Ready, Fire, Aim

I was having dinner with my friend, Betty, and was chiding her for not contributing articles to a health blog where she is a writer.

“It’s not that I don’t want to write. The perfectionist in me wants to get everything nicely straightened out before I start writing”

This is “Ready, Aim, Fire.”

I handed her my laptop and got her writing on the spot.

In business, time is of the essence. Precisely because of this “Ready. Aim, Fire.” attitude, some of us miss the opportunities that come knocking at our doors. Not so much because we were too obtuse and didn’t quite realize that it is Midas that came calling. Neither was it because we were procrastinating. For most of us in the creative industry, our Achilles’ heel is our perfectionist mindset. Even I, as an account servicing person.

We must be fully prepared. We must be well rehearsed and only then will we present to our client – with a big bang.

Sometimes, I want to scream at our design head. The clock is ticking away but until each tiny crease has been smoothened and ironed out, he simply won’t let us have the creative draft to show the client. Even after he did give it up, he would lament that it could have looked better if only he were given just a little bit more time.

Our copy guy wasn’t any better, all the “i” and “t” must be nicely dotted and crossed and every bit of research must be checked and cross referenced before he feels he is covered. Until then, the copy sits on his desk and not ours, and definitely not the client’s.

On the one hand, I am deeply appreciative and take great pride that my team is so passionate about their work. On the other hand, they can be so fastidious that it is tough to refrain myself from wringing their necks.

Finally, we reach a consensus. Get the client to give a nod on the “big picture” concept first and thereafter, they can go tweak, fix and oil everything until perfection.

If the hunter waits until the ducks fly in a single file before he “ready, aim and fire”, he probably has to wait for a long spell. The point is birds don’t ever fly in a straight line! Never.

Being prepared is crucial. Calculating the risk involved is critical. Going through each stage to ensure nothing is amiss is admirable. However, a million multiple by zero is still zero.

I like to tell you a story that happened some 15 years ago.

I met a board game designer who was just starting out. He sold all his proprietary games through the 7-Eleven chain. He showed me one of the games and casually mentioned that it will be made perfect with the next version. I was green and naive then. I remembered asking him “Why did you launch then and not wait until you got it all done up nicely?” This 30-something entrepreneur gave me a lesson I’ve never forgotten. He said the window of opportunity opened so slightly and one simply had to take immediate action before the opportunity fled. That’s how all the big companies play the game. He rattled off a string of big names including Microsoft.

Action always beats inaction. Entrepreneurs get into the game first, they will make intelligent decisions for the present moment, make corrections and adjust their sails along the way. They subscribe to

“Ready, Fire, Aim”

Recently, I read Harv Eker’s Secrets of the Millionaire Mind which so overwhelmed me that I attended 3 of his seminars in a short 3-month span – Millionaire Mind Intensive (Nov 2007), Life Direction (Jan 2008) and Train a Trainer (Feb 2008). In this best seller, he said

Poor people don’t trust in themselves or their abilities, so they believe they have to know everything in advance, which is virtually impossible. Meanwhile they don’t do squat! In the end, with their positive, “ready, fire, aim” attitude, rich people take action and usually win.

In the end by telling themselves, “I’m not doing anything until I’ve identified every possible problem and know exactly what to do about it”, poor people never take action and therefore always lose.

Rich people see an opportunity, jump on it, and get even richer. As for poor people? They’re still “preparing”!

Until now, I have had to remind myself constantly not to adopt the perfectionist attitude. I repeatedly tell myself

” I focus on opportunities over obstacles”
” I get ready, I fire, I aim”

For those who’s keen to know about T. Harv Eker’s, you can either check out his book or his Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar.

After Note #1: Bokjae and Calvin Warr have always asked me to share what I learned from Harv Eker’s seminars. Calvin suggested that I should share my “Aha” moments here. That was a great idea and I decided to start an entrepreneurship series to share what I learned. Sharing is learning.

After Note #2: Betty used my laptop and churned out an article on distilled water within 35 minutes. That’s the spirit of “Ready, Fire, Aim”.

Read more on my sharing of T. Harv Eker’s programs:

Successful People Act In Spite Off 

[tags]Harv Eker, Millionaire Mind Intensive, Ready, Fire, Aim[/tags]