Ray Dalio’s 5-Step Process to Get What You Want in Life

In his book Principles, Ray Dalio shares a framework to achieve your goals. He believes that our life’s purpose is to evolve like these upward spirals below.

And he shares the framework, the “5-Step Process to Get What You Want in Life” that mimics his idea of a human evolution:

Put simply, the five steps are: goals, problems, diagnosis, design and doing.

Let’s go a level deeper:

1. Goals. You ought to them. Don’t ask me why. But you need to. What’s your big WHY? What drives you? Zig Ziglar said it the best, “you can be a wandering generality or a meaningful specific.” And you have to have defined goals to become a meaningful specific. Otherwise, what’s the freaking point?
2. Problems.  Setting and achieving goals is never a cakewalk! You’re going to face challenges. Perhaps many of them in your pursuit to accomplish your goals. It’s important that you stay ready, identify these challenges and let them fuel your ambition.
3. Diagnose. At times merely identifying your challenges isn’t enough. At times you will have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Because some challenges run deep and you will have to get to the root of the problems.
4. Design. Once you know the root of your problems you have to either eliminate it or get it out your way. You need a solution to solve your problem. You can build it from the scratch or use something that’s proven to work. Dalio suggests that we build a “machine” (like this framework itself!) to resolve our problems.
5. Doing. Remember #3… rolling up your sleeves? You do that here as well! Because the greatest “machine” built is only as good as its output. And there won’t be any if you haven’t even switched it on! For us, that means getting to work! There’s no getting around to that.

And that’s it! It’s a super practical framework that Ray has used to build his company and a magnificent life.

Goals. Problems. Diagnosis. Design. Doing.

Try it out and be amazed!

Original Idea: Ray Dalio.

Stolen from: Brain Johnson. Brian’s got a fantastic website that’s sure to add value if you’re into learning or “optimizing” your life.