Naval Ravikant: “Inspiration is perishable”

Another thing that I really believe is that inspiration is perishable. Act on it immediately. So when you're inspired to do something, do that thing. If I'm inspired to write a blog post, I want to do it at that moment. If I'm inspired to send a tweet, I want to do it at that moment. If I'm inspired to solve a problem, I do it at that moment. If I'm inspired to read a book, I want to read it right then. If I'm inspired to solve a problem, I'll solve it right there. If I want to learn something, I do it at the moment of curiosity. The moment the curiosity arrives, I go learn that thing immediately. I download the book, I get on Google, I get on ChatGPT, whatever. I will figure that thing out on the spot. And that's when the learning happens. It doesn't happen because I've scheduled time, because I've set an hour aside, because when that time arrives, I might be in a different mood. I might just want to do something different. So I think that spontaneity is really important. You're going to learn best when you're having fun, when you generally are enjoying the process, not when you're forced to sit there and do it. How much do you remember from school you were forced to learn geography, history, mathematics on this schedule at this time, according to this person? Didn't happen. All the stuff that sticks with you is you learned it when you wanted to, when you genuinely had the desire. And that freedom, that ability to act on something the moment you want to is so liberating that most of us go through our lives with very, very little tastes of that. If you can live your entire life that way, that is a recipe for happiness. Procrastination is because you don't want to do that thing right now. You want to do something else, go do that something else. I reject this frame that efficiency and productivity and success are counter to happiness and freedom. They actually go together. How so? The happier you are, the more you can sustain doing something, the more likely you're going to do something that will in turn make you even happier. And you'll continue to do it and you'll outwork everybody else. The more free you are, the better you can allocate your time, and the less you're caught up in a web of obligations and commitments and the more you can focus on the task at hand.