Page 49 - Ray Dalio - Principles

open-mindedness in order to increase your chances of success. Then
you press on.

My final lesson was perhaps the most important one, because it
has applied again and again throughout my life. At first, it seemed to
me that I faced an all-or-nothing choice: I could either take on a lot
of risk in pursuit of high returns (and occasionally find myself
ruined) or I could lower my risk and settle for lower returns. But I
needed to have both low risk and high returns, and by setting out on
a mission to discover how I could, I learned to go slowly when faced
with the choice between two things that you need that are seemingly
at odds. That way you can figure out how to have as much of both as
possible. There is almost always a good path that you just haven’t
discovered yet, so look for it until you find it rather than settle for
the choice that is then apparent to you.

As difficult as this was, I eventually found a way to have my cake
and eat it too. I call it the “Holy Grail of Investing,” and it’s the
secret behind Bridgewater’s success.