19 Oct 2025 2 min read Wellbeing

The Marine Corps' 70% Rule

The Marine Corps has a decision-making tool called 70% rule:

If you have ~70% of the information or resources you believe you need, take action.

Why? Because:

You'll rarely be 100% ready
Waiting for 100% certainty may be too late

So should you always take action when you're 70% ready?

It depends!

Two Types of Decisions

In a letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos describes two types of decisions:

Type 1 decisions: Irreversible and high-stakes. Once you walk through that door, you cannot go back.

These need careful planning and a high level of certainty.

Type 2 decisions: Reversible and lower-risk. If you don't like what you see on the other side, you can return with minimal impact.

These can be made quickly when you're just 70% ready.

But here's the thing... Most decisions in work (and in life) are the latter—reversible and low-risk decisions.

Travel Optometry Was a Type 1 Decision

Before I quit my job to become a travel optometrist, I approached it as a Type 1 decision. Once I quit, I can't return to my old job, and I had financial obligations to support my family.

In short, I waited until I was 100% ready:

Prototyped: I flew to Manitoba for work to test it out.
Questioned assumptions: “What assumptions MUST hold true for this to work?”
Created backup plans

My Blog? That was a Type 2 Decision

In contrast, when it came to my passion project, I knew it was a type 2 decision.

I didn’t wait until I was 100% ready.

I learned the basics of setting up a website and published my first article within just one month. Evidently, there was a lot I didn't know, but I learned as I went.