3 Naval Ravikant Quotes on Happiness That Will Alter Your Brainwaves
Being present is the key, but how do you do that?
We’re looking for happiness all wrong.
And looking at all is mistake numero uno.
According to Naval Ravikant, the entrepreneur and investor who’s taken Twitter by storm, happiness is a choice — just not the kind we’re used to.
Happiness isn’t going to the store and choosing a new outfit
Happiness isn’t a friend on speed-dial
Happiness comes from within
Read these three quotes from a literal genius to make sense of the mess in your mind and live a happier life.
Disclaimer: These quotes are from the “Almanac of Naval Ravikant” by Eric Jorgenson. These quotes are not necessarily word for word but interpretations from various resources like tweets and interviews by Naval.
1. Most of us have a broken contract
A goal is a path to unhappiness.
My parents and teachers taught me goals equal purpose, but my post-college experience has taught me otherwise.
When I started working, I wanted enough money to move out of my parent's house and buy a car. I worked my ass off and got everything I once wanted. I wouldn’t say I’m happier because I got them.
Now I have more problems:
I pay my own bills
I have to cook for myself
I have to clean my apartment
I had to fix a hole in my tire myself
Achieving the goal of “self-sustained 28-year-old” made my life more complex, thus, more stressful. And oddly enough, I want more.
Desire is powerful. When we have what we once wanted, there’s always more.
Here’s what Naval has to say:
“Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”
So, if one never truly gets what they want because there is always more to get, then happiness is permanently elusive.
Instead of chasing desire, chase the here and now. Have meaningful conversations without a phone in hand. Appreciate what you have.
Live in moments instead of desires.
2. Desires are like priorities
I used to mistake dopamine for the “happy-go-lucky” chemical in my brain, but it’s a major source of my unhappiness, and it’s everywhere.
On social media
At the local Lambo store
In fancy restaurants with pretty people
These are 21st-century dopamine traps meant to steal our attention from the present and toward the past and future.
Desire is a dopamine trap
Dopamine shows you what you want.
But what you want is usually out of reach and doesn’t exist here and now.
Dopamine is a stressor because it puts the immense weight of your desires on your shoulders — making you want to do 25 things in only 24 hours.
It’s impossible to do everything all the time. So Naval says this:
“The fewer desires I can have, the more I can accept the current state of things, the less my mind is moving, because the mind really exists in motion toward the future or the past.”
Eckhart Tolle said, “Enlightenment is the space between your thoughts.”
Fast is slow, and slow is fast. Read that again.
Pick a few desires because, like a priority, you’re only meant to do a few essential things at a time. Otherwise, the brain explodes.
When you do this, you can hyper-fixate on something meaningful, like teaching your child to read or building a runway to quit your job.
Happiness is taken one step at a time.
3. Your version of happiness is unique
I graduated college without a shred of identity.
Now I have a great job and a fulfilling hobby. Things change when you give up the version of yourself you think you should be.
Here’s Naval:
“Maybe happiness is not something you inherit or even choose, but a highly personal skill that can be learned, like fitness or nutrition.”
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs backs this claim.
This graphic describes human psychology perfectly. Read every word.
Most won’t make it past level 2
At the bottom of the pyramid are basic needs.
Air
Food
Water
Shelter
Everybody needs these to survive. Security, health, and resources come next. But while people want to feel safe and have jobs, nothing in the first two levels makes anyone happy.
Because happiness isn’t a foundational part of the human experience. You have to move up the pyramid for that.
You must learn skills that aren’t attainable at a 9–5.
This takes sacrifice, meaning fewer nights out and saying no to friends so you can work on Internet skills or a personal brand.
And if you focus on one or two things, you’ll find internal peace in the form of self-actualization — the ultimate form of happiness.
If you want to move up the pyramid, writing is the ultimate form of self-actualization. The hard part is finding the time.
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