We can't believe it, but 2018 is already here.   One of the books and people we've been obsessed with lately is Ray Dalio and his book entitled "Principles."   If you don't know who Ray Dalio is: he founded Bridgewater, a financial institution that manages the world's largest hedge fund, he has worked with governments and economic policy makers on all levels and he has pioneered new ways to manage and grow financial portfolios.   In fact, if you have any money under current financial management, it's safe to say that the techniques Ray Dalio developed are being used to grow your money.   So why do you care?   In his latest book Ray writes exclusively of the power of principles and principled thinking in helping live what seems to be a charmed live.    One quote that we've been thinking about and discussing a lot lately is his simple equation in the title:    Failure + Reflection = Progress   We're fascinated with how successful people handle failure, or their perception of failure. Unlike most of us, they are not embarrassed when they fail, in fact, they expect it, especially when trying out new ideas...some of them even enjoy it because they know it's part of progress.    If you're not embarrassed by your 'failures' you enjoy spending time reflecting on what they taught you and how you can improve the next time you try. This where progress happens.    Ray also writes about how successful people learn from others failures and apply the lessons to their own lives.   The purpose of this podcast is to discuss the lessons that 2017 has taught us and how our thoughts/failures/takeaways can be leveraged by you, to improve your life.   What we covered:

• The biggest 'failure' of 2017 and what we learned
• Other lessons along the way
• How we plan on implementing what was learned in our lessons and moving forward