As I mentioned on my last post, one of the books that I read recently and has informed my approach to life is Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio. There are a few bits from the book that I occasionally share on Raffiapalm, and one that resonates very well with me is embedded below this post. I’ll expatiate on each of the points and how they are relevant to me.

1. You can make your work and passion one and the same: One of the things that I spend most of my time doing is tinkering. I pick up a device, software, a piece of magic box, a mechanical turk (hah!) and I start to unravel it. The saying that a well made piece of technology feels like magic when it is experienced by the end user is a bit of a farce from my perspective. It’s little wonder that most of my time working has been getting familiar with products by tearing them apart, putting them back together, and showing people what I found. I do that in more structured ways professionally but the idea is the same.
2. You can struggle well with others on your common mission to produce the previously mentioned rewards: It’s easy to get along with others when things are going well. The first part is perhaps more important; defining a mission with them so that the struggle feels worthwhile. This continues to be an area of growth for me, but incredibly profound.
3. You can savor both your struggles and your rewards: The latter part is more exciting, savoring the rewards. The struggles need good justifications, and who better than an excellent storyteller to unite everyone’s interests so that the struggles are a bit easier to bear?
4. You will evolve quickly and contribute to evolution in significant ways: This is the most important point of the whole bit. When a mission is defined, it is hopefully one that contributes to the evolution of everyone involved. This could be health-wise, financially, spiritually, or intellectually. On a micro level, I have found that everyone has different things that they care about as regards improvement, and a union of these things is what keeps those involved excited about the outcomes. This means getting to know everyone and the things that they care about personally. On a macro level, evolution, for me, means being better at operating my life for the people who will be impacted by it. It also means executing on better ways to get things done.

More specifically, I’m on a mission to improve my physical health in measurable ways over the next 2 years and to up-skill so that I can do more product-related experiments. This is my mission. For now, this mission only impacts me, but it’s a good way to demonstrate how things can improve when given some focus.

Ask me about the progress that I’m making in person, or maybe not 😊.

Above all else, my wishes for you are that:

• You can make your work and your passion one and the same.
• You can struggle well with others on your common mission to produce the previously mentioned rewards.
• You can savor both your struggles and your rewards and;
• You will evolve quickly and contribute to evolution in significant ways.

Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio