Page 133 - Ray Dalio - Principles

your downs less bad. I’m still struggling and I will until I die,
because even if I try to avoid the struggles, they will find me.

Thanks to all that struggling and learning, I have done
everything I wanted to do, gone everywhere I wanted to go,

met whomever I wanted to meet, gotten everything I wanted to
own, had a career that has been enthralling, and, most
rewardingly, had many wonderful relationships. I have
experienced the full range, from having nothing to having an
enormous amount, and from being a nobody to being a
somebody, so I know the differences. While I experienced

them going from the bottom up rather than from the top down
(which was preferable and probably influenced my
perspective), my assessment is that the incremental benefits of
having a lot and being on top are not nearly as great as most
people think. Having the basics—a good bed to sleep in, good
relationships, good food, and good sex—is most important,
and those things don’t get much better when you have a lot of

money or much worse when you have less. And the people
one meets at the top aren’t necessarily more special than those
one meets at the bottom or in between.

The marginal benefits of having more fall off pretty
quickly. In fact, having a lot more is worse than having a
moderate amount more because it comes with heavy burdens.
Being on top gives you a wider range of options, but it also

requires more of you. Being well-known is probably worse
than being anonymous, all things considered. And while the
beneficial impact one can have on others is great, when you
put it in perspective, it is still infinitesimally small. For all
those reasons, I cannot say that having an intense life filled

with accomplishments is better than having a relaxed life filled
with savoring, though I can say that being strong is better than
being weak, and that struggling gives one strength. My nature
being what it is, I would not have changed my life, but I can’t
tell you what is best for you. That is for you to choose. What I
have seen is that the happiest people discover their own nature
and match their life to it.

Now that my desire to succeed has given way to a desire to
help others succeed, that’s become my current struggle. It’s
now clear to me that my purpose, your purpose, and the