Naval Ravikant Quote on Desire and How It Works Against Your Pursuit of Happiness

“Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”

Naval Ravikant, Medium

Beyond the Quote (272/365)

How many contracts of unhappiness have you signed? And how lengthy are the terms for each? Is the contract of your desire going to take you a week to obtain? A month? 12 months? 48 months? 72 months? Or is the contract you signed more like a 30 year mortgage? Are you really okay with being unhappy for that amount of time? …For any amount of time? And for what? A fancy car? A luxury watch? A playboy mansion? How much of your life are you willing to sacrifice for these things?

You see, the issue isn’t in the objects themselves. It’s not about the cars, watches, or mansions—it’s about the time spent in discontent. What you do with your money is your business. Who am I to judge you for how you spend it? It’s about the unhappiness that you’re agreeing to when you choose to desire something that you don’t have. Because what is happiness but the absence of desire? It’s only when you are content with where you, with what you have, and with the people you’ve chosen to surround yourself with that you can truly surrender to the present moment.

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And that’s precisely the problem with desire—it takes you out of the present moment and places you in your head into some fantasy future dream place. And the bigger that gap is between where you are and where you fantasize yourself to be—the bigger the feeling of discontent. This is where the get-rich-quick schemes come in. Who cares about the “how,” all that matters is the end result, right? Whatever makes the most money now is the “how”—that’s the mantra. But, the problem with that type of thinking is that it’s completely backwards—the “how” is what matters the most. Why? Because the “how” is where you’re going to spend all of your time!

So, the next time you decide to desire something, reframe the question and ask yourself—am I willing to sign a contract of unhappiness for this desired object? Or, even better, how can I work towards obtaining this desired object in a way that allows me to enjoy the process of the work? Because that’s the loop hole in this whole conversation—If you love the work that you do, then there is no issue—there is no contract. You are enjoying how you’re spending your time.

So long as the desire for the object isn’t overwhelming the enjoyment and present-minded flow state that comes from doing the chosen work—then why fret? The work—the how—just has to be the primary and the desire needs to be secondary. Either that, or, you could just drop your desires altogether. One changes how you’re moving towards the finish line and the other takes away the finish line altogether. Without desire there is no race—there is no end to pursue. You get to simply be. As always, think carefully and choose wisely.

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This post became the introduction for: 50 Materialism Quotes to WAKE YOU UP From The Nightmare of More

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