Book Information: Douban Books
Specific Knowledge#
Specific knowledge cannot be taught, but can be acquired through learning.
It relates to what makes you a unique existence. Think about those skills that you can easily grasp but impress others; when it comes to "being yourself," no one can compete with you. Specific knowledge requires you to pursue your true curiosity and passion, rather than blindly following current trends.
Most of life is spent searching for the people and things that need you the most.
Future Work and Lifelong Learning#
The best jobs are not assigned by others, nor obtained through degrees.
They are the crystallization of the creative intelligence of lifelong learners in a free market. To gain wealth, the most important skill is to become a lifelong learner. You must master how to learn any knowledge you wish to acquire.
In today's era, rather than being stuck in the profession you learned in the past, it is more important to become an expert in a completely new field within 9 to 12 months. The real key is to lay a solid foundation so that you can boldly explore any unknown territory.
The Curiosity of Wisdom#
Whether in work, sports, love, or friendship, the meaning of doing anything lies in focusing inward, fully engaging, and enjoying the process itself, rather than blindly following external standards.
Any valuable and meaningful endeavor stems from the human need to overcome boredom and conquer oneself. Because at that moment, you are striving for your inner ideals and pursuits, giving your all. This is far more important and meaningful than going with the flow and chasing superficial trends.
Starting a Business or Acquiring Equity#
If you do not own a part of the business, you cannot embark on the path to financial freedom.
The crux of the matter is whether you own the ownership or rely on earning a salary. If you are merely selling your time for compensation, even high-paying professions like lawyers and doctors can only earn some money but cannot accumulate enough wealth to achieve financial freedom. You will not have a business that continues to earn passive income for you while you are on vacation.
Without ownership, your effort and reward are closely linked. Almost all workers, even high-paid lawyers and doctors, find it difficult to escape the vicious cycle of trading time for money. You work for an hour and can only receive compensation for that hour.
Three Leverages to Help You Grow Quickly#
Leverage can multiply your judgment, and it comes in three forms:
- Human leverage: Letting 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 quite tricky and labor-intensive.
- Money leverage: Money can amplify the effects of each of your decisions. This was the main avenue for wealth accumulation in the last century.
- Products with no marginal replication costs leverage: Such as books, media, movies, and code. Code may be the most powerful form of unlicensed leverage. You only need a computer and do not need anyone's permission to create immense value.
Retirement & Lifestyle#
Retirement means no longer sacrificing today for an imagined tomorrow. When you live a fulfilling and complete today without worrying about tomorrow, you are effectively retired. How can you achieve this goal?
Either save enough money so that your passive income can cover your daily expenses.
Or minimize your expenses and live a life as simple as a monk.
Or do what you truly love. Immerse yourself in it, enjoy it, and money is no longer the goal of pursuit.
To distance yourself from the endless craving for money, the best way is not to blindly elevate your lifestyle as your income increases. If you can maintain your lifestyle and ideally earn a large sum of money at once rather than accumulating it bit by bit, you will not pursue a more luxurious life. Over time, you may find yourself far ahead in wealth accumulation, truly achieving financial freedom.
Four Types of Luck#
- Praying for good luck: Leaving it to fate and waiting for destiny's favor.
- Working hard to create opportunities: Persistently working hard and creating chances everywhere. Become a leader in your field, continuously honing your skills, and opportunities will come knocking.
- Having the insight to recognize heroes: If you excel in a certain field, when luck comes, you will be more sensitive to fleeting opportunities than others. Your sense of good fortune is particularly keen.
- Good luck is destined to be with you: When you shape a distinct personality, unique brand, and different mindset, good fortune will favor you and form an inseparable bond with you.
Words from the Author#
First, you know it.
Gradually, you begin to grasp its essence.
Slowly, you can narrate it to others.
Eventually, you can empathize with it and embody it.
Finally, you have merged with it, becoming one.
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 a process from cognition to internalization.
The author wants to express that true learning and growth are gradual, moving from surface-level understanding to deep comprehension, then to clearly articulating it to others, creating emotional resonance, and ultimately fully integrating it into oneself and making it one's own. This is a process of continuous elevation.
Richard Feynman's Quote#
"I never ask if I like it, I only think about what the essence of it is."
"I never ask if “I like it” or “I don’t like it.” I think “this is what it is” or “this is what it isn’t.”"
Principal-Agent Problem#
The famous Roman general Julius Caesar once said, "If you want to do something well, you must do it yourself." This means that if you want to do something well, you must take action personally. When you are the principal and bear the main responsibility for the outcome, you will fully invest yourself and do your best to get the job done. Conversely, if you are merely an agent working for someone else, it is easy to be perfunctory and go through the motions.
The smaller the team, the stronger the sense of ownership among its members. The more you shed the outsider mentality, the better the work will be. The closer the employees' compensation is tied to the actual value they create, the more they resemble principals rather than agents. However, media and public opinion aggressively promote the ideas of "must use agents," "agents are noble," and "agents are knowledgeable," which is a regrettable inversion of priorities.
As principals, we should do as much as possible ourselves and take personal responsibility. Even if we must rely on agents, we should bind their interests to our own, motivating them to be proactive rather than passive, transforming agency into principalship. Only in this way can we avoid the principal-agent problem, achieve more with less effort, and reach our goals.
If you cannot make a decision, the answer is often "no."#
Choose options that excite you rather than seeking grand reasons for tasks you do not like. Trust your inner voice.
This is because, in modern society, opportunities are everywhere, and we have countless choices. We live in a global village with billions of people, closely connected to the world through the internet. The career options available are innumerable.
Finding Happiness#
Happiness is actually a human norm. When you no longer feel that something is lacking in life, happiness is naturally there. Happiness is a state of completeness, where your inner troubles and regrets dissipate.
Happiness needs to be cultivated through many methods. It is not innate, nor can it be chosen at will; it is a highly personalized skill that, like fitness or nutrition, needs to be learned over time. My methods may not suit you, and vice versa. Happiness may mean entirely different things to you and me. Some see it as a state of flow, others as a sense of fulfillment, and still others as a feeling of contentment.
The key is to keep trying and find your own path to happiness.
Desire#
Desire is an agreement you have with yourself, stipulating that you must suffer until your wishes are fulfilled. We crave this and that all day long, only to complain about not getting what we want. The urgent longing for bad habits always pulls us into the future, making it difficult to focus on the present. By overcoming bad habits, we can more easily live in the here and now.
Rather than fantasizing that the world will satisfy our desires, it is much easier to work on eradicating the bad habits within us. We often think of ourselves as unchanging while believing the world can be shaped at will, but the opposite is true: we ourselves are malleable, while the world is largely constant.
Naval's Non-Choice Awareness#
"In daily life (preferably with more contact with nature), when you are alone, practice fully accepting the present moment without making any judgments. When you see a homeless person on the corner, do not think, 'Oh, it’s a homeless person; better avoid him.' When you encounter a poorly built runner, do not think, 'He looks terrible; I’m healthier than him.' Even when you come across a disheveled passerby, you might initially think, 'Ha, his hair is so messy,' but then reconsider, why should I satisfy myself by mocking others? Why should I comfort myself by comparing to others' hairstyles? Is it because I am struggling with hair loss and fear going bald?
Practicing non-choice awareness means making no decisions, judging nothing, but instead opening your heart and embracing everything."
The Brain as an Operating System#
Buddhists compare your brain and consciousness to a multi-layered system. At its core is a foundational level, akin to the kernel-level operating system running various applications on top of it.
We should strive to return to this level of consciousness, where there is always tranquility and peace, usually filled with joy and satisfaction. We must work to remain in this state of awareness and avoid triggering the "monkey mind." The so-called "monkey mind" refers to a thought pattern that is always worried, fearful, and anxious. While it may be useful at times, we should avoid activating this program until it is truly needed. Maintaining inner peace is a wiser way to live.