Ray Dalio is the leader of the largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates, and he’s become famous for his dogged discipline, radical candor, and relentless pursuit of insights and information.
I recently picked up his book “Principles” and it’s about as blunt and unassuming on the outside as it is on the inside. There’s no art on the book jacket, just the word Principles printed in big bold letters. His writing is direct and efficient.
His chapters focus on time periods and phases in his life. He was not an overnight success, and he is very honest about that, hence his chapter titles “My Abyss: 1979-1982” and “My Road of Trials: 1983-1994.”
It is a remarkable book. Here are just three of the principles that jumped out at me:
Go to the pain, rather than avoid it.
We resist pain and discomfort, but pain is a sign that you’re onto something interesting. Pain often teaches a lesson.
Dalio: “Instead of feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, I saw pain as nature’s reminder that there is something important for me to learn… Everyone makes mistakes. The main difference is that successful people learn from them and unsuccessful people don’t.”
Watch out for your blind spots.
Dalio says this requires taming of the ego.
“The two biggest barriers to good decision making are your ego and your blind spots… Everyone has weaknesses and they are generally revealed in the patterns of mistakes they make. The fastest path to success starts with knowing what your weaknesses are and staring hard at them. Everyone has at least one big challenge. You may in fact have several, but don’t go beyond your “big three… The first step to tackling these impediments is getting them out into the open.”
Relationships are more important than money.
Seems trite that Dalio, one of the richest people in the world, would put money over relationships, but he’s clearly thought it through, like every other aspect of his life: “In thinking about the relative importance of great relationships and money, it was clear that relationships were more important because there is no amount of money I would take in exchange for a meaningful relationship, because there is nothing I could buy with that money that would be more valuable.”
Dalio doesn’t just spout advice, he actually dissects his failures and successes in great detail, in a very public and honest way.
As he puts it: “I have found it helpful to think of my life as if it were a game in which each problem I face is a puzzle I need to solve. By solving the puzzle, I get a gem in the form of a principle that helps me avoid the same sort of problem in the future.”
Have a great week.
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