Rule #49: Ready, Aim, Fire
When you were very young, you played endless games of war with water guns and Nerf blasters. Battles raged in the basement and spilled out onto the lawn, sometimes lasting for hours. Despite the dire warnings from my more liberal friends that these games would turn you violent, not one of you has grown up to own a weapon more powerful than a paintball gun. None of you has climbed a church tower to take target practice on the neighbors either. That, my children, is what I call effective parenting.
What those games did teach you, however, was the importance of three words: Ready, Aim, Fire.
The concept was simple: you find a target, steady your weapon, focus, and when the victim is in both sight and range—you fire. It worked in the backyard, and it works in life. The trouble is, most people forget this simple sequence.
I’ve found that the world is divided into three groups when it comes to this phrase:
Group #1: Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim…
This group makes up about 70% of the population. They’re intelligent enough to recognize opportunity and skilled enough to hit their targets, but they never pull the trigger. Many blame fear, but I think it’s more about reluctance to risk change.
When I was starting out in business, I got promoted quickly because I was willing to risk tomorrow being different from today. It wasn’t reckless—it was calculated. I knew the odds: most risks are small, survivable falls, and even the bigger ones usually leave you a little bruised, but wiser. The point wasn’t certainty—it was acceptance of the unknown.
The movie Groundhog Day teaches the same lesson. Bill Murray’s character, stuck in his endless loop, only begins to live when he risks change, when he engages with life. Too much “aiming” is just planning and re-planning forever—never living.
Life will hand you forks in the road where you must choose, often quickly. Group #1 avoids deciding altogether, letting inaction decide for them. They are like frogs on a log, too scared to leap, carried by the current until they tumble helplessly over the waterfall. Even if the leap is risky, at least you’re choosing the ride.
Group #2: Fire, Aim, Ready
This group makes up about 20% of the population. They live life in reaction mode—seeing endless choices but never pausing to aim. Instead, they say “yes” to everything, or sometimes “no” to everything, without reflection.
These are the train wrecks of life: celebrities who flame out publicly, people who confuse recklessness for courage. The “Fire, Aim, Ready” approach often comes with bravado—an “I am what I am, deal with me” attitude. It can look like confidence, but without aiming, it’s destructive.
The truth is, thinking before acting—preparing, aiming, then firing—isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom.
Group #3: Ready, Aim… Fire
This final group—maybe 10% of the population—gets it right. They prepare, they plan, and then they act. Not paralyzed, not reckless, but deliberate and decisive. They’re the ones who find both success and happiness, because balance wins.
For you, my children, I hope you always find the courage to act on the opportunities life gives you—but do it thoughtfully, respectfully, and with intention.
Takeaway: Life rewards those who prepare and act with balance—don’t get stuck just aiming, and don’t fire without thinking.