Today I’m eager to announce the release of my new book: Nerd’s Guide To Better Grades in High School or College. You can purchase the book on Amazon for $2.99. Check out the full Book Description down below!

Nerd’s Guide To Better Grades in High School or College Book Description

Grades suck, but they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. High school grades are the most important factor of college admissions and determine how rich scholarship money is awarded. College grades, which are viewed as evidence of competence, technical ability, and work ethic, influence internship, postgraduate, and employment decisions. Indeed, while experience wins out in the long run, academic performance plays a pivotal role early in the game.

People tend to conflate grades with intelligence, which simply isn’t true. Anyone can do much better in school by working smarter, regardless of how smart they are. In addition, by taking a strategic angle, students who want to score better grades ensure that none of their hard work goes down the drain. This short book consists of 15 time-tested, fool-proof, nerd-certified tips to improve academic performance. The bulk of them apply to high school, and all of them will come in handy in college where most high school students are headed.

Why did I write this book? Well, I have a reputation for being a bit of an academic nerd. As someone who won a lot of scholarship money and got some cool opportunities to work and travel, I have seen firsthand how good grades can open doors. While the 15 tips naturally derive from my schooling in the US, they are widely applicable to educational systems around the world.

School, to be sure, consists of much more than just grades. Networking, relationships, extracurriculars, and lived experiences are super important, which you can read all about somewhere else. The focus of this book, on the other hand, is more laser-like. If you follow the advice contained herein, your grades will undoubtedly get better. The good news is you don’t have to be a nerd or a genius.

A few days ago, I visited my brother’s condo in downtown Columbus where he had a copy of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness sitting on the coffee table. When we asked him about the book, he described Naval as “one of the wisest people alive,” which is as glowing an endorsement anyone could give an author. I don’t always act on book recommendations, but this week I decided to take my brother up on one of his favorites.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is unique in that it addresses both wealth and happiness, two giant themes that are rarely treated concurrently. Naval’s balanced, holistic outlook on life is not what you might expect from a serial entrepreneur whose net worth exceeds $60 million. Money, for Naval, “will solve all your money problems,” but the love of money, he asserts, is an insatiable desire that leads down a path of misery.

Naval says he has a habit of mining books for knowledge and will often not read them from cover to cover. I also learned this skill in college, but I can say that I intently read every word of his almanack. In the process, I typed up a myriad of quotes/excerpts that I thought were worth stashing, which I have consolidated for this article. Below you can find 50+ hand-picked quotes/excerpts that I found inspirational, thought-provoking, or just plain insightful.

Overall, the ~six hours or so I invested in this book were well worth the investment. I recommend you grab a copy and see for yourself what made this work, collated by Eric Jorgenson, the #1 best-seller in numerous categories on Amazon.

50 Insightful Quotes From The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Build Wealth and Happines

Technology democratizes consumption but consolidates production. The best person at anything in the world gets to do it for everyone. 

#1

No one can compete with you on being you. Most of life is a search for who and what needs you the most.

#2

The group of scientists who made real breakthroughs and contributions probably added more to human society, I think, than any other single class of human beings. Not to take away anything from art or politics or engineering or business, but without science, we’d still be scrambling in the dirt, fighting with sticks, and trying to start fires.

#3

Specific knowledge is found much more by pursuing your innate talents, your genuine curiosity, and your passion. It’s not by going to school for whatever is the hottest job. It’s not by going into whatever field investors say is the hottest.

#4

The internet enables any niche interest, as long as you’re the best person at it, to scale out.

#5

Escape competition through authenticity. Basically, when you’re competing with people, it’s because you’re copying them. It’s because you’re trying to do the same thing. But every human is different. Don’t copy.

#6

The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner.

#7

Basic arithmetic and numeracy are way more important in life than doing calculus. Similarly, being able to convey yourself simply using ordinary English words is far more important than being able to write poetry, having an extensive vocabulary, or speaking 7 different languages. Knowing how to be more persuasive when speaking is far more important than being an expert digital marketer or click optimizer. Foundations are key.

#8

Intentions don’t matter, actions do. That’s why being ethical is hard. 

#9

The reason I say this is not to make some glib comment about how 99% of your life is wasted and only 1% is useful. I say this because you should be very thoughtful and realize in most things — relationships, work, even in learning — what you’re trying to do is find the thing you can go all-in on to earn compound interest. When you’re dating, the instance you know this relationship is not going to be the one that leads to marriage, you should probably move on. When you’re studying something, like a geography or history class, and you realize you’re never going to use the information, drop the class. It’s a waste of your time. It’s a waste of your brain energy. I’m not saying don’t do the 99% because it’s very hard to identify what the 1% is. What I’m saying is when you find the 1% of your discipline, which will not be wasted, which you will be able to invest in for the rest of your life and has meaning to you, go all-in, and forget about the rest.

#10

Accountability is a double-edged thing. It allows you to take credit when things go well and to bear the brunt of the failure when things go badly.

#11

We live in an age of infinite leverage, and the economic rewards for genuine intellectual curiosity have never been higher. Following your genuine intellectual curiosity is a better foundation for a career than following whatever is making money right now.

#12

If it entertains you now but will bore you some day, it’s a distraction. Keep looking. 

#13

I only really want to do things for their own sake. That is one definition of art. Whether it’s business, exercise, romance, friendship — whatever. I think the meaning of life is to do things for their own sake. Ironically, when you do things for their own sake, you create your best work. 

#14

You get rewarded by society for giving it what it wants and doesn’t know how to get it elsewhere. 

#15

There are three broad classes of leverage. One form of leverage is labor — other humans working for you. It is the oldest form of leverage and actually not a great one in the modern world. I would argue this is the worst form of leverage that you could possibly use. Managing other people is incredibly messy. It requires tremendous leadership skills. You’re one short hop from a mutiny or getting eaten or torn apart by the mob.

#16

The final form of leverage is brand new, the most democratic form. It is products with no marginal cost of replication. This includes books, media, movies, and code… Now you can multiply your efforts without involving other humans and without needing money from other humans… This newest form of leverage is where all the new fortunes are made.

#17

Humans evolved in societies where there was no leverage… If I was chopping wood or carrying water for you, you knew that 8 hours put in would equal 8 hours of output… With a leveraged worker, judgment is far more important than how much time they put in or how hard they work. 

#18

If you have specific knowledge, you have accountability, and you have leverage, they have to pay you what you’re worth. If they pay you what you’re worth, then you can get your time back. You can be hyper-efficient. You’re not doing meetings for meetings’ sake. You’re not trying to impress other people. You’re not writing things down to make it look like you did work. All you care about is the actual work itself.

#19

No one is going to value you more than you value yourself. 

#20

Wealth creation is an evolutionarily recent positive-sum game. Status is an old zero-sum game. Those attacking wealth creation are often just seeking status. . . They’re playing a different game, and it’s a worst game. It’s a zero-sum game instead of a positive-sum game. 

#21

The problem is to win at a status game, you have to put somebody else down. That’s why you should avoid status games. They make you into an angry, combative person. You’re always fighting to put other people down, to put yourself and the people you like up. 

#22

Retirement is when you stop sacrificing today for an imaginary tomorrow. When today’s complete, in and of itself, you’re retired. . . Well, one way is to have so much money saved that your passive income, without you lifting a finger, covers your burn rate. A second is you just drive your burn rate down to zero. You become a monk. A third is you’re doing something you love. You enjoy it so much, it’s not about the money.

#23

Art is creativity. Art is anything done for its own sake. What are the things that are done for their own sake and there’s nothing behind them? Loving somebody, creating something, playing. To me, creating businesses is play. I create busineses because it’s fun, because I’m into the product… It makes money almost a side-effect… My motivation has shifted from being goal-oriented to being artistic. Ironically, I think I’m much better at it now. 

#24

The punishment for the love of money is delivered at the same time as the money. As you make money, you just want even more, and you become paranoid and fearful of losing what you do have… I think the best way to stay away from this constant love of money is to not upgrade your lifestyle as you make money.

#25

To summarize the fourth type [of luck], build your character in a certain way, then your character becomes your destiny. 

#26

Trying to build business relationships (networking) well in advance of doing business businesses is a complete waste of time. 

#27

Sharks eat well, but live a life surrounded by sharks. 

#28

Your only failures are written within your psyche and they are obvious to you. If you have too many of these moral shortcomings, you will not respect yourself. The worst outcome in this world is not having self-esteem. If you don’t love yourself, who will? I think you just have to be very careful about doing things you are fundamentally not going to be proud of, because they will damage you.

#29

I have this saying inside my head: the closer you want to get to me, the better your values have to be. 

#30

The most common bad advice I hear is “You’re too young.” Most of history was built by young people, they just got credit when they were older. The only way to truly learn something is by doing it. Yes, listen to guidance, but don’t wait.

#31

Your real resume is just a catalog of all your suffering… Anything you’re given doesn’t matter. You have to do hard things to create your own meaning in life. 

#32

Most of the time, the person you have to become to make money is a high-anxiety, high-stress, hard-working, competitive person. When you have done that for 20, 30, 40, 50 years and you suddenly make money, you can’t turn it off. You’ve trained yourself to be a high-anxiety person. Then you have to learn how to be happy. 

#33

My definition of wisdom is knowing the long-term consequences of your actions. Wisdom applied to external problems is judgment. 

#34

You can only make progress when you’re starting with the truth. The hard thing is seeing the truth. To see the truth, you have to get your ego out the way because your ego doesn’t want to see the truth.

#35

What you feel tells you nothing about the facts. It merely tells you something about your estimate of the facts. 

#36

It’s only after you’re bored, you have the great ideas. 

#37

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are. 

#38

If all your beliefs line up into neat little bundles, you should be highly suspicious. 

#39

“Praise specifically, criticize generally” [quoting Warren Buffet]. Then people’s egos and identities don’t work against you. They work for you.

#40

Charisma is the ability to project love and confidence at the same time. 

#41

“If you want it done, then go. If not, then send” [quoting Julius Caesar]. When you are the principal, you are the owner. You care and will do a great job. When you are the agent and you are doing it on somebody else’s behalf, you can do a bad job. You just don’t care. You optimize for yourself rather than the principal’s assets… The more closely you can tie someone’s compensation to the exact value they’re creating, the more you turn them into a principal, and the less you turn them into an agent. 

#42

If you can’t decide, the answer is no. 

#43

Pointing out obvious exceptions implies either the target isn’t smart or you aren’t. 

#44

It’s not about educated versus uneducated. It’s about “likes to read” and “doesn’t like to read.”

#45

[Question to Naval] “What can I do for the next 60 days to become a clearer, more independent thinker?” Read the greats in math, science, and philosophy. Ignore your contemporaries and news. Avoid tribal identification. Put truth above social approval. 

#46

The fewer desires I can have, the more I can accept the current state of things, the less my mind is moving— because the mind really exists in motion toward the future or the past — the more present I am, the happier and more content I will be.

#47

Happiness is what there is when you remove the sense that something is missing in your life. 

#48

Happiness, love, and passion aren’t things you find; they’re choices you make. 

#49

Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want. Every desire is a chosen unhappiness. 

#50

Today, the way we think you get peace is by resolving all your external problems, but there are unlimited external problems. The only way to actually get peace on the inside is giving up this idea of problems.

#51

The enemy of peace of mind is expectations drilled into you by society and other people.

#52

At the end of the day, you are a combination of your habits and the people you spend the most time with. 

#53

You don’t make any decisions if you don’t judge anything. You just accept everything. If I do that for ten or fifteen minutes while walking around, I end up in a very peaceful, grateful state. 

#54

Hiking is walking meditation. Journaling is writing meditation. Praying is gratitude meditation. Showering is accidental meditation. Sitting quietly is direct meditation. 

#55

Courage isn’t charging into a machine-gun nest. Courage is not caring what other people think. 

#56

Inspiration is perishable. Act on it immediately.

#57

Honest reviews improve human outcomes and create value in the economy.

Creator Villa

For more quotes, click here.

An American Psychological Association’s “Stress In America” survey found that 72% of adults reported feeling stressed about money “at least some of the time” (financial stress survey). Money topped work, family responsibilities, and health concerns as the top source of stress. According to another survey of more than 1,000 adults, money was cited as the second leading cause of divorce, behind infidelity (financial stress in relationships). While the US is the richest large country in the world per capita, many Americans suffer from a lack of financial peace—as do people all around the world. Stress shortens both the quality and quantity of life. According to WebMD, stress “seems to worsen or increase the risk of conditions like obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, depression, gastrointestinal problems, and asthma” (stress and physical health). While money is not an end itself, it factors heavily in the life satisfaction equation as a means to live, fulfill responsibilities, and achieve goals.

This week, I reached out to my uncle, Yousef Zananiri, to share some of his wisdom on money management. Mr. Yousef is a Strategic Sales Manager for a team at Spectrum Enterprise responsible for ~$25-$30 million in annualized revenue. His team sells scalable fiber technology and communication solutions to the government and educational sectors. In the evenings, Mr. Yousef volunteers teaching “Financial Peace” at C3 Church in Canal Winchester, Ohio—a class inspired by the philosophy of Dave Ramsey—to help people get out of debt and lock up their financial future. The following is an account of a live 60-minute interview conducted in person. You can find Mr. Yousef on Instagram @yzananiri

[For more, see the complete archive of interviews.]

Tell the people a little about yourself.

I moved to the US from Jordan 32 years ago at the age of 13. I finished my high school at a private school here in Columbus and graduated college from Fisher at Thee Ohio State University with a degree in business. About 80% of my work experience has been in the telecommunications industry and about 20% in the financial sector—45% in management and 55% as an individual contributor.

Outside of work, I’ve been married to Heather for 20+ years. We have three kids—a first year college student, a junior in high school, and an 8th grader in middle school. I’ve coached 6 different sports spanning over two decades, including lacrosse, basketball, and adult softball. I enjoy following sports and the stock market and watching how companies are trending.

What is “financial peace,” both as a concept and in terms of the class you teach? 

Financial peace is to be in control of your money versus your money being in control of you. People work too hard in this country not to be able to enhance and expand their capabilities by learning some basic concepts. Financial peace comes from living within your means, paying off debt, and preparing for the future. It also comes from contentment and being generous toward others.

The focus of the class I teach is behavioral/psychological. The idea is that by changing the decisions we make, independent of anything external, we can achieve goals we never thought possible. The class gives you a framework to handle all aspects of finance, from learning how to play offense and defense with your money. In the course, we also teach contentment—not wasting money on impulse buying or to keep up with the Joneses.

To sum it up, we inspire and empower people to make smart financial choices that benefit themselves and the people they care about.

What are the biggest things that trip people up financially? 

If I had to summarize the top 3, in no particular order, the first piece is a lack of awareness—whether that’s not having the education or knowledge to manage or maximize your money.

The second piece is lack of a framework/gameplan. Ultimately, everybody has goals they want to achieve, but not everyone has a plan in place to get there. A lot of people just go through the motions. It’s like a football team hoping to win a game without having practiced a single time.

The third piece is lack of contentment. Social media plays a big role in creating a constant demand to buy things people don’t need. This is the reason why a lot of people hesitate to take the class and make lifestyle changes—because they haven’t dealt with the psychological side of things.

What are the overarching goals of the program? 

The ultimate goal is to spend less than you make, to set aside money for the future, and to not be hampered by financial stress—to obtain financial freedom, in other words. On the flip side, financial freedom enables you to be generous toward others. There is a term we like to use for it, and that term is “outrageous generosity.” When you’re no longer worried about your own financial situation in your own home, you can shift your focus to the people around you. Giving to needy people on a consistent basis, we believe—through churches, charities, communities, or specific causes—is what brings the ultimate satisfaction in life. This stage is the final stage of the process that you want to reach.

How to you pitch people to enroll?

This curriculum has been around for three decades. Millions of people have followed this plan and have achieved the outcomes they were looking for. Of the 100+ people who have completed my course, we have many examples of people we have helped get out of debt, people who have been able to save more money, build up their emergency fund, start investing for the future; and, in some cases, start on a path to pay off their mortgage early. Above all, they are now able to give more than they were able to in the past. People’s lives are better. They’re happier. I know this because they told me.

If you’re struggling, then you have nothing to lose. If you think you’re doing OK, then you could be doing even better by learning these concepts. If someone has not gone through a course like this before, it is highly recommended they do so at least once in their lifetime.

What are key elements of financial stability?

Maximizing your income in the field that you’re in is the number one wealth-building tool. Another thing is reducing spending to less than what you bring in. There’s paying off debt—not relying on high-interest credit cards or loans that limit your freedom. We advise setting aside an emergency fund with 3-6 months of living expenses, just in case you lose your job, go through a health crisis, or some other unpredictable event. Obtaining quality insurance—home, car, health, etc.–is also important. Once you have those basic things in place, you can start investing for the future–including retirement, a 529 college plan for your kids, or an individual investment account–and pay off your mortgage on an accelerated schedule.

The steps really do matter, and you don’t want to go out of sequence. For example, we eliminate all debt minus the mortgage before we set aside an emergency fund and before we invest. We start with the smallest debt and then we snowball to the next one. As I said, our approach is behavioral/psychological. We don’t make it 100% about math. The curriculum contains a lot of data, but 80% of our focus is on controlling the human element.

What are some tips or principles that you teach your students?

Budgeting is one of the biggest things, because budgeting is all about awareness. The details of a lot of people’s spending habits are out of sight and out of mind. On the other hand, when people plan for every dollar that comes in, they make better decisions. We say, “Every dollar has a name.” For example, if I know that I’m spending exactly $600 a month eating out, I can ask myself, is it adding that much value? Is it worth me working three days for it? And then I can compare/contrast that value with the value of other activities. We use the “Every Dollar” app. I’ve used different ones over the years. This is by far the best one.

There are formulas that we recommend for asset allocation and debt repayment. In some cases, we discuss strategies to increase income, whether that’s taking a seasonal or part-time job, in order to expedite the process.

The financial future of many people in committed relationships is not solely dictated by their decisions. Can you talk about the relational piece of finances?

There are “free spirits,” and there are “nerds,” as we like to call them. People who are more liberal in their spending habits and people who are more tight-fisted. It starts by recognizing what you and your partner are and coming together to create a plan. For example, maybe someone who has nerd tendencies can put together the budget, but they allow room for someone who’s a free spirit to make changes. The budget is less about specific categories and more about the bottom line not exceeding income. There’s room to negotiate.

We’re not matchmakers. We don’t get into who you should be with, but we have some rules and best practices provided for managing finances in a relationship. Overall, a willingness to communicate is the biggest thing. If you have that, you can make a lot of progress.  

We also believe that accountability is very important for everyone. If you’re single, you need to find an accountability partner that can support you in this process.

What motivates you to volunteer to help other achieve their financial goals?

I think I’ve always enjoyed financial concepts and developing people. This course combines both of those things really well. I am a big believer in the concept of team. When people come together, they can achieve goals that they couldn’t achieve alone. You see it in business. You see it in sports. It’s about achieving specific goals, but it’s also about developing people to the next level. Being a part of that process brings me true satisfaction.

Sometimes, it’s easier to be an individual contributor and know all the things you need to perform than to get a whole team to do it. But there is opportunity in taking on the challenge of team building. It combines my passion and skills and gives me a sense of purpose.

I give you the last word.

When you follow this plan early on, you stay on schedule. If you’re already in a hole, the focus is not why did you get here. It’s how do you move forward and get back on schedule. There is no situation that can’t be resolved. Typically, it takes 3-5 years to clear major hurdles and change your trajectory quite a bit. The time is going to pass one way or another.