How Billionaires Use Their Subconscious Minds – Ray Dalio
How billionaires use their subconscious minds might seem like a great mystery.
Luckily for us, one billionaire (Ray Dalio) has shared many of his powerful mental models and ideas regarding the subconscious in his book ‘Principles’.
The word ‘subconscious’ is mentioned 28 times in his book, and the concept has clearly shaped Dalio’s thinking.
In this article, we will break down some of the biggest insights on the subconscious mind from Dalio’s success manifesto ‘Principles’.
Who is Ray Dalio?
Who is Ray Dalio, and why is he qualified to talk about success?
Ray Dalio is the founder of the world’s most successful hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.
Dalio founded the company in 1975 from his two-bedroom apartment and grew it into the juggernaut it is today.
Over the decades he has had to change his thinking, build durable systems, manage massive teams and navigate complex cultural issues to attain success.
As of 2023, his net worth is $19.1 billion making him fit to give us insights into how a billionaire uses his subconscious mind.
Below are some of the key points he shared on the subconscious in his book ‘Principles’.
How Billionaires Use Their Subconscious Minds – Lower You Vs Higher You
We have two sides to our minds.
The higher you is the logical and calculating conscious mind.
The lower you is the emotional and reactive subconscious mind.
These two minds are often at battle within us and against other people.
“Those lower-level selves are like attack dogs—they want to fight even when their higher-level selves want to figure things out.”
— Ray Dalio
You might have noticed this when you unintentionally get into a heated discussion with someone.
The conversation goes from a logical one to an emotional tug-a-war.
When things escalate you experience something called an amygdala hijack.
This is when the primal parts of the brain override the newer neocortex leading you to experience the fight or flight response.
This is likely what led Will Smith to lose his mind and slap Chris Rock at the Oscars.
The key is to always keep the Lower you in check by monitoring it.
If you notice your breathing becoming shorter, the electricity of adrenaline moving through your veins, you are likely experiencing an amygdala hijack.
Simply noticing this process and being aware of it is enough to have it lose its power.
“Most people do not look thoughtfully at the facts and draw their conclusions by objectively weighing the evidence. Instead, they make their decisions based on what their deep-seated subconscious mind wants and then they filter the evidence to make it consistent with those desires.”
— Ray Dalio
The subconscious mind also has the ability to change how we see the world through confirmation bias.
This is a cognitive bias which makes us see more of what we believe to be true whilst rejecting the evidence of opposing views.
This happens automatically and limits our ability to discover what is true.
Your subconscious might believe that
“All rich people are evil and want to take advantage of poor people.”
You will then find more and more evidence to support this belief.
You will see elites at the World Economic Forum plotting to get everyone on a locust-and-worm diet.
You will see all the A-list names on the Lolita Express.
You might even learn the truth about the Federal Reserve and banking cartels of the world.
More and more evidence will pile up to reinforce your belief.
Your mind will block you from seeing the thousands of wealthy people who do good for the world.
You will then create a subconscious block for wealth and sabotage your own efforts at attaining it.
Remember, your mind thinks wealth equals evil, and who wants to be evil?
The subconscious is incredibly powerful because many of these beliefs are hidden below the surface of conscious awareness.
They act as blueprints for our lives and ensure we keep repeating the same mistakes.
“As with animals, many of our decision-making drivers are below the surface…that come from the subconscious parts of its brain.”
— Ray Dalio
This is why Dalio says you must objectively weigh out the evidence with the conscious mind instead of passively accepting beliefs with the subconscious.
To do this Dalio asks us to point out the clear facts before making decisions.
“When you’re approaching a decision, ask yourself: Can you point to clear facts (i.e., facts believable people wouldn’t dispute) leading to your view? If not, chances are you’re not being evidence-based.”
— Ray Dalio
Facts can be researched and will help ground you in reality.
A simple Google search on wealthy people doing good things will help remove the limiting belief about money being evil.
Ray Dalio’s Advice on Unlocking Your Genius
“Some subconscious parts of our brains are dangerously animalistic, others are smarter and quicker than our conscious minds. Our greatest moments of inspiration often “pop” up from our subconscious. We experience these creative breakthroughs when we are relaxed.”
— Ray Dalio
The mind offers creative insights when we are relaxed.
When we relax, our brainwaves move towards the alpha and theta frequencies which are the realm of the subconscious.
This is why so many aha moments happen in the shower.
There is actually a subreddit with over 26 million users dedicated to this phenomena.
“Many people…believe that the way to accomplish more is to cram more into the conscious mind and make it work harder, but this is often counterproductive. While it may seem counterintuitive, clearing your head can be the best way to make progress.”
— Ray Dalio
The conscious mind can only take so much information.
It has limited bandwidth and will not give you the insights you seek.
If you want to unlock your genius, you need to learn to take a break.
Many geniuses have attested to receiving some of their greatest ideas whilst in a relaxed state.
Sir Isaac Newton, the father of classical physics, was relaxing when he saw an apple fall from a tree and hit the ground.
The seemingly elementary event sparked his subconscious to consider the nature of gravity, later leading him to develop some of the most fundamental laws of physics.
Laws which are still used to send rockets into space to this very day.
J.K. Rowling, the billionaire author behind the Harry Potter franchise, got the initial idea of her story from a daydream whilst on a train.
“I was going by train from Manchester to London sitting there thinking of nothing to do with writing. The idea came out of nowhere and I could see Harry very clearly.”
— J.K Rowling (video)
Even during the writing of her final book, she claims she was having dreams in which she WAS Harry Potter.
These dreams undoubtedly helped shape the storyline of the book.
Albert Einstein, who is regarded as one of the greatest minds of all time, was known for sleeping 10 hours a day, taking plenty of naps and going for long leisurely walks and vacations.
In 1932, whilst on a cruise in the waters of Panama, he wrote a letter to his friends giving the following advice.
“A cruise in the sea, is an excellent opportunity for maximum calm and reflection on ideas from a different perspective.” (learn how Einstien used his subconscious mind)
The subconscious mind needs relaxation time to process and deliver ideas to the conscious mind.
It will give you wisdom through whispers not yells.
Ray Dalio mentions in his book how through facilitating the communication between his conscious and subconscious minds he came to write down all his Principles.
“…doing this opens further communication between my conscious and subconscious minds. It’s helpful to write down the results of this process. In fact that’s how my Principles came about.”
He advises analyzing the ideas from the subconscious mind with the logical and analytical conscious mind before taking action.
Ideas from the subconscious are often raw and need refining before they become a masterpiece.
The subconscious of J.K. Rowling gave her Harry Potter, but she needed to fill in the details with her conscious mind.
The subconscious mind of Michelangelo is what made him see David in the stone, but his conscious mind had to free him from the stone.
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
— Michelangelo
Make it a habit to give yourself plenty of relaxation time.
Take long walks outside without any inputs.
Allow yourself to daydream every day while sitting in a chair.
It is in these moments that your subconscious mind will speak to you.
How Billionaires Use Their Subconscious Minds – Understanding The Child You
“Train your “lower-level you” with kindness and persistence to build the right habits. I used to think that the upper-level you needed to fight with the lower-level you to gain control, but over time I’ve learned that it is more effective to train that subconscious, emotional you the same way you would teach a child to behave the way you would like him or her to behave—with loving kindness and persistence so that the right habits are acquired.”
— Ray Dalio
The subconscious mind can be hard to deal with because it behaves like a child.
You can’t change a child’s behavior with force.
The child will disobey you, and do what you told them not to as soon as you turn around.
Instead, you have to influence the child and make them understand the merits of good behavior.
You don’t force a child to eat vegetables by virtue of being a parent.
You get the child excited about eating vegetables by telling them it will make them strong so they can become like Spiderman.
You might even allow the child to choose the vegetables they like.
Only then will the child take your request seriously.
The same goes for the subconscious mind.
When you force yourself to do something new, you use willpower.
Willpower is a finite resource which will eventually run out.
The lower you doesn’t want to exercise or eat healthily.
The lower you doesn’t want to build a business.
The lower you doesn’t want to invest in itself.
No amount of force will work.
Take a different approach.
Learn to use influence, persistence and patience.
Spend time learning about your limiting beliefs so you can overcome them in a loving manner.
Revisit past traumas and learn how they have affected your subconscious mind’s current interpretations.
Create a compelling vision of the future through visualizations, affirmations and dedicated action towards a goal.
Celebrate small victories and practice gratitude for all of your progress.
When you take these small steps with faith and intent, your subconscious mind will align with your conscious mind.
When the two minds are aligned, that’s when the impossible happens.
When the two minds are working in opposing directions, you will sabotage your efforts in the most insidious ways.
Have you ever wondered why the gyms are always full on January 1st but empty by April?
Why do so many businesses fail?
Why are so many people finding it difficult to keep long-term relationships?
The answer is almost always a misalignment of their subconscious and conscious minds.
They consciously want success but haven’t dealt with the hidden subconscious limitation weighing them down.
Success only happens when both minds are moving in the same direction.
If you want to train your subconscious to think like a billionaire, follow Dalio’s advice and see where it takes you.
Do this, and I promise you will be one step closer to living and dying well.