Book Information: Douban Reading
Specific Knowledge#
Specific knowledge cannot be taught, but can be acquired through learning.
It is about what makes you a unique individual. Think about those skills that come naturally to you and impress others. When it comes to "being yourself," no one can match you. Specific knowledge requires you to pursue genuine curiosity and passion, rather than blindly following current trends.
Most of your life is spent searching for the people and things that need you the most.
Future Work and Lifelong Learning#
The best work is not assigned by others or obtained through education.
They are the result of lifelong learners in the free market. To achieve wealth, the most important skill is to become a lifelong learner. You must learn how to learn anything you want to master.
In today's world, it is more important to become an expert in a completely new field within 9 to 12 months, rather than sticking to the profession you learned in the past. The real key is to build a solid foundation so that you can boldly explore any unknown field.
Curiosity of Wisdom#
Whether it's work, sports, love, or friendship, the meaning of doing anything lies in focusing on the inner self, wholeheartedly immersing oneself, and enjoying the process itself, rather than blindly following external standards.
Any valuable and meaningful endeavor stems from human nature overcoming boredom and meeting internal needs. Because at that time, you are pursuing and devoting yourself to the ideals and pursuits of your inner self. This is far more important and meaningful than going with the flow and chasing superficial trends.
Starting a Business or Acquiring Equity#
If you don't own a part of a business, you cannot embark on the path to financial freedom.
The key issue is whether you have ownership or rely on working for wages. If you only sell your time for compensation, even high-paying professions like lawyers and doctors can only earn some money, but not accumulate enough wealth to achieve financial freedom. You won't have a business that continues to make passive income for you while you are on vacation.
Without ownership, your efforts and rewards are closely linked. Almost all workers, even high-paid professionals like lawyers and doctors, find it difficult to break free from the cycle of trading time for money. You work one hour and can only receive corresponding compensation for that hour.
Three Levers to Rapid Development#
Leverage can multiply your judgment, and it comes in three forms:
- Human leverage: Let others work for you. This is the oldest form of leverage, but it is not very effective in today's world because managing others is very difficult.
- Financial leverage: Money can amplify the impact of every decision you make. This was the main way to accumulate wealth in the last century.
- Marginal replication cost product leverage: Such as books, media, movies, and code. Code may be the most powerful form of leverage that does not require permission. With just a computer, without seeking the consent of others, you can create tremendous value.
Retirement & Lifestyle#
Retirement means no longer sacrificing today for an imagined tomorrow. When your today is fulfilling and you are not worried about tomorrow, then you are retired. How to achieve this goal?
Either save enough money to cover your daily expenses with passive income.
Or reduce expenses to a minimum and live a simple life like a monk.
Or do what you truly love. Fully immerse yourself in it, enjoy it, and money is no longer the goal.
To stay away from endless craving for money, the best way is not to increase your living standards as your income increases. If you can maintain the same lifestyle, it is better to earn a large sum of money at once rather than accumulate it bit by bit, so that you will not pursue a more luxurious life. Over time, you may be far ahead in wealth accumulation and truly achieve financial freedom.
Four Types of Luck#
- Praying for good luck: Leave it to fate and wait for fortune.
- Creating opportunities through hard work: Persistently work hard and create opportunities everywhere. Become an outstanding person in your field, constantly hone your skills, and opportunities will come knocking.
- Recognizing heroes with insight: If you have achieved excellence in a certain field, when luck comes, you will be more keenly aware of fleeting opportunities than ordinary people. You have a particularly sensitive sense of good luck.
- Good luck is destined to be with you: When you shape a distinct personality, unique brand, and different mindset, good luck will favor you and form an inseparable bond with you.
Words from the Author#
First, you know it.
Then, you understand it.
Then, you can explain it.
Then, you can feel it.
Finally, you are it.
This passage describes the process of cognition and internalization.
The author wants to express that true learning and growth are gradual processes, from surface understanding to deep comprehension, then to the ability to clearly explain to others, and finally to the ability to personally experience and embody it. This is a process of continuous sublimation.
Richard Feynman's Quote#
"I never ask if 'I like it,' only think about 'what it is.'"
Principal-Agent Problem#
The ancient Roman general Julius Caesar once said, "It is difficult to accomplish things when you delegate them to others." This means that if you want to do something well, you must do it yourself. When you are the principal and bear the main responsibility for the results, you will be fully committed and do your best. On the other hand, if you are just an agent doing things for others, it is easy to do things perfunctorily and just get by.
The smaller the team, the stronger the sense of ownership among its members. The more you get rid of the mentality of an outsider, the better your work will be. The closer the employee's compensation is tied to the actual value they create, the more they will act as principals rather than agents. However, the media and public opinion are constantly instilling the concept of "delegation is necessary," "the status of an agent is noble," and "agents have extensive knowledge," which is a regrettable inversion of priorities.
As principals, we should try to do things ourselves and take personal responsibility. Even if we have to rely on agents, we should align their interests with our own, motivate them to do their best, and transform their passivity into initiative, and transform agents into principals. Only in this way can we avoid the principal-agent problem, achieve more with less effort, and reach our goals.
If You Can't Make a Decision, the Answer is Often "No"#
Choose options that excite you, rather than finding noble reasons for tasks you don't enjoy. Trust your inner voice.
This is because opportunities are everywhere in modern society, and we have countless choices. We live in a global village with billions of people, closely connected to the world through the Internet. There are countless career options available.
Seeking Happiness#
Happiness is actually the norm for human beings. When you no longer feel that something is missing in your life, happiness naturally exists. Happiness is a state of completeness, where your worries and regrets dissipate.
Happiness needs to be cultivated in many ways. It is not innate or easily chosen, but a highly personalized skill, just like fitness or nutrition, which needs to be learned. My methods may not suit you, and vice versa. Happiness may have completely different meanings for you and me. Some people see it as a state of flow, some see it as a sense of fulfillment, and others see it as a feeling of contentment.
The key is to keep trying and find your own path to happiness.
Desires#
Desires are an agreement between you and yourself, which stipulates that you are destined to suffer until your desires are fulfilled. We constantly crave this and that, only to end up complaining that we can't get what we want. The urgent longing for bad habits always keeps us focused on the future and unable to concentrate on the present. By giving up bad habits, we can more easily live in the present moment.
Instead of fantasizing that the world will satisfy our desires, it is better to make efforts to eliminate our inner bad habits, which is much easier to do. We always think that we are unchangeable and that the world can be shaped according to our will, but the reality is quite the opposite: we ourselves are malleable, while the world is largely unchanging.
Naval's Choiceless Awareness#
"In daily life (preferably in close contact with nature), when you are alone, practice fully accepting the present moment without judgment. When you see a homeless person on the street, don't think, 'Oh, it's a homeless person, I should avoid them.' When you encounter a runner who is not in good shape, don't think, 'Their physique is really poor, not as healthy as me.' Even if you come across a disheveled passerby, at first you may think, 'Ha, their hair is so messy,' but then think, why do I need to comfort myself by mocking others? Why do I need to use someone else's hairstyle to make myself feel better? Is it because I am experiencing the annoyance of hair loss and fear of baldness?
Practicing choiceless awareness means not making any decisions, not judging anything, but opening your heart and embracing everything."
The Brain as an Operating System#
Buddhists compare your brain and consciousness to a multi-level system. There is a core foundation, equivalent to the operating system running, and various applications run on top of it.
We should try to return to the consciousness level of this operating system, where it is always peaceful and harmonious, usually full of joy and satisfaction. We should strive to stay in this state of awareness and avoid triggering the "monkey mind." The so-called "monkey mind" refers to a thinking pattern that is always worried, fearful, and anxious. Although it may be useful at times, we should try to avoid activating this program until it is truly needed. Maintaining inner peace is a wiser way of life.