I recently bought two books, "Principles" and "Astrophysics for Busy People."

The main reading is "Principles", and another small book is interspersed with it for a change.

Let me first introduce the author of the book "Principles". He is Ray Dalio, the founder of the famous "Bridgewater" fund. The asset management scale of this fund has reached 160 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to almost 1 RMB.

Trillions of RMB.

Therefore, Bridgewater Associates has deservedly become the world's largest hedge fund, and Dalio himself is also known as the "Father of Hedge Funds."

This is the first time I have seen the writing method of the book "Principles". It is a list-like list of principles summarized by Dalio in his life and work. Below the big principles there are medium principles, and under the medium principles there are

Small principles, each principle is briefly described.

The book is divided into three parts: the first part belongs to Dario's personal struggle, the second part is life principles, and the third part is work principles.

***It has 576 pages, which is a very thick book.

I started reading from the third part of Working Principles.

People must continue to make progress, "If you don't make progress, you will die."

All aspects of the world are evolving, including the environment, technology, knowledge, and financial markets. People are also being forced to move forward in these environments. If we don't move forward, we will feel more anxious and have a sense of crisis.

Because if we don’t make progress, we may be replaced and eliminated, even if you are the strongest now.

Not only progress must be made, but continuous progress must be made. Progress in this world will never stop.

Human beings are very small compared to this world. Your lack of progress will not affect the world, but the progress of the world will easily put you in a difficult situation.

As the book says, "Evolution is the most powerful force in the universe, the only eternal thing, and the driving force of everything."

One of the words that taught me here is "professional blunderer," as Dalio calls himself.

He also makes mistakes in his investment decisions, and many of the principles in this book are derived from his mistakes.

Dalio advocates treating mistakes with a professional attitude. We should not always dwell on the mistake itself, and should not have the idea that "it is a stain and makes our image too imperfect."

On the contrary, in Dario's view, mistakes are also a good thing. Successful experiences will not bring about changes in us, and there are too many variables in the progress of the world. Repeating past experiences may not necessarily lead to success.

Making mistakes often brings us great stimulation, forcing us to reflect and improve, creating a sense of awe for things, and making us cautious.

Our goal is to be "accurate", not not to make mistakes. Mistakes also hide huge opportunities and are an integral part of progress.

As Thomas Edison said: "I have not failed, I have just discovered 10,000 unsuccessful ways."

Here are two relatively specific operating methods to help us get out of our mistakes and make progress.

In fact, Dalio's Bridgewater Company has also implemented this method, which is the "problem log".

Bridgewater also wrote software to force employees to use problem logs and enter errors they encountered into the problem log to remind themselves not to make the same mistakes again.

And if other employees encounter problems, they can also search by entering keywords to find corresponding solutions.

The more questions you accumulate in your problem log, the fewer mistakes you will make, allowing you and your company to operate efficiently.

Dalio’s “Principles” are not meant to be followed blindly.

He hopes readers can revise, improve, or even deny it from their own perspective.

Everyone has inevitable limitations, and his success covers his limitations so that others cannot see them.

Dalio hopes that everyone can write down their own unique principles like him.

To improve, to follow, to work more efficiently and to make continuous progress.

What makes me more teachable is Dario’s reflective summary and ability to think independently.

And being able to stick to my principles consistently after that is what I want to learn the most.