Principles are ways of successfully dealing with reality to get what you want out of life.
Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, cites principles as his key to success.
In 1975, Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Over forty years later, Bridgewater has grown into the largest hedge fund in the world and the fifth most important private company in the United States (according to Fortune magazine), and Dalio himself has been named to TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way Dalio discovered unique principles that have led to his and Bridgewater’s unique success. It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio, that he believes are the reason behind whatever success he has had. He is now at a stage in his life that he wants to pass these principles along to others for them to judge for themselves and to do whatever they want with them.
Life Principle
Distinguish big problems from small ones.
You only have so much time and energy; make sure you are investing them in exploring the problems that, if fixed, will yield you the biggest returns. But at the same time, make sure you spend enough time with the small problems to make sure they're not symptoms of larger ones.
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What do you do when all of your small problems are all symptoms of a larger problem that can not be solved by you (as the person with the problem)?
If your small problems are symptomatic of your larger problems and you see that you are getting at the bigger root cause. You have to deal with that bigger root cause because the smaller problems that come from it will persist. You in in the diagnosis stage (I.e. the third stage) of 5-Step Process to get at that root cause which will lead you to what to do about it. Read the 5-Step Process section of my book for more complete instructions of what to do. Most importantly don’t go on to the “what to do about it/design” stage until you nailed the diagnosis. That root cause problem exists because you have a fundamental problems with how “the machine”, which consists of people and designs, is working So you need to think about the weaknesses in people (including yourself) and the way the machine is working to cause those root cause problems. Do it very analytically like an engineer with the triangulation of other people. Once it’s clear who or what is causing you problems then you will have to deal with it. How you choose to deal with it will be your design. Do these steps with the help of smart others who care about your well-being because triangulation is invaluable. Please review the book Principles, or better yet the Coach part of the free app “Principles in Action” which you can get free on the Apple iOS App Store. You will be able to get coaching directly from the Coach.
Life Principle
- Use the 5-Step Process to Get What You Want Out of Life
- Identify and don't tolerate problems.
- Distinguish big problems from small ones.
- Identify and don't tolerate problems.
Any person or organization can adopt Principles to better achieve their goals.
Learn what Principles are and how they are applied at Principles.com
