Self‑Awareness
I’ve been reading Principles lately. One of Ray Dalio’s key ideas is to stay radically open‑minded. The premise is knowing what you know and what you don’t — in other words, cultivating self‑awareness.
The self has two levels: a higher self and a lower self. Emotion, fear, impulse, and first reactions belong to the lower self. Self‑awareness, reason, and reflection belong to the higher self. The higher self must be maintained deliberately to be effective.
Habit and self‑awareness conflict. Habit becomes “second nature,” and without stepping outside yourself, some bad habits are hard to notice.
- You plan your day on the commute, but once at your desk you unconsciously open familiar sites to browse.
- While working, you keep checking your phone.
- In the middle of work, a concept pops up and you instantly open a tab to search for it.
- After a small milestone, you pause for water and check your phone.
- In conversation, you rudely interrupt others.
- You vowed to lose weight, yet still add a chicken drumstick at meals.
- With a pile of tasks, you scroll Weibo and Moments before starting.
- You pick up your phone to contact someone, but drift into Moments instead.
- You promise to read 30 minutes before bed, but end up on short‑video apps past midnight.
- Writing falls into fixed phrasing and vocabulary.
- …
All of the above act like a chronic poison, eroding you bit by bit. Build self‑awareness into an ultra‑sensitive sensor that monitors you in real time and snuffs out bad habits at the first hint.
Habits are like a crock of aging wine: they ferment over time. Good habits, compounded daily, become fine wine; bad habits, compounded daily, sour and rot. Only by checking during fermentation — not after it turns — can you avoid remedial action that’s too late.
Published at: Oct 8, 2025 · Modified at: Oct 26, 2025
