Principle 1: Embrace reality and deal with it. If you’re like me, you read the title “Principles” and wondered, “So, what are the principles he mentions anyway?” Here’s an extremely high-level summary of the five principles mentioned in the book. Q2: What are the “Principles” in this book? He also wants people to discover their own principles and write them down, thereby improving their decisions and lives. In fact, he wants every reader to thoughtfully choose which, if any, principles to adopt for themselves. For everyone else, he wants them to find meaningful work and build meaningful relationships, which are the two things his principles focus on.Īlthough he offers his list of principles, readers don’t have to adopt each and every one of them. At the age of 68 when the book was published, Ray is now at a stage in his life where he wants to help others be successful rather than to be more successful himself.įor his employees at Bridgewater, he hopes this book will pass down his principles for decision-making and empower future employees to thrive without him. Inwardly, he has built meaningful work and strong relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. Outwardly, he has achieved tremendous wealth and fame. Ray Dalio has had tremendous success, both by outward measures and by his intrinsic measures. How have I applied this book in my life?.What are the main ideas and arguments? (largest section).If you just want to skip to how I’ve applied the book to my life and then jump back to the summary for parts that intrigue you, you can skip to the end and then jump back to the middle. I don’t see Part 1 as needing any analysis or summary, and Part 3 is essentially the life principles applied to a workplace setting so it’s somewhat repetitive. Readers can just refer to it like a reference book.įor this post, I will go over the Part 2: life principles. Part 3 gives a close-up view of the principles he uses in operating his company, Bridgewater. Part 2 is the main focus of the book, and he wants everyone to read that whole section. However, the author states that readers can skip Part 1 and even Part 3. In the context of this book, the term “principles” means decision-making guidelines.

Part 2 is about his life principles, and Part 3 is about his work principles. Part 1 is about the author’s journey, aimed at setting a context for his principles.

Ray dalio principles summary