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
Have clear goals.
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I love this quote from Aristotle: “First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends, such as wisdom and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” In Greek, clear (katharos) means pure—free from impurities like pride; in Latin, clarus means bright and distinct. Clear goals align intention, clarity, and purpose, and they should serve the greater good, not just personal success. The Greeks sought wisdom to preserve life, not merely avoid death. In an AI-driven world, clear goals matter more than ever—2,400 years later. If you don’t like setting clear goals, you’ll like extinction even less.
Ray Response: Thank you John for sharing those wisdoms of those wisemen with me.
I’m an admirer and have been following your teachings for some time. I understand how clear goals help us step up—but what if someone can’t yet figure out what they want to do, what their skills are, or where their talents lie? As a student, I see many people struggling with these questions. What do you suggest?
It’s normal and healthy not to know what you want as a student because you haven’t tasted enough to say. I suggest that you start the discovery process by both making a project out of getting to know yourself and experimenting. Regarding the project to get to know yourself - take personality tests, collect feedback from others about what makes you uniquely you, and think about what sort of stuff you have found yourself pulled to (e.g. big picture vs detailed, arts vs sciences, adventure vs secure, change vs stability, etc.). Do that until you and others paint the picture until you and they look at that picture as say “That’s you!” Then think about the directions that offer those things that suit your nature. Then experiment with trial and error. It can take you until about age 30 to narrow your choices down to the point of clarifying a direction (and it might go on beyond), and you will probably change your mind a few times after that. View life as a simultaneous self-discovery and world discovery process in which the goals are to both enjoy the journey of the discovery and to find the fit between what you’re like and what the worlds you chose are like.
Life Principle
- Use the 5-Step Process to Get What You Want Out of Life
Have clear goals.
- Prioritize: While you can have virtually anything you want, you can't have everything you want.
- Think about what you want out of life and make your work a path to getting it.
- Recognize when to ride the wave.
- Don't confuse goals with desires.
- Decide what you really want in life by reconciling your goals and your desires.
- Don't mistake the trappings of success for success itself.
- Never rule out a goal because you think it's unattainable.
- Remember that great expectations create great capabilities.
- Almost nothing can stop you from succeeding if you have a) flexibility and b) self-accountability.
- Knowing how to deal well with your setbacks is as important as knowing how to move forward.
Any person or organization can adopt Principles to better achieve their goals.
Learn what Principles are and how they are applied at Principles.com
