1. NOBODY IS COMING TO SAVE YOU. Whether an event lasts a few seconds, a few hours, or even a few days – you have to work as though nobody is coming to save you.
2. You are your savior, so start working because EVERYTHING IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. You are your security, you are your medic, you are your rescuer.
3. You are your own best resource to SAVE WHO NEEDS TO BE SAVED. Nobody wants to save your life more than you, so set yourself up for success by having the simple tools and knowledge to do so: do what you can with what you have. Recognize that nobody is in a better position to start saving your life than you.
4. Sometimes saving lives means you have to KILL WHO NEEDS TO BE KILLED. It has been almost 15 years since I first wrote “the more effective you are at taking a life, the more successful you’ll be at saving one” and nothing in the intervening time has changed my mind. Be swift, be decisive, be final.
5. Mostly, ALWAYS BE WORKING. There is always something you can be doing to improve your position. Always. Because nobody is coming to save you.
Matt Graham, The Killhouse Rules
I read somewhere that there is nothing speaks truth like a gun. When you pull the trigger, there is truth. Life or death. You hit your target or you do not. You made a grievously wrong choice or you acted wisely. As a result, it forces you to think clearly, because the consequences of an action are immediately apparent.
The Killhouse Rules are not rules for killing. They are rules for living, perhaps as clear a set of rules as I have ever heard.