On ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’

This week’s learning draws inspiration from ‘Success Principles’ by Jack Canfield.

Jack Canfield’s mantra for success revolved around the philosophy of ‘Ready, Fire, Aim.’

When he and Mark Victor Hansen started marketing the first ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul‘, they decided to send excerpts from the book to local newspapers with a request to print a box that would acknowledge the source and mention the book was available at the local bookstore.

Since he didn’t know what was the right way forward, he simply faxed a note with the excerpt to various editors. A few weeks later, he received a reply –

‘Dear Jack, I was annoyed by your fax. How dare you assume that I would be interested in your article?

And then I read your article. I was very touched. And needless to say, I will print it…

Best Regards,

Jack Bearman, Editor-in-Chief – LA Parent

In the subsequent phone call, Jack Bearman generously taught Canfield how to submit a request to magazines and gave him feedback. Now, he was in the game!