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

EARN WITH YOUR MIND,
NOT YOUR TIME.
GET PAID FOR YOUR JUDGMENT
Choosing what kinds of jobs, careers, or fields you get into and 
what sort of deals you’re willing to take from your employer 
will give you much more free time. Then, you don’t have to 

---

68 · 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
worry as much about time management. I would love to be 
paid purely for my judgment, not for any work. I want a robot, 
capital, or computer to do the work, but I want to be paid for 
my judgment. [1]
I think every human should aspire to being knowledgeable 
about certain things and being paid for our unique knowl-
edge. We have as much leverage as is possible in our business, 
whether it’s through robots or computers or what have you. 
Then, we can be masters of our own time because we are just 
being tracked on outputs and not inputs.
Imagine someone comes along who demonstrably has slightly 
better judgment. They’re right 85 percent of the time instead of 
75 percent. You will pay them $50 million, $100 million, $200 
million, whatever it takes, because 10 percent better judgment 
steering a $100 billion ship is very valuable. CEOs are highly 
paid because of their leverage. Small differences in judgment 
and capability really get amplified. [2]
Demonstrated judgment—credibility around the judgment—
is so critical. Warren Buffett wins here because he has massive 
credibility. He’s been highly accountable. He’s been right over 
and over in the public domain. He’s built a reputation for very 
high integrity, so you can trust him. People will throw infinite 
leverage behind him because of his judgment. Nobody asks 
him how hard he works. Nobody asks him when he wakes up 
or when he goes to sleep. They’re like, “Warren, just do your 
thing.”
Judgment—especially demonstrated judgment, with high 
accountability and a clear track record—is critical. [78]

---

B U I L D I N G W E A L T H · 69
We waste our time with short-term thinking and busywork. 
Warren Buffett spends a year deciding and a day acting. 
That act lasts decades.
Just from being marginally better, like running a quarter 
mile a fraction of a second faster, some people get paid a lot 
more—orders of magnitude more. Leverage magnifies those 
differences even more. Being at the extreme in your art is very 
important in the age of leverage. [2]