“Principles are fundamental truths that serve as the foundations for behavior that gets you what you want out of life.” —Ray Dalio

In his #1 New York Times bestseller Principles, legendary investor Ray Dalio introduced millions of readers around the world to the unconventional approach he developed as the founder and builder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest and most successful hedge fund in the world. Dalio attributes his unique success to his process of recording, refining, and acting on a set of well-defined principles, which are effectively decision-rules for getting what you want out of life and work. His goal in publishing the book was to show readers the value of principle-based thinking so that they could develop their own principles, aligned with their own values, for getting whatever they wanted out of life.

With this new journal, Dalio takes his goal one step further to help readers reflect on and record their own principles. He does that by providing a series of guided exercises and questions for reflecting on what you’re like, what you value, and what principles will best help you achieve your goals. These exercises draw from key concepts in the original Principles book, including:

1. How to identify your strengths, weaknesses, motivations, and preferences
2. How to use the “five-step process” to achieve your goals
3. How to become both “assertive and open-minded at the same time”
4. How to maximize your learning from your mistakes (which are inevitable)

All of these exercises can optionally be enhanced using the free Principles in Action iOS and Android app (currently available in the United States, UK, Germany, Spain, and India with more countries to come), which provides an even more interactive, multimedia experience, and they are followed by a number of blank journal pages containing thought-provoking and unconventional prompts from Principles aimed at helping you formulate your own principles. The experience concludes with a structured reflection on where you and your loved ones are along life’s journey, leaving you with a highly personalized, practical playbook for achieving success in the years ahead.

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