Principles: Life and Work
by Ray Dalio
June 19, 2022 — July 15, 2022
November 2020 - Unknown
Hanoi, Vietnam • Phnom Penh, Cambodia • Luang Prabang, Laos • Ottawa, Canada • Cairo, Egypt • Jeddah, Saudi Arabia • Los Angeles, CA
Recommended by Sasan Delghandi, back in 2017 during class (ECON 357: Money, Credit, and Banking)
I’ve been reading (studying) this book since 2017 on and off, I’ve considered it to be the modern holy grail at times. This is the book that I usually gift people with. It’s also the book that has been around with me the most; visiting 7 countries in total. It’s one of the books that I’ve annotated heavily, drawing my own concepts from it and illustrating them on the pages, and the book that’s been through a lot (as you can tell from the pages). There are not enough photos I can take of the pages to do it justice, I wish I could take more. Obviously, I highly recommend it. Holy Grail!
I'm a firm believer in meritocracy and notoriously transparent with people and put a heavy emphasis on having meaningful work and relationships. I continuously reflect on life and think critically, while setting up clear and realistic plans to achieve goals within our agendas and programs, always keeping an open mind to continue evolving with the times. What I struggle with is understanding that people are wired differently though, I assume that if I can do it considering the challenges I faced, they can do it too (but I’m working on that). I will warn you though that Ray Dalio’s principles and thoughts are not popularly practiced by most general companies and people. Therefore, I’d say that following them and feeling strongly about them can be somewhat idealistic and put your expectations way too high. For example, I’m a radically transparent person since I was a kid and have always emphasized meaningful work and relationships. But you will not find this in corporate jobs, especially at a younger age, leaving you slightly unhappy, which is why I stepped out.
Most people that I have discussed this book with tend to stop reading after Life Principles and don’t read Work Principles. The main reason I hear this is that it’s because it’s all about managing a company. While I agree that these principles have helped me manage our administration & organizations.
I will say that the Work Principles can also be applied to yourself as well and that people are missing out by not reading them and applying them. It can be seen in how you manage your projects, look at problems, and deal with people. It can also be helpful to get into the mind of how great companies will assess you as an employee.