Will I love Principles?

Ray Dalio is one of the most successful hedge fund managers of all time. You might ask what that has to do with doing good in the world, but I think it’s abundantly clear that many of the same principles and approaches that lead to quantifiable success in the business world can contribute to increased success in efforts to make the world a better place.

I don’t agree with Dalio on everything, but I found his core messages such as focusing on results, being direct and candid with colleagues, weighing the credibility of someone’s opinion based on their history of… show more.

As a professional musician I rarely enter into, or study, the world of business and its denizens. When the Ray Dalio book was recommended to me I was reluctant, at first, to dive into what seemed a foreign world so far removed from my own. Instead, to my delight, I discovered a totally new voice and way of looking at the world and its challenges which can be applied to any one in any profession. It was fascinating to learn of Dalio's successes, and challenges, and more about the trajectory of this extraordinary life. I often found myself mulling over… show more.

I love this book because Ray is a master at building, evaluating, and improving systems and has taken the time to share his insights to help others do the same.

The principles he’s identified and described can simultaneously assist any investor to construct a better portfolio and any person to live a more successful and fulfilling life. This book offers a unique opportunity to learn from one of the most insightful people in history. 

One of the most successful hedge fund investors of all time, Dalio just gets it.

In a world where cookie cutter, how-to-lead books could be stacked as high as the world’s tallest skyscraper, Dalio’s unconventional approach to leadership is refreshing – and simplistic. The book details a set of well-defined principles, which are effectively decision-rules for getting what you want out of life and work.

It has helped me immeasurably in both my professional and personal lives.

Ray Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world. In Principles: Life and Work, he shares the guiding principles powering his success and Bridgewater’s. Principles is a manual for rational thinking. The main theme is that finding trust is the best way to make decisions, and that ego, emotion, and blind spots prevent you from discovering the truth. Dalio shares the foundation of trust, why we often think of trust as something we inject into a relationship. Not so. Trust is an output built on something much deeper.

In my experience, both as a… show more.

Ray Dalio is well known as the founder of the investment firm Bridgewater Associates and a successful investor. He has systematically worked his way up. This career pattern is not unusual for successful people and not the main reason why I recommend this book. What impressed me much more was the clarity with which he formulated his principles and, above all, the stringency with which he then implemented these principles. This requires an unusual discipline and perseverance that I, myself an entrepreneur, envy Ray Dalio for. Anyone who manages to apply this method will be successful.