Investor Naval Ravikant had a great tweet storm on “How to get rich” [his notes on extrinsic success] a year ago.

He has since been publishing a great series expanding on the various ideas he tweeted about on his blog. His post Play long term games with long term people resonated deeply as it contains powerful life advice.

Here is the summary:

[1] Pick an industry where you can play long-term games with long-term people. Long-term players make each other rich. Short-term players make themselves rich.

[2] All returns in life come from compound interest over many turns of long-term games, and they usually come at the end.

[3] People do right by each other when they know they will be around for the next turn of the game. And friction goes down, so you can do bigger and bigger things together.

I think the implication of his first point – “Long term players make other rich” – is key and extends well beyond money.

When we are in relationships for the long term, we end up investing deeply in the richness of the lives of those around us.

As Albert Einstein has said before:

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” 

All returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.

Thanks to the way compounding works, those investments pay off incredibly well the long term for everyone involved.

So, become someone who thinks and plays long term games.

Then, find partners, friends, and colleagues who are in it with you.

It is a powerful combination.