Principles: Life and Work (Ray Dalio)

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Ray Dalio is a strong advocate for personal and professional goal setting. I like Ray Dalio and he
does provide some good perspectives of what's going on in the world right now as well as human
nature. He observed from personal experience that successful people push their limits, which
sometimes results in failure. He discovered while studying nature that it is a fundamental law of
nature that in order to gain strength, one must push one's limit, which is painful.
Ray believes that one of the best ways to improve our decision-making abilities is to document
and constantly evaluate the principles we use to make decisions.
Ray Dalio discusses how his decision-making mindset transitioned over time from ‘I know I’m
right’ to having one of ‘How do I know I’m right?’ This made me consider my own personal
decision-making process and whether I was being sufficiently open-minded. It made me more
aware of my reactions to other people's ideas and criticisms. Instead of being defensive in the
face of criticism, I try to ask more probing questions to understand how the other person arrived
at a different conclusion.
Ray also emphasized a lot about the importance of self-reflection in order to better understand
oneself. He says, “the happiest people discover their own nature and match their life to it.”.
Therefore, we should strive to find meaning in our work, enjoy our coworkers, and value our
personal relationships. We can identify our individual limitations and work to improve them by
developing a habit of self-reflection.
Finally, through self-reflection, we will gain a better understanding of our individual
motivations, allowing us to direct our journey in the direction most likely to result in happiness
and satisfaction.