Almost everyone has an ulterior motive, according to billionaire investor Ray Dalio — and figuring it out comes down to asking yourself one simple question. "This applies to everything: when you're buying something, asking for advice, reading the newspaper, watching the news, etc.," he wrote. "That is because most people (though not all people) are trying to sell you something that will help them get the things they want." As for seeing things from a "higher level," Dalio has long attributed that ability to his success at evaluating financial markets. "I call this ability to rise above your own and others' circumstances and objectively look down on them 'higher-level thinking,'" Dalio wrote on Facebook a year later.

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Persons: Ray Dalio —, Dalio, Diane Dreher, " Dreher Organizations: Bridgewater Associates, Pew Research Center, Psychology Today, YouTube, Facebook, CNBC, Global Locations: U.S