Ray Dalio: If I were a young adult during the coronavirus pandemic, here's what I would focus on

When Ray Dalio was in his late 20s in 1975, he founded Bridgewater Associates out of his two-bedroom New York City apartment. He faced a series of failures and nearly ran Bridgewater into the ground in 1982, but today, it's the world's largest hedge fund. And at 70 years old, Dalio is worth about $18 billion. 

In a recent LinkedIn post, the billionaire answered a series of questions he's been asked on various social media platforms. One person asked: "If you were a young adult in this quarantine, what would you do to better yourself?"

Dalio would focus on three things: "I'd feed my curiosities, stay in touch with people I care about and meditate," he writes.

Over his lengthy and lucrative career, he's learned that the greatest business leaders stay humble and receptive, no matter how much they've achieved. They're "voraciously curious," he said on a 2017 podcast. "They're wondering if they're wrong. They're taking in information." 

Dalio also says he'd stay in touch with the people he's closest to, which is something anyone can do. Experts even say that looking out for others can be an effective way to cope with stress during the pandemic. 

"When we're supporting others, it gives us a sense of purpose," Joshua Morganstein, chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disasters, tells CNBC Make It. It's a reminder that we're all in this together, he says.

Finally, Dalio would spend time meditating, a habit he credits as the most important reason for his success today. He practices Transcendental Meditation (TM), a form of silent meditation that typically requires sitting for 20 minutes twice a day and repeating a mantra.

TM, which he first learned about in his early 20s, "has enhanced my open-mindedness, higher-level perspective, equanimity and creativity," Dalio wrote in his book "Principles." "It helps slow things down so that I can act calmly, even in the face of chaos, just like a ninja in a street fight." 

Dalio, who has offered Transcendental Meditation courses for his employees at Bridgewater, recommends reading Bob Roth's 2018 book, "Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation" for those curious about the practice.

"I recommend it to non-meditators so you can get the picture," he wrote in a 2018 Facebook post. "And I recommend it to meditators so you can enjoy it and pass it to your non-meditator friends to help them get the picture."

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