by Ray Dalio
- Ray admits that he, and very likely everybody else, do not know enough information relative to what they might need. Attributes his success to knowing how to approach things he doesn't know.
- Principles: fundamental truths that serve as foundations for behavior that allow you to obtain what you want out of life.
- If you can classify the myriad situations that you face each day (viz. "the machine") into certain types or flavors and have good principles for dealing with them, you can make decisions rapidly and live a better life as a result.
- Principles can come from individual experience or be learned/adopted from others or as holistic packages like belief systems and legal structures.
- First Principle: Think for yourself and decide 1) what you want, 2) what is true, and 3) what to do to achieve 1 given 2.
- Do so with humility and an open mind so you can access the best thinking available to you.