Ready Aim Fire! Book Summary - Ready Aim Fire! Book explained in key points

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Ready Aim Fire! summary

Name: Ready Aim Fire!
Rating: 4.4 (120 reviews)
Author: Erik Fisher and Jim Woods

Erik Fisher and Jim Woods

A Practical Guide To Setting And Achieving Goals

4.4 (120 ratings)

23 mins

Brief summary

Ready Aim Fire! by Erik Fisher and Jim Woods is a productivity guide that helps readers optimize their time and improve their focus. It offers practical tips for setting and achieving goals, managing distractions, and increasing productivity.

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Success Self-Help Simplify Podcast Goals

Table of Contents

Ready Aim Fire!
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Learn how to start setting and achieving your goals today.

Let’s face it. Most of us could use some help with setting and achieving goals – both in our personal and professional lives.

Sure, we have all sorts of dreams floating around in our heads. But it’s one thing to vaguely wish you’d write a book, start a business, or learn how to play the guitar. It’s quite another to turn that nebulous idea into a concrete objective, develop a realistic plan for achieving it, and then transform that plan into a reality.

Many of us have trouble even reaching the starting point of this process, let alone the finish line. But it’s never too late to get started – and by reading these blinks, you’re already taking the first step!

In these blinks, you’ll learn

what shooting a gun can teach you about goal setting;
how to turn a not-so-smart goal into a SMART goal; and
why Jim Carrey wrote himself a $10 million check.

To set and achieve a goal, you have to get yourself ready, aim at a target, and fire at it.

Imagine you’ve got a gun and you’re doing some target practice. How do you make sure you hit the bullseye?

Well, you don’t just whip out your weapon, blast off a bullet, and hope for the best. First, you get ready – pointing the gun in the right direction. Then, you aim – zeroing in on your target. Finally, you fire – pulling the trigger and accomplishing the deed. It’s a three-step process with a beginning, middle, and end.

Now, maybe you don’t have any interest in becoming a sharpshooter – but the same three steps apply to just about anything you want to do in life.

The key message here is: To set and achieve a goal, you have to get yourself ready, aim at a target, and fire at it.

Of course, life is usually more complicated than firing a gun at a shooting range. Generally speaking, you don’t have a single, predefined target with a big, red bullseye directly in front of you. Instead, you’ve got many different areas of life calling out from multiple directions at the same time: family, friends, career, health, and so on.

All of these areas are important, but you can’t aim and fire everywhere at once. If you want to get ready to set a goal, you’ve got to pick one area to start with.

Let’s say you settle on your health. Well, that narrows things down, but it’s still pretty broad – encompassing everything from your weight to the quality of your sleep. Now you’ve got to zoom in on just one thing, select it as your target, and take aim at it. That means finding a concrete objective and coming up with a sensible plan for achieving it.

For example, maybe you decide to get into shape by going to the gym. Now you’ve got a target to aim at – finally, it’s time to fire! How? By putting your plan into action, sticking to it, and seeing it through to the end. To go back to our target-practice metaphor, you’ve got to “pull the trigger” by committing yourself to the task at hand – actually going to the gym and working out on a regular basis.

Of course, all of that’s easier said than done – but don’t worry. We’re about to break the whole process down, step-by-step.

Get ready to set a goal by reflecting on where you are in life and how much free time you have at your disposal.

One of the biggest benefits of setting a goal is that it gives you a sense of direction. Without a goal, you’re like a ship drifting around the ocean, hoping to bump into a desirable destination by chance. With a goal, you know exactly where you want to go – you can chart your course, make your preparations, and set your sails accordingly.

But it’s not enough to just know where you want to go. You also have to know where you are right now. After all, to get from point A to point B, you must understand where both points are in relation to each other. That way, you can also tell whether you’re capable of covering the distance between the two points.

Reflect on your priorities to start narrowing in on a goal.

Alright, let’s say you’ve done some reflection on where you currently are in life, but you’re still not sure what kind of goal you should set for yourself. There are many different things you want to do, in many different areas. Your savings account has barely grown in years. Your guitar is gathering dust in the corner of the room. So many things, so little time! You’re not sure where to even begin.

Sound familiar? To one degree or another, that describes most of us, so don’t worry – you’re in good company. It’s not always clear where your priorities may lie, but there are some simple things you can do to give yourself more clarity.

Assess your “wheel of life” to get a better sense of where you need to focus.

Picture a circle.

Now, take that circle and divide it into seven sections, like a pie chart. Label each section with a word from the following list: financial, spiritual, social, intellectual, family, career, and health.

It’s important to set a SMART goal – one that’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Now you’re almost ready to aim. But first, it’s time to do one last bit of reflection. Review your notes on both your priorities and wheel of life. Does anything stand out as goal material?

If not, that’s OK. Give it some time. See if anything comes to mind in the next 48 hours. And if the clock runs out and you’re still drawing a blank, that’s OK too. You can focus on your health as a fallback option. After all, it’s something you can always work on, and it gives you a boost of energy in all other areas of life as well.

Stay motivated by remembering the reasons you’re pursuing your goal and by visualizing your success.

Alright, now you’re ready, and you’ve aimed. That leaves just one thing left to do: Fire!

This is the moment of truth – the part of the process where you finally get down to business and prepare yourself to achieve your goal. To get to the finish line, it’s going to take hard work and perseverance. There are no shortcuts here. But there are some things you can do to increase your chances of success.

Make your goal manageable by creating a to-do list and establishing a routine for tackling it.

Imagine you’re an author who wants to write a book. You open your computer to start writing your masterpiece – only to be confronted by a completely blank page. Now what?

You probably feel overwhelmed. To go from having written zero words to completing a 400-page manuscript can feel like an impossibly huge task.

Seek out support from friends, family, and colleagues when you feel discouraged.

As you pursue your goal, you’re bound to encounter setbacks and challenges along the way. Ultimately, that’s a good thing because overcoming them helps you grow. But it can also be dangerous because it can make you feel like giving up.

To keep going, it’s important to keep your spirits high. Look back at the crossed-off items on your to-do list, and celebrate the progress you’ve already made. Remember your strengths, and try to stay positive. Take a little break and watch an inspiring movie, listen to some upbeat music, or go for a walk.

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What is Ready Aim Fire! about?

Ready Aim Fire! (2014) is a step-by-step guide to setting and achieving personal and professional goals. If you want to accomplish more in life but aren’t sure where to begin, it provides an accessible starting point for learning the art of turning dreams into realities.

Who should read Ready Aim Fire!?

Newcomers to goal setting
High achievers who want to go back to the basics
Anyone who could use some more direction in life

About the Author

Erik Fisher is the host of Beyond the To-Do List – a podcast dedicated to helping people improve their productivity. Together with Jim Woods, a productivity coach, he’s also written Focus Booster: Have More Clarity Make Better Decisions Live A Better Life.

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