Ray Dalio - A Billionaire’s Attitude to Pain & Success

By Rajiv Shah, Legends Report Contributor

“It is a fundamental law of nature that to evolve one has to push one’s limits, which is painful.”

- Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio is an American businessman and founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds. In 1975, four years after graduating from college, Ray started Bridgewater Associates from his apartment in New York, and today has a net worth of $15.4 billion (as of 2015). Ray cites meditation as being central to his success and sees life and business through a unique lens.

In 2011 Ray published a document entitled “Principles”. It outlines the key lessons learned during his life and career, including the importance of addressing one’s own failures and weaknesses and understanding that pain in life is not a bad thing but in fact absolutely necessary for personal growth and evolution.

When setbacks hit, it is often tempting to look elsewhere and to blame other people or circumstances. It keeps your pride intact and prevents you from feeling bad. But in doing so you are detaching yourself from reality. You are missing a chance to examine your own weaknesses and to potentially improve upon them, which in the long-term would likely prevent similar setbacks from recurring. Ray emphasises the importance of examining what is actually true, not what you want to believe is true, in moving successfully towards the goals and dreams you have set out for yourself.

“People who confuse what they wish were true with what is really true create distorted pictures of reality that make it impossible for them to make the best choices.”

 

The deeper the understanding you have of your own weaknesses, the closer you get to reality and the greater your chances of successfully achieving your goals, empowering yourself and living in a way that is in harmony with the world around you. The price we pay for running away from pain is an increasing separation not only from reality but from our goals and dreams and how to accomplish them.

Here's Dalio sharing some advice on life and business...

Here's a question to reflect on...

How aware are you on a scale of 1-10 about the subtle white lies you tell yourself about what you think is true, as opposed to what actually is true?

[whatsapp url="https://www.legends.report/ray-dalio-a-billionaires-attitude-to-pain-success" title="Thought you'd like this Legends Report article, it's Ray Dalio's attitude to success and pain in life." ]