#126 | 🚀 Naval Ravikant on the One Skill That Changes Everything
A collection of the best hidden gems, mental models, and frameworks from the world’s top thinkers; to help you become 1% better and live a happier life ❤️
Hello curious minds 🧠
This week, I revisited The Almanack of Naval Ravikant.
And one idea stands out than the rest:
Judgement is everything.
Naval spends a big chunk of the book talking about it. Why?
Because judgment, your ability to make good decisions, shapes your entire life.
Two people can work just as hard. One thrives. The other struggles. Why?
Judgment. One makes better decisions. One picks the right path.
At the core of a happy, successful life is this truth:
Life is about choices. And the quality of your choices depends on your ability to think clearly, filter information, and act with intent.
So, the big question becomes:
How can we make better choices?
Naval Ravikant has some good answers and I have summarised it in this newsletter.
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Hi, I’m Ryan 👋🏼 I am passionate about lifestyle gamification 🎮, which it’s just a fancy way saying I approach life like a video game, designing my character intentionally, and strive to level up every day. I am obsesssssssss with learning things that can help me live a happy and fulfilling life.Every Sunday, through The Limitless Playbook newsletter, I share 1 actionable idea from the world's top thinkers 🎯
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🧠 How to Make Better Choices (According to Naval Ravikant)
Hard work is overrated.
Judgement is underrated. Judgment is wisdom applied to real-world problems. Wisdom, Naval says, is understanding the long-term consequences of your actions.
One good decision can change everything. And without judgement, no amount of hustle will get you there.
Yes, you need to work hard.
But judgement matters more.
Because direction always beats speed.
Pick the right path → then move fast.
So how do you build good judgement?
Start here:
1. Learn to think clearly
Clear thinking is rare. But it’s what smart thinkers have in common.
To think clearly, you need to understand things at a fundamental level, built from the ground up.
But we don’t often see clearly, because we are too busy projecting how we want the world to be.
Suffering is the moment when you see reality for what it is.
In those moments, when the illusion breaks, you finally face the truth.
And truth is the only place progress can begin.
But seeing the truth isn’t easy.
You have to shrink your ego.
Detach from outcomes.
Ditch your desires.
The more you can let go of who you think you are and how you wish the world worked, the more clearly you will see how it actually works.
2. Make space to think
Thinking is a skill. And like any skill, it needs time.
Take one day a week.
No meetings. No noise. Just thinking.
This is where insight happens.
3. Think for yourself
Be a contrarian → not to rebel, but to reason independently.
A contrarian builds ideas from first principles, not social norms.
They resist the pull to conform.
They think their own thoughts.
An optimistic contrarian is the rarest kind.
Someone who questions the status quo and still believes in a better future.
4. Drop your identity
Most people build their identity in the first 20 years of life, then spend the next 60 protecting it.
But your identity can trap you.
Labels, roles, personas → they all cloud your view of reality.
The more rigid your identity, the less clearly you see the world.
So unlearn what no longer serves you.
Be open to changing your mind.
Don’t cling to "who you are".
5. Master the skill of decision-making
Decisions shape everything.
So learn how to make them well.
Most of our bad decisions come from bias; shortcuts our brain takes to save time. But big decisions deserve better.
Use principles. Mental models. Timeless tools that work across situations.
Here are two examples:
Inversion: Instead of asking, What will work? ask, What could go wrong? Eliminate failure, and success follows.
Run uphill: If a decision is split 50/50, choose the harder path. Pain now often means growth later.
6. Read… a lot
Reading is leverage for the mind.
The means of learning are abundant. Desire is the rare part.
Start by reading what you love.
That love will grow into a habit.
The goal isn’t to read everything. It’s to read the right things. You want to read the 100 greatest books over and over again. But first, you will need to read far more than 100 to find them.
Treat books like blogs.
Skim, skip, re-read.
Take what you need. Leave the rest.
Read 1–2 hours a day, and you’ll be in the top 0.00001%.
And here’s the secret to remembering what you read:
Teach it.
Write it.
Share it.
I am always curious about what others are passionate about and what they are currently working on. Hit reply and share what’s been keeping you busy these days. I would love to learn!
With love,
Ryan O. 🎮
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