Ready! Aim...Aim...Aim...Aim...Aim...Fire!

Have you ever heard of the phrase: Ready, Aim, Fire?
Of course you have! But I'm not talking about firearms here.

*Story time!*

For most of my creative career (all 5 years of full and part-time experience) I thought I had this ready, aim, fire theory down-pat. If I sought a new job, I went for it without a second thought. This pattern repeated for some years until I realized it wasn't working. The jobs I was landing weren't what I thought they were and I wasn't learning anything new. I was spinning in circles thinking there had to be something wrong with the system or (heaven-forbid) ME!


I went for a short business meeting with an extremely sweet lady who told me that I had the fire, but not the "ready, aim". I had only been sitting with her for less than an hour and she knew more about me than I did! She also reminded me of a book I once read which talked about the "Ready, Aim, Fire" concept.

After digesting her words, I realized that my impatience had got the better of me without even realizing it; I was firing at random hoping that I would hit my target but in the end, I hit everything BUT.

Lately I've been somewhat experimental in trying to see what would happen if I waited things out and let go of expectations. So far it's been really eye-opening to repel every instinctual thought and programmed response I have ever known. The reactions I get from others are even more positive and my results are far better than they have been in the past. Sure my impatience still nags at me, but it's becoming more like a whisper.

I like this new patient me...