Eric-Jorgenson The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant indd

Can practicing meditation help you accept reality?
Yeah. But it’s amazing how little it helps. [laughs] You can be a 
long-time meditator, but if someone says the wrong thing in 
the wrong way, you go back to your ego-driven self. It’s almost 
like you’re lifting one-pound weights, but then somebody 
drops a huge barbell with a stack of plates on your head.
It’s absolutely better than doing nothing. But when the actual 
moment of mental or emotional suffering arrives, it’s still 
never easy. [8] Real happiness only comes as a side-effect of 
peace. Most of it is going to come from acceptance, not from 
changing your external environment. [8]

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L E A R N I N G H A P P I N E S S · 133
A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference 
to things outside of their control.
I have lowered my identity.
I have lowered the chattering of my mind.
I don’t care about things that don’t really matter.
I don’t get involved in politics.
I don’t hang around unhappy people.
I really value my time on this earth.
I read philosophy.
I meditate.
I hang around with happy people.
And it works.
You can very slowly but steadily and methodically improve your 
happiness baseline, just like you can improve your fitness. [10]
HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE
Happiness, love, and passion…aren’t things you find—they’re 
choices you make.

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134 · T H E A L M A N A C K O F N A V A L R A V I K A N T
Happiness is a choice you make and a skill you develop.
The mind is just as malleable as the body. We spend so much 
time and effort trying to change the external world, other 
people, and our own bodies—all while accepting ourselves 
the way we were programmed in our youths.
We accept the voice in our head as the source of all truth. But 
all of it is malleable, and every day is new. Memory and identity 
are burdens from the past preventing us from living freely in 
the present. [3]
HAPPINESS REQUIRES PRESENCE
At any given time, when you’re walking down the streets, a very 
small percentage of your brain is focused on the present. The 
rest is planning the future or regretting the past. This keeps 
you from having an incredible experience. It’s keeping you 
from seeing the beauty in everything and for being grateful 
for where you are. You can literally destroy your happiness if 
you spend all of your time living in delusions of the future. [4]
We crave experiences that will make us be present, but the 
cravings themselves take us from the present moment.
I just don’t believe in anything from my past. Anything. No 
memories. No regrets. No people. No trips. Nothing. A lot of 
our unhappiness comes from comparing things from the past 
to the present. [4]

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L E A R N I N G H A P P I N E S S · 135
Anticipation for our vices pulls us into the future. Eliminating 
vices makes it easier to be present.
There’s a great definition I read: “Enlightenment is the space 
between your thoughts.” It means enlightenment isn’t some-
thing you achieve after thirty years sitting on a mountaintop. 
It’s something you can achieve moment to moment, and you 
can be enlightened to a certain percent every single day. [5]
What if this life is the paradise we were promised, and we’re 
just squandering it?
HAPPINESS REQUIRES PEACE