On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life
by John O’Leary
Overview
Published in 2016 by Simon & Schuster, On Fire is a motivational memoir and guide that shares a seven-step framework for living with purpose, resilience, and hope after unimaginable adversity. The book blends autobiography with practical teaching, and it later became the inspiration for the film Soul on Fire.
The Accident
The book opens with the event that defines O’Leary’s life. When John O’Leary was nine years old, he was almost killed in a devastating house fire that left him with burns on 100% of his body, and 87% of them were third-degree. According to reader accounts, he spent a grueling five months in hospital, receiving numerous skin grafts and having his fingers amputated due to infection. Doctors were unsure he would live, but O’Leary made it through months of healing followed by years of excruciating rehabilitation as he struggled to regain mobility and control of his body. One reviewer notes that the author delves deep into the tragedy to fully explore the triumph, so readers sensitive to hospital and injury scenes should be prepared.
Structure: Memoir Interwoven with Teaching
Rather than presenting a straightforward autobiography, the book alternates between narrative and lessons. Snippets of O’Leary’s story are interspersed with the choices he’s drawn from his experience, with each point well organized and illustrated. The book also draws on voices beyond O’Leary’s own: he shares insights from his siblings, his parents, his caregivers, and other influential people he met along the way, adding richness to each choice.
The Seven Choices
The core of the book is organized around seven decisions O’Leary identifies as central to survival and a meaningful life afterward.
The first choice concerns ownership: to own your life, leaving entitlement behind and realizing it is up to you to make changes, rather than waiting for someone else to fix things.
Later in the book, O’Leary turns to purpose over achievement. As summarized by one reader, the sixth choice is to choose significance over success, arguing that simple actions by ordinary people are what change the world.
The seventh and final choice addresses fear directly: to let go of fear and instead operate, lead, and live from a place of unconditional love. A related theme running through the book frames this as a repeated decision — choosing between fear and love in each interaction.
The book also closes on a note of self-acceptance. According to one review, the final choice discussed is “Choose to Be You,” concerning self-acceptance and the idea that comparing oneself to others serves no purpose — success comes from staying authentic to one’s own potential.
Themes of Community and Gratitude
Throughout the book, O’Leary emphasizes that his survival was not solitary. He makes clear that without the right people offering the right guidance at the right time, he would not have made it through those five months in the hospital, let alone the years of regaining mobility and purpose that followed. Gratitude also recurs as a central idea; the book includes reflections describing it as something that turns what people have into enough, turns chaos into order, and turns confusion into clarity.
Reception
The book carries endorsements from well-known authors and public figures. Brené Brown described the experience of reading it as like having a good friend look you in the eye and say the time to be brave is now. Sportscaster Joe Buck called it fast-paced, emotional, and surprisingly funny. Reader reviews echo this emotional impact, with one describing having teared up several times, moved not only by the poignancy of O’Leary’s story but by its resonance as a reminder of hope.
Closing Note
O’Leary has said that if he had it to do over again, he wouldn’t change a thing — that the fire, and what it taught him, changed him for the better. The book’s central message reflects this: readers can’t always choose the path they walk in life, but they can always choose the manner in which they walk it.