Why Predictable People Lose and What Firearm Owners Should Notice

Red Robin is not where most people expect a lesson on personal discipline. Yet the moment is familiar. You open the menu, scan past everything else, and land on the same item you always order. You know what it tastes like. There is no risk. No surprise. Comfort wins.

That habit reaches far beyond food.

Comfort Feels Safe. It Is Not the Same Thing.

Most people confuse comfort with safety. Comfort feels predictable. Safety requires awareness, flexibility, and judgment. In my book, Mastering Your Fate, I write about how predictable behavior makes people easy to read, easy to influence, and easy to control. Predictability is not neutral. It broadcasts your patterns to the world.

Firearm owners understand this better than most, even if they do not always apply it outside of training. We talk about situational awareness, varying routes, avoiding routines that make us easy targets. Yet many of us live our daily lives on autopilot. Same drive. Same store. Same lunch. Same mental reactions.

The problem is not the routine itself. The problem is blind routine.

Why Change Feels Uncomfortable

Trying something new forces a moment of attention. You cannot rely on habit. You have to think. That small discomfort is what most people avoid. They would rather repeat yesterday than engage today.

In Mastering Your Fate, I explain that growth rarely announces itself as opportunity. It usually arrives as friction. Something feels slightly off. Slightly uncertain. That is where choice lives.

When I ordered a new item instead of my usual, it was not about the food. It was about breaking a pattern on purpose. A reminder that I decide when to be predictable and when not to be.

Unpredictability Is a Form of Readiness

For firearm owners, unpredictability is not recklessness. It is discipline. You already know this when it comes to personal security.

You do not always park in the same spot.
You do not take the same path without thinking.
You do not assume yesterday’s conditions apply today.

Yet many people stop applying that mindset once the firearm is concealed and the holster is comfortable. They become mentally flat-footed.

Unpredictability sharpens awareness. It forces you to observe. It keeps your judgment active. That applies to conversations, decisions, and habits just as much as self-defense.

Small Changes Train the Mind

You do not need dramatic reinvention. In fact, small changes work better.

Order something new.
Take a different route.
Ask a different question.
Pause before reacting.

Each small decision reinforces the same skill. You are not trapped by habit. You are choosing deliberately.

In Mastering Your Fate, I describe this as reclaiming authorship. When you let habit run unchecked, you hand authorship to yesterday. When you interrupt it, even briefly, you step back into control.

The Deeper Parallel for Armed Citizens

Responsible firearm ownership demands judgment under stress. Judgment is not a switch you flip. It is a muscle you train.

If your life is entirely predictable, your thinking often is too. That is dangerous in moments that require clarity.

Embracing change in ordinary settings keeps you mentally agile. It reminds you that you are capable of adapting without panic. That skill matters far more than most people realize.

The Quiet Advantage

Most people want comfort. Very few want responsibility.

Choosing occasional discomfort gives you an edge that does not show on the surface. It shows in how you move through the world. Calm. Observant. Deliberate.

You are not unpredictable because you are chaotic. You are unpredictable because you are awake.

That is the point.

Not the burger.
Not the menu.
The choice.