Page 165 - Ray Dalio - Principles

c. Distinguish between you as the designer of your machine and you as a
worker with your machine. One of the hardest things for people to
do is to objectively look down on themselves within their
circumstances (i.e., their machine) so that they can act as the

machine’s designer and manager. Most people remain stuck in
the perspective of being a worker within the machine. If you
can recognize the differences between those roles and that it is
much more important that you are a good designer/manager of
your life than a good worker in it, you will be on the right
path. To be successful, the “designer/manager you” has to be

objective about what the “worker you” is really like, not
believing in him more than he deserves, or putting him in jobs
he shouldn’t be in. Instead of having this strategic perspective,
most people operate emotionally and in the moment; their
lives are a series of undirected emotional experiences, going
from one thing to the next. If you want to look back on your
life and feel you’ve achieved what you wanted to, you can’t

operate that way.

d. The biggest mistake most people make is to not see themselves and others
objectively, which leads them to bump into their own and others’ weaknesses
again and again. People who do this fail because they are
stubbornly stuck in their own heads. If they could just get
around this, they could live up to their potential.

This is why higher-level thinking is essential for success.

e. Successful people are those who can go above themselves to see things
objectively and manage those things to shape change. They can take in
the perspectives of others instead of being trapped in their own
heads with their own biases. They are able to look objectively
at what they are like—their strengths and weaknesses—and
what others are like to put the right people in the right roles to

achieve their goals. Once you understand how to do this you’ll
see that there’s virtually nothing you can’t accomplish. You
will just have to learn how to face your realities and use the
full range of resources at your disposal. For example, if you as
the designer/manager discover that you as the worker can’t do
something well, you need to fire yourself as the worker and
get a good replacement, while staying in the role of

designer/manager of your own life. You shouldn’t be upset if