Our goal at New Wall Street is to make you rich. By The end of this blog, you will understand how these books helped Ray Dalio on his path to riches. You can use the knowledge here to create a framework to help you secure wealth.
So, sit back, put on your glasses, and get ready to learn a little bit.
Who Is Ray Dalio?
Ray Dalio is the founder and Co-Chief investment officer of Bridgewater, a hedge fund with over $140 billion in management.
He is often referred to as the greatest macro investor alive, alongside warren buffet. He recently gave us the gift of telling us about the books he read to make him a billionaire, which is what you will uncover in this reading.
What you’ll notice about this list, Is a common theme that I’ll explain toward the end of the article.
You can use the knowledge in these books, which are all available on Amazon, to emulate Ray Dalio as you work to make your own fortune.
Few people will actually go out and get these books, take the time to read them, and then implement actionable steps into their daily lives.
This is why so few people succeed in their endeavors. But you aren’t like them right? If you are reading this right now, chances are that you do have what it takes. If you intend on success, stick around until the end to see how you can apply the learnings.
The Lessons of History by Will Durant and Ariel Durant
This book teaches the reader that humans are what they have always been throughout history. We may change our habits, but our instincts remain the same.
In essence, this book contains hundreds of wise lessons and patterns that will serve you well in life.
One of these patterns is the repeating concentration of wealth to a small portion of individuals.
Take a look at where we are at today and notice that this is nothing new. Over the course of the 2020-2022 Pandemic, over 2/3s of the $60 Trillion in wealth created went straight to the richest 1% of people.
Another notable lesson is as follows: Only below-average men desire equality.
Those who are aware of being above average desire freedom. And in the end, the superior ability always wins
The most powerful message conveyed is that the lessons taught in old mythologies are likely correct.
It’s foolish to think that you and your 20 to 80 years of life knows better than thousands of years of collective knowledge, regardless of how ‘revolutionary’ recent technological advancements have been.
The South Sea Trade debunks the recent charlatans in the crypto industry if you take the time to equate the two. The fact is, that there is no honest avenue to get insanely wealthy without a considerable amount of hard work. Snake oil salesman would have you think otherwise.
Get the book on amazon here: https://amzn.to/3WHWkDF
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
This is my personal favorite, and potentially one of the more impactful books you could ever read.
Campbell explores the theory that mythological narratives frequently share a fundamental structure. The similarities of these myths brought Campbell to write his book in which he details the structure of the monomyth.
He calls the motif of the archetypal narrative, “the hero’s adventure”. In a well-known passage from the introduction to The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell summarizes the monomyth.
Defined as this:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: mystical forces are there discovered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
This translates into everything we see today, but more importantly it acts as a guide from thousands of years of our ancestors. Let me explain, the collective wisdom of dozens of generations of humans has painted the path of success in mythology, and although they appear in different books with different faces, the bones of the story are the same. You face a challenge far beyond your understanding and return home victorious to bring success and bounties to your fellow humans.
Think about how you can incorporate this into your personal journey. Understand that the details are not important, as they will look different from person to person, but the bones will be the same. So do not get distracted by nuance and succumb to inaction.
Get the book on amazon here: https://amzn.to/3BWZxYk
Einstein’s Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius
Ohanian highlights Einstein’s mediocre scholastic performance, poor personal hygiene, and challenged interpersonal skills as likely culprits for his inability to secure a more suitable position.
The book’s portrayal of Einstein is atypical and helpful in positioning the man as an approachable and intelligible person. For example, Einstein’s icily cavalier treatment of his wife Mileva Marić during their divorce for his infidelity illustrates the all-too-human failings of the man behind the genius.
Get the book on amazon here: https://amzn.to/3WJHAo9
River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life by Richard Dawkins
Dawkins is perhaps the most influential modern author on this list. As you may remember from my previous video, Jeff Bezos discusses Dawkin’s other book, the Blind Watchmaker in his last annual shareholder letter as CEO.
So, you can see, Dawkins carries incredible influence with billionaires, and you should pay attention to what he says.
Dawkins begins the book by stating that all our ancestors reached adulthood and begot at least one child before they died. In a world where most organisms die before they can procreate, descendants are common but ancestors are rare.
But we can all claim an unbroken chain of successful ancestors, right back to the first single-celled organism.
As you can imagine, this book is useful to give yourself perspective on the Darwinian reality of life. Oftentimes, we find ourselves distracted by loud social narratives that fail to account for the basic facts of life itself as well as the instinctual parameters that we, as humans, are confined to.
Reading this book will allow you to better disregard useless information, and believe me there is plenty of that on the internet. That way, you can focus your time consuming what actually matters.
The book serves as a quick start guide to evolutionary thought and orients the reader with a framework with which to view and understand the world.
This, of course, is helpful in growing wealth as you must quickly decipher which activities are worthwhile and which are a total waste of time.
You can use this all to your advantage! Don’t forget, that the entirety of business is human psychology, which is based on human evolution. The people who make millions have studied human psychology, and you too must use it to your advantage.
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/3jrWLnt
Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier life Through Transcendental Medidation
This is a book that can help you level up your life through day-to-day activities. Normane Rosenthal explains that people typically find they have become wealthier and happier after undergoing some of the lifestyle changes mentioned in this book. Much of meditation is akin to letting go of the uncontrollable, which is analogous to the themes of many of the books we have discussed today.
In a recent radio interview, he discusses the keys to happiness which I will share here as we discuss the common themes of all these books and how you can use their combined knowledge to reach success.
Understand that more money may not lead to less unhappiness.
Take control of your time
Smile
Find connectivity and things that you’re good at
Invest in experiences such as vacation
Get exercise
Get enough sleep
Cultivate close relationships,
Do good
Embrace gratitude
Nurture the spiritual part of yourself
Get the book on amazon here: https://amzn.to/3GcJFU4
Summary
The common theme throughout these books is that time tells all. Through the evolution of humanity, mythology, and technology, we learn that you must stay focused on the important day-to-day routines that will make you successful.
We live in an age of unwanted solicitation, biased media, and intentionally deceitful narratives, so for you to succeed, you must understand the basic truths that make up this world.
From there you build a framework on how to proceed, and it becomes clear what to do. If you are looking on a clear-cut guide to making your first million, then take a look at this article here.
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