Page 292 - Ray Dalio - Principles

Under these higher-level principles there are a number of
supporting principles built around the many different types of
decisions that need to be made. These principles are meant for

reference. Though you might want to skim through them, I
recommend using them as one would use an encyclopedia or
search engine to answer a specific question. For example, if
you have to fire (or transfer) someone, you should use the
Table of Principles and go to the section of principles about
that. To make this easier, at Bridgewater we created a tool
called the “Coach” that allows people to type in their

particular issue and find the appropriate principles to help
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them with it. I will soon be making that available to the
public, along with many of the other management tools you’ll
read about in the final section of the book.

My main objective is not to sell you on these principles but
to share the most valuable lessons I’ve learned over my more
than forty-year journey. My goal is to get you to think hard

about the tough tradeoffs that you will face in many types of
situations. By thinking about the tradeoffs behind the
principles, you will be able to decide for yourself which
principles are best for you.

This brings me to my most fundamental work principle:

• Make your passion and your work

one and the same and do it with

people you want to be with.

Work is either 1) a job you do to earn the money to pay for the
life you want to have or 2) what you do to achieve your
mission, or some mix of the two. I urge you to make it as
much 2) as possible, recognizing the value of 1). If you do
that, most everything will go better than if you don’t.

Work Principles is written for those for whom work is
primarily the game that you play to follow your passion and

achieve your mission.