Principles: Life and Work

by Ray Dalio

If someone who has been getting grades of 30s and 40s on their tests raised their scores to 50s over the course of a few months it would be accurate to ...

would still be woefully i...

Everything important in your life needs to be on a trajectory to be above the bar and headed toward exc...

The lines in the chart on the next page show how the dots connect through time. A’s trajectory gets you above the bar in an appro...

b. Be imprecise. Understand the concept of “by-and-large” and use approximations.

For example, when asked to multiply 38 by 12, most people do it the slow and hard way rather than simply rounding 38 up to 40, rounding 12 down to 10, and quickly determining that the answer is about 400.

“When you ask someone whether something is true and they tell you that it’s not totally true, it’s probably by-and-large true.”

c. Remember the 80/20 Rule and know what the key 20 percent is.

d. Be an imperfectionist.

5.4 Navigate levels effectively.

Maybe your town sits next to a body of water. Zoom in too close and you won’t be able to tell if the shoreline is along a river, a lake, or an ocean. You need to know which level is appropriate to your decision.

For example, you can navigate levels to move from your values to what you do to realize them on a day-to-day basis.

1 The High-Level Big Picture: I want meaningful work that’s full of learning. 1.1 Subordinate Concept: I want to be a doctor.