Today I was on social media, and I saw one of the most disturbing videos I’ve ever seen. It’s too sickening to post here, so I will provide the basic summary of what happened.
As a man about my age stepped out of his car, a young man strolled up behind him, shot him in the head, and then robbed him.
This all occurred in broad daylight, somewhere in Atlanta.
The man was actually wearing a shirt that said “security” and he was not small. He likely had some fighting skills.
In this instance, he was completely unaware of what was about to happen to him… he literally never saw it coming.
His lack of awareness cost him his life.
Awareness is the most important self defense skill
It may seem easy, but many tragedies could be avoided if people developed this skill.
The issue is not that you pay attention to what is going on around you. Anyone can do that.
The issue is that most people don’t put their antennae up when they step outside of their homes. They haven’t developed the mindset needed to automatically “switch on” as soon as you leave the house.
In this day and age, with violence on the rise, you’ve simply got to learn to “switched on” whenever you are away from the safety of your home.
Mindset is the key. You have to develop the mindset that danger may be lurking around the corner at any time.
Most people just don’t want to live that way.
Awareness exercise
Lee Morrison of Urban Combatives suggested an exercise that employees of a business could do to learn how to be switched on more often.
With each colleague you have at work, keep track over a period of a month how many times you spot them before they spot you out in public, on the way into work, etc.
With both of you playing the game, you’ll both be keeping track.
Your goal is to obviously spot your colleagues more often than they spot you.
This one exercise will help you develop this all important awareness skill.
Having this skill may save your life by allowing you to spot danger before it gets too close.
If you spot the danger before it spots you, you can avoid it altogether. In reality, we aren’t looking for a fight.
There are no guarantees in a fight. Therefore, avoidance is the best way to ensure your safety.
