I was joined by legendary investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist Ray Dalio to discuss his new book “Principles” including his many formulas for success and the concepts and ideas which define our work and life. We dissect the core principles he used to build the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, along with my blueprint for building VaynerMedia and my personal brand.
I was really blown away by the fact that Ray and I share an unbelievably similar philosophy on self-awareness, the importance of failure, macro patience, and the 2 most important aspects of success being one’s balance of ego and humility.
We discussed everything from:
- How meditation paved the path for Ray to become self-aware.
- How Ray launched his career at 12 and got involved with the stock exchange.
- Ray’s favorite principle from his own book.
- And how someone with depression or bipolar disorder can live a better life.
The interesting thing about this conversation is that when I’m talking about legacy, humility, hustle, patience, gratitude, self-awareness, empathy, confidence, going all in on your strengths, doing the right thing, developing perspective, not being romantic, or simply hard work… these are actually my “principles.”
I call them my blueprint or my “macro thesis” while Ray calls them his principles. It’s exactly the same! The parallel in our experiences as entrepreneurs reaffirmed the importance of this type of thinking and the radical candor I apply to sharing my content, making decisions and building businesses.
From someone who has had an all-time career as an entrepreneur and investor, Ray definitely had some profound things to say about finding your inner peace, meditation, and the gift of being able to “think differently.” We talked about one’s ability to separate yourself from your own opinions in order to gain a higher-level perspective and remain open to new ideas.
I also questioned Ray about whether or not you could perpetually be in a state of “awareness” (because that’s how I usually feel) and his answer might surprise you!
We even had an unbelievable community question from our friend and fellow entrepreneur Tim Ferriss 
