6 Books Every Digital Citizen Should Read
In a noisy world, these books sharpen your edge.
Welcome to Digital Citizen 👋
After building businesses across multiple countries, one thing became clear:
Success isn’t tied to one system, one location, or one way of thinking.
In today’s world, you can design life on your terms - globally, intelligently, and with intention.
Digital Citizen is your guide to living smarter, working freely, and navigating a borderless world with clarity.
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Direction > Motion
Action creates change. But without knowledge, it's easy to move fast in the wrong direction.
If you want to live and work across borders, you need skills, awareness, and mental clarity. Books are part of that. They sharpen your thinking and expand what you believe is possible.
I’ve read more than 100 books in the past few years. Some of the ones that had the biggest impact, I would like to share here (from easy to difficult to read and comprehend in order).
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
Eric Jorgenson
What it’s about
This book brings together Naval’s thoughts on wealth, happiness, and decision-making. It’s built from years of interviews, podcasts, and writing. The ideas are short, clear, and meant to change how you think. Instead of offering rules, it gives you tools. You learn how to build a life that runs on clarity, ownership, and focus.
How it helps
A digital citizen works independently and makes decisions without a system telling them what to do. That requires strong thinking. Naval teaches you how to use leverage, choose the right opportunities, and stay grounded. The book is about building mental strength that supports freedom in business and in life. I read it many times, and always find some new insights.
5 key takeaways
Play long-term games with long-term people. Build projects and relationships that grow over time instead of chasing quick wins.
Earn with your mind, not your time. Focus on creating things that scale and give you control over how you live and work.
Learn to love reading. It sharpens your thinking and helps you adapt as the world keeps changing.
Be yourself. That’s how you build a business and a life no one else can replicate.
Real freedom is living without the need for more. Strip away what doesn’t matter and focus on what does.
Company of One
Paul Jarvis
What it’s about
This book challenges the idea that a business needs to grow to succeed. Jarvis shows how staying small can give you more control, more focus, and more freedom. He explains how to build a lean company that supports your life without chasing constant expansion. It’s about making enough, not always chasing more.
How it helps
A digital citizen often works alone or in small teams. This book gives a framework for doing that in a smart, sustainable way. It shows how to create something profitable without the stress of managing people or chasing investors. You learn how to keep things simple while staying financially independent and creatively free.
5 key takeaways
Choose simplicity over scale. The more you grow, the more you manage. Staying lean means staying in control.
Build a business that fits your life instead of bending your life around your business.
Profit gives you freedom. You don’t need to be big, you just need to be efficient and clear.
Customers don’t care how big your company is. They care about value, consistency, and trust.
Long-term freedom comes from saying no to growth that adds stress without meaning.
The Pathless Path
Paul Millerd
What it’s about
This book is a personal and thoughtful look at what happens when you walk away from a successful but unfulfilling career. Millerd shares how he stepped off the default path to explore a life built around meaning, creativity, and freedom. He weaves together personal stories, reflections on the history of work, and insights into what it means to design a life on your own terms.
How it helps
Digital citizens often step away from the structures that once gave life direction. This book helps you understand what happens after that decision. It gives language to the strange, in-between phase of reinventing how you work and live. Instead of chasing titles or prestige, Millerd invites you to define success for yourself, and gives you the mindset tools to navigate a path that may not make sense to others — but feels right to you.
5 key takeaways
Uncertainty is not something to avoid. It’s a natural part of any path where you're building something original instead of following a script.
The real risk isn’t quitting your job. It’s living a life that never felt like your own because you were too afraid to question the script.
There is no perfect plan. You figure things out by doing, adjusting, and listening to what energizes you over time.
A fulfilling life isn’t built by copying others. It requires space, silence, and the courage to follow your own interests wherever they lead.
Work should support your life, not consume it. Choosing freedom often means choosing less (e.g. structure, certainty) in exchange for more meaning.
Zero to One
Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
What it’s about
This book is a guide to building companies that create new things. Thiel argues that true innovation comes from going from zero to one, by creating something entirely new, rather than making incremental improvements. Drawing from his experience as a co-founder of PayPal and an investor in companies like Facebook and SpaceX, Thiel shares insights on startups, competition, and the importance of thinking for yourself.
How it helps
For digital citizens, this book offers a framework for creating unique value in a crowded marketplace. It challenges you to think independently, avoid competition, and focus on innovation. Thiel's perspective encourages building businesses that are not just different but so good that no other firm can offer a close substitute, providing a path to freedom and success. It’s not an easy read (at least it wasn’t for me the first time), but it’s a great book.
5 key takeaways
Create something new: True innovation means building something unique that didn't exist before, not just improving on existing products or services.
Avoid competition: Competing in existing markets leads to diminishing returns. Instead, aim to create a monopoly by offering a product or service that stands alone.
Think for yourself: Independent thinking is crucial. Don't follow the crowd; instead, develop your own insights and convictions.
Focus on long-term planning: Successful businesses plan for the future, setting clear visions and strategies to achieve lasting impact.
Build a strong foundation: A company's success depends on a solid foundation, including the right team, culture, and structure from the outset.
Permanent Record
Edward Snowden
What it’s about
This memoir chronicles Edward Snowden's journey from a young man with a passion for technology to a whistleblower who exposed the U.S. government's mass surveillance programs. Snowden details his upbringing, his career in the intelligence community, and the ethical dilemmas that led him to leak classified information, revealing the extent of global surveillance.
How it helps
For digital citizens, this book underscores the importance of privacy, transparency, and ethical responsibility in the digital age. It serves as a reminder of the power and consequences of standing up for one's beliefs, especially when challenging powerful institutions. I also highly recommend the movie, which was made about this life.
5 key takeaways
Understanding the digital footprint: Every online action contributes to a permanent record, emphasising the need for awareness and caution in digital interactions.
The value of whistleblowing: Speaking out against unethical practices, even at personal risk, can lead to significant societal change.
The complexity of modern surveillance: Government surveillance programs are more extensive and invasive than many realize, raising concerns about civil liberties.
Ethical responsibility in tech: Professionals in technology fields have a duty to consider the moral implications of their work and its impact on society.
The importance of transparency: Open dialogue and transparency are crucial in holding institutions accountable and protecting democratic values.
Antifragile
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
What it’s about
Antifragile explores how certain systems, ideas, and people not only survive stress and uncertainty but actually grow stronger from it. Taleb introduces the concept of antifragility as the opposite of fragility, not just resilience, but a quality that improves through disorder. The book spans economics, health, decision-making, and philosophy, challenging readers to rethink how they approach risk and volatility.
How it helps
Digital citizens live in unstable environments by design. Countries change policies. Clients disappear. Markets shift. This book offers a mindset for thriving under those conditions. It encourages you to structure your life, business, and decisions in ways that benefit from randomness instead of fearing it. The result is more independence, less stress, and greater long-term upside.
5 key takeaways
Volatility is information. Don’t smooth it out, learn from it and let it shape your strategy.
Build a life that gains from randomness by removing anything that breaks under pressure.
The more optionality you have, the more antifragile you become. Freedom is having choices.
Avoid systems that require perfect conditions. If it only works when everything goes right, it’s fragile.
Over-planning can backfire. Leave room for the unknown and let reality teach you what works.
30 Takeaways for Digital Citizens
A summary of powerful ideas from six books that help you think clearly, earn independently, and live with more freedom.
Play long-term games with long-term people. Build projects and relationships that grow over time instead of chasing quick wins.
Earn with your mind, not your time. Focus on creating things that scale and give you control over how you live and work.
Learn to love reading. It sharpens your thinking and helps you adapt as the world keeps changing.
Be yourself. That’s how you build a business and a life no one else can replicate.
Real freedom is living without the need for more. Strip away what doesn’t matter and focus on what does.
Choose simplicity over scale. The more you grow, the more you manage. Staying lean means staying in control.
Build a business that fits your life instead of bending your life around your business.
Profit gives you freedom. You don’t need to be big, you just need to be efficient and clear.
Customers don’t care how big your company is. They care about value, consistency, and trust.
Long-term freedom comes from saying no to growth that adds stress without meaning.
Uncertainty is not something to avoid. It’s a natural part of any path where you're building something original instead of following a script.
The real risk isn’t quitting your job. It’s living a life that never felt like your own because you were too afraid to question the script.
There is no perfect plan. You figure things out by doing, adjusting, and listening to what energizes you over time.
A fulfilling life isn’t built by copying others. It requires space, silence, and the courage to follow your own interests wherever they lead.
Work should support your life, not consume it. Choosing freedom often means choosing less (e.g. structure, certainty), in exchange for more meaning.
Create something new. True innovation means building something unique that didn’t exist before.
Avoid competition. The best businesses don’t fight for attention, they own their space.
Think for yourself. Insight doesn’t come from consensus. It comes from clarity and conviction.
Focus on long-term planning. Vision matters more than quick results.
Build a strong foundation. Teams, culture, and structure shape what your business becomes.
Understand your digital footprint. Everything you do online leaves a trace, and that trace matters.
Speaking out can change systems. Challenging power is costly but necessary.
Surveillance is deeper than you think. Awareness is the first step toward control.
Ethics in tech are not optional. The tools you build shape the world, so choose wisely.
Transparency protects freedom. Without it, systems drift toward abuse.
Volatility is information. Don’t smooth it out, learn from it and let it shape your strategy.
Build a life that gains from randomness by removing anything that breaks under pressure.
The more optionality you have, the more antifragile you become. Freedom is having choices.
Avoid systems that require perfect conditions. If it only works when everything goes right, it’s fragile.
Over-planning can backfire. Leave room for the unknown and let reality teach you what works.
No more planning (!)
Some books shift your perspective in a way that stays with you.
These 6 are like that.
They help you think more clearly, work with more intention, and live with more freedom. If you’re building a location-independent life or just redefining how you want to spend your time, this is a strong starting point.
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