Principles are ways of successfully dealing with reality to get what you want out of life.
Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, cites principles as his key to success.
In 1975, Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Over forty years later, Bridgewater has grown into the largest hedge fund in the world and the fifth most important private company in the United States (according to Fortune magazine), and Dalio himself has been named to TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way Dalio discovered unique principles that have led to his and Bridgewater’s unique success. It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio, that he believes are the reason behind whatever success he has had. He is now at a stage in his life that he wants to pass these principles along to others for them to judge for themselves and to do whatever they want with them.
Work Principle
Use Tools and Protocols to Shape How Work Is Done
Words alone aren't enough.
That's something I learned from watching people struggle to get themselves to do things that are in their best interests. After I shared these principles with the people at Bridgewater and refined them, nearly everyone saw the connection between the principles and our excellent results and wanted to operate in accordance with them. But there's a big difference between wanting to do something and actually being able to do it. Assuming people will do what they intellectually want to do is like assuming that people will lose weight simply because they understand why it's beneficial for them to do it. It won't happen until the proper habits are developed. In organizations, that happens with the help of tools and protocols.
Take a minute to think about how this applies to your reading of this book, or reading books in general. How often have you read a book describing some behavioral change you've wanted to make but then failed to? How much behavioral change do you think will result from this book if you don't have tools and protocols to help you? My guess is hardly any. Just as you can't learn many things by reading a book (how to ride a bike, speak a language, etc.), it's nearly impossible to change a behavior without practicing it. That is why I plan to make the tools that I describe in the Appendix publicly available.
Work Principle
Any person or organization can adopt Principles to better achieve their goals.
Learn what Principles are and how they are applied at Principles.com
