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.
Work Principle
Make your passion and your work one and the same and do it with people you want to be with.
Work is either 1) a job you do to earn the money to pay for the life you want to have or 2) what you do to achieve your mission, or some mix of the two. I urge you to make it as much 2) as possible, recognizing the value of 1). If you do that, most everything will go better than if you don’t.
RECENT USER EXCHANGES
Am I in the wrong business if my passion isn't my work?
Do you have a passion that will pay you well to do it? Try hard to find a job that you love because the consequences of not finding it will be miserable. Get help from smart others to find it.
I'm 31 and still haven't a clue what to do with my life.
It’s understandable that at 31 you’re not sure what you want to do with your life, though you probably should commit to seriously trying something pretty soon. Quite often people who are sure at that age are too confident because they’re on a track without much exploration. On the other hand, sometimes people are bewildered by the array of choices. Life is like a giant smorgasbord in which you can’t taste everything in order to make sure you’re making the best choice. Ask yourself if the reason you haven’t decided is that a) you haven’t found anything that excites you or b) you’re not sure which of the things is the best thing so you don’t want to commit. If it’s a) (you haven’t found anything that excites you) then you probably have a problem getting excited about anything because life would have brought you into contact with enough things that something should have gotten you excited. If it’s b) (you’re not sure which of the things is the best thing) realize that you will never know if you picked the best thing and waiting for that sureity is a fools journey (because you will never get it) so pursue one of those things that excites you until it doesn’t excite you. If you feel you haven’t had enough exposure to decide I suggest that you experiment and do personality testing that discovers what you’re like and those jobs that suit it. Then force yourself to make a choice and experience it as long as it’s good. Commit and move forward knowing that you can always change your mind.
If we’re conditioned from a young age to be good employees, to get jobs to pay the mortgage, what would be your advice to those seeking to change that mindset and start on the path to finding one's passion?
I assume that you agree with me that if you’re passionate about you’re job and all else is equal that 1) you will perform better at it so you will be more successful at it and you will be happier. So, when advising people, I ask them to first try to figure out how to do that without losing the money or the other stuff that is standing in the way of doing what they love. With help they can usually do that. For example, a guy who is a private equity investor asked me for that help, I asked him what his passion outside of work is, he told me and I advised him to find a private equity firm that invested in that area and now he’s doing that so he gets his head into what he loves and he’s great at it so he’s much happier and much more successful. As I explained in Principles, whenever I was faced with having to make a choice of two seemingly mutually exclusive but must-have things, with thought and time, I was usually able to do both if I spent the time and got the advice of smart people. I also find that most people are trapped in their circumstances because they don’t realize all the alternatives that are available to them outside so they are trapped in unacceptable circumstances. Don’t be one of those people. If, after you tried to find a job that aligns with your passion, you find that you have to give up something you want to get something you want more - e.g., you have to make a step down in comp to make a step up in lifestyle — that’s great, too. Remember Pain + Reflection = Progress. That is your opportunity to reflect well on what is most important to you. Remember that you can have just about anything you want but you can’t have everything you want. You will need to both practice and expand your capacity. The principles in Principles explain how to do these things. To get at the right one I suggest that you use “Coach” which is in the “Principles in Actions” app on the iOS Apple App Store.
What if one’s passion and skill set are not rewarded by society?
If that’s true (which I doubt because I believe that you can find a way, if your clever), pick another one of your passions to combine with your work (surely you have more than one) or, if you have to keep them separate (which I really doubt that you do) explore how to get as much of each as possible. I suggest referring the “Principles” and refer to the ones that will help you with this.
What if you love a certain job far more than another, but the other job gets you to your goal quicker?
Decide which of those is more important to you and make a choice.
Any person or organization can adopt Principles to better achieve their goals.
Learn what Principles are and how they are applied at Principles.com
