The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

There is a big difference between money and wealth. In fact, money is a sort of credit that society has with people who use part of their time to do something useful for it. Money involves an exchange: it is given to someone who has given up their time to produce something. Wealth, on the other hand, is having a series of businesses and capital investments capable of producing money while those who own it do something else. For example, working in a restaurant produces money, and owning a factory or renting a house is a form of wealth. Technology is the most common means used today to create wealth: by exploiting it you can produce something useful for society, and can carry on working without the direct supervision of those who created it.

Becoming wealthy doesn’t only depend on hard work, but also on knowing what you are doing, with whom, and when you are doing it. Of course, it is important to work hard, but it is also important that your effort is channelled in the right direction: thus, deciding where you want to go, and what you want to achieve in life, is the first thing to focus on. It can take some time to understand what your purpose in life is - which is nothing more than finding out what you are passionate about and earning a living doing it. The first question we need to ask ourselves is whether what we want to achieve is something we truly believe in, something for which we make the most of our natural gifts, or is it just an external or contingent desire. Another thing you need to think about is which city you want to live in, because the opportunities available to you will also depend on where you live.

Once you have established what to do and the right people to do it with, then comes the moment to invest time, money, and energy into achieving your chosen goal, even though it might take years to see the first results. It's all part of the game: the important thing is not to give up, and stay true to yourself, because in the long run "you reap what you sow".