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
Decide what you really want in life by reconciling your goals and your desires.
Take passion, for example. Without passion, life would be dull; you wouldn't want to live without it. But what's key is what you do with your passion. Do you let it consume you and drive you to irrational acts, or do you harness it to motivate and drive you while you pursue your real goals? What will ultimately fulfill you are things that feel right at both levels, as both desires and goals.
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How do you know what your passion is?
Feel the pull. It’s like how you know what food you like. Taste it and pursue what you like while giving consideration of whether or not it’s healthy for you.
How does one decide on one thing when one has two different directions in mind and do you believe each one of us has a core purpose or destiny that we are here to live out?
Force yourself to choose after understanding your nature and after triangulating well others who are like you and went down the paths you are considering. Then try going down that path and giving it enough of a chance to assess if it’s a reasonable path, and then change it if you don’t like it and pursue it if you do like it. Regarding understanding yourself and matching it to a suitable path, I have found that each of us has certain natures that make us drawn to certain paths that we are more inclined to enjoy and be good at. I have found that there are only a limited number of those natures - let’s say about 25. I believe that through history there have only been that same limited number of natures. I also believe that there are only a limited number of broad categories of paths (let’s say 50) in life. So, I believe that a good exercise is for you to look at historical figures or even people you know who you think you are most like you and who are happy and successful on their paths and see what paths these are. I also think you should do psychometric testing to learn more about your nature is and explore what paths are best for those with your nature. Doing these exercises will at a minimum will be fun, though I expect that you will find them to be invaluable.
I’m a prior BW associate and still refer to the principles on a daily basis.
Since you both experienced the principles on a daily basis when you were at Bridgewater and you still refer to them on a daily basis I know that you will love the “Principles in Action” app (that you can get for free on the iOS Apple App Store) as you will both see some familiar faces living out these principles in the cases and you will find the “Coach” a much more efficient way of getting to the best principle for the situations you are encountering. The Coach wasn’t created when you were at Bridgewater.
Finding my true passion is hard, how to get over this?
Force yourself to pick the one you like best and experience it long enough to know what it’s like and, if you dislike it change.
Do you think you should separate your passion from your profession? For example, if you’re an artist and spend most of your time at the business of art rather than making art plus you don't have financial success doing it
I suggest that you read my principle about making sure you think about money and other practical aspects of making your work and your passion the same things. It’s here (link)
I read Principles, but your regular posts help to keep the many valuable lessons in front of me and help orient my day
I urge you to get the free app Principles in Action on the IOS Apple App Store as it has a Coach that makes it easy to find the best principles for the situations you face (along with the book and other beneficial stuff).
Life Principle
- Use the 5-Step Process to Get What You Want Out of Life
- Have clear goals.
- Decide what you really want in life by reconciling your goals and your desires.
- Have clear goals.
Any person or organization can adopt Principles to better achieve their goals.
Learn what Principles are and how they are applied at Principles.com
