Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, speaks onstage during The Wall Street Journal’s 2024 The Future Of Everything Festival at Spring Studios on May 22, 2024 in New York City
Self-made billionaire Ray Dalio has a three-step recipe for success — and it's one anyone can use, he wrote in a LinkedIn post on Sunday.
First, identify what you want. Second, figure out how to realistically achieve them. And third, pursue that path with ironclad determination. "People who achieve success and drive progress deeply understand the cause-effect relationships that govern reality and have principles for using them to get what they want," wrote Dalio, 75, the founder and ex-CEO of hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates.
Dalio's formula may seem easier said than done — but it relies on a simple caveat. Figuring out how to realistically achieve your goals includes setting reasonable expectations for what success might look like, he wrote.
"I don't care whether you want to be a master of the universe, a couch potato, or anything else—I really don't," wrote Dalio, who has an estimated $14 billion net worth, according to Forbes. "Some people want to change the world and others want to operate in simple harmony with it and savor life. Neither is better. Each of us needs to decide what we value most and choose the paths we take to achieve it."
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Mark Cuban, another self-made billionaire, has a similar definition of success. It's not necessarily about how much money you have in the bank — it's about knowing what you want and figuring out how to get it, he told LinkedIn's "The Path" podcast last year.
"Success is just setting a goal and being able to wake up every morning feeling really good about what you've accomplished," said Cuban.
Successful people tend to share one simple trait, according to Cuban: If you want to achieve, you have to be willing to work hard for what you want and endure obstacles and uncertainly along the way. Cuban himself ran side hustles, got fired from multiple jobs and nearly went broke on his path to becoming a billionaire.
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"The one thing in life you can control is your effort," he said in a LinkedIn video post published by entrepreneur and venture capitalist Randall Kaplan last year. "And being willing to do so is a huge competitive advantage, because most people don't."
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