Page 245 - Ray Dalio - Principles

LIFE PRINCIPLES: PUTTING IT ALL

TOGETHER

In Life Principles, I’ve explained some principles that helped
me do both of these things. I believe that because the same
kinds of things happen over and over again, a relatively few
well-thought-out principles will allow you to deal with just
about anything that reality throws at you. Where you get these

principles from doesn’t matter as much as having them and
using them consistently—and that you never stop refining and
improving them.

To acquire principles that work, it’s essential that you
embrace reality and deal with it well. Don’t fall into the
common trap of wishing that reality worked differently than it

does or that your own realities were different. Instead,
embrace your realities and deal with them effectively. After
all, making the most of your circumstances is what life is all
about. This includes being transparent with your thoughts and
open-mindedly accepting the feedback of others. Doing so will
dramatically increase your learning.

Along your journey you will inevitably experience painful

failures. It is important to realize that they can either be the
impetus that fuels your personal evolution or they can ruin
you, depending on how you react to them. I believe that
evolution is the greatest force in the universe and that we all
evolve in basically the same way. Conceptually, it looks like a
series of loops that either lead upward toward constant
improvement or remain flat or even trend downward toward

ruin. You will determine what your own loops look like.

Your evolutionary process can be described as a 5-Step
Process for getting what you want. It consists of setting
goals, identifying and not tolerating problems, diagnosing
problems, coming up with designs to get around them, and
then doing the tasks required. The important thing to
remember is that no one can do all the steps well, but that it’s

possible to rely on others to help. Different people with