Dec 18, 2020

Delusion is a superpower

Ray Dalio has a policy of “radical transparency” at his hedge fund. Everyone at the company knows exactly what their peers think of them and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I think this policy holds people back. I don’t think it is helpful for you to know the truth of what other people think of you because it reinforces your current identity instead of who you can become. Your identity is more flexible than you think it is.

I have a theory that all great success starts with delusion. I am just a software engineer at a large company. Not even a senior software engineer. And I believe that I can create a billion dollar company some day. That is a delusional belief but I don’t care. While it doesn’t guarantee success, I think it is a necessary prerequisite for that kind of success.

I am proudly delusional and willfully ignorant of my current limitations. I think having this attitude is the only way it will ever be possible for me to break through those limitations. Only time will tell the truth but that is my prediction. If there’s only one thing that people can learn from my life story when it is all said and done, I hope that it is the incredible power of self-belief.