in performance are a biological reality, so I expect that as I get older, or even in response to circumstances, the object of my hope will change, but I can’t imagine ever being happy without some hope for a realization of potential.
Naval’s Buddhist ideals prescribe the separation from all passion as the path to happiness, living for the present moment alone with no concern for anything or anyone else, and thereby transcending base emotions like anger. All well and good, but I can’t help feel that there is something missing in such a self-centered approach. I was surprised to learn towards the end of the book that Naval has a wife and child. Everything he had said up to that point made me think that the only important person in his life was himself. As a husband and father, much of my happiness is derived from family life – the love we all share and the never-ending sacrifices that foster love and joy. I suppose these differences ultimately boil down to our differing fundamental principles (Buddhism vs Christianity). But I couldn’t help but feel that there were some contradictions in some of his positions, particularly in the ostensible importance he ascribes to love while also saying you should never do anything out of duty (things you “should” do) or place anything above your own health.
Anyway, enough about what I didn’t like in the book. The first part was really great. Naval talks about how to position yourself to extract the most from your potential. His best idea is perhaps the challenge to become the best in the world at something, and keep changing your definition of what that something is until it is true. Then you can leverage your specific knowledge to compound your returns.
The advice in this section is presented simply but is profound. It is one of those books that inspire you to action. I found myself putting the book aside and finally starting work on a project I had been thinking about for some time. I think I may well return to the first half of the book in future.
Here are a few of the standout sentences for me:
“You have to get out of a relative mindset” – stop comparing yourself to other people.
“What making money will do is solve your money problems. It will remove a set of things that could get in the way of being happy, but it is not going to make you happy.”
“Death is the most important thing that is ever going to happen to you. When you look at your death and you acknowledge it, rather than running away from it, it’ll bring great meaning to your life.”
I'm familiar with Naval since I know him through Twitter and his great podcast that lead me to read this book. I do understand that the contents might nothing new as the author tell us about it but actually it's still astonishing and worthy to read. I could say that this book is my first book that related to business and entrepreneurship which is never I have a keen of interest in this genre before. Reading this book seems I have a real conversation with him. I acknowledge I found a great feeling when I crumpled page after page because the words themselves speak so well to me. To be honest, from of all chapters, mostly I bold my attention to the philosophy and spiritual things. I do agree with him in some points. This book has lot of insightful wisdoms, delicate point view, and deeper thinking. I'm not a fan of recommend people book I've already read unless for this one, though I convince you to read and reread! He left me motivated to read a lot and value life as I want to.
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Alot I agree yet as always some points I disagree on.
Naval is one of the most impressive people I’ve read.
A rerun of the ten thousand books, you may have heard about, if not read.