On the Development of a Proactive Mindset

[Guinnessman]

PM sent to Wayne.

[Wayne Dobbs]

Pat McNamara's The Sentinel book (I think you can get it on iTunes) is a pretty good start to apply EP principles to your family.

As for the development of the mindset for the "mere mortal"- there's nothing mystical about it. Mainly just open your eyes. That sounds oversimplified but the truth is the average person's senses are dulled from a myriad of things. 24/7 internet and gadgets, busy lives and busy jobs have our minds going non-stop. Take a moment right now to realize how often you're not focused on whats going on around you? We're either reliving some event in our head or daydreaming about some future event. Combine these with the number one issue being we live in the illusion of safety in modern times. We pretty much wake up, go to hum drum work, come home, deal with the family, go to bed, repeat. Our senses have become dulled because we feel generally safe and therefore we allow ourselves to be "switched off" (and for some reason it seems worse with youth and affluence) If you had to drive the roads of Baghdad, or even through a rough ghetto every day to get to work I gaurantee that you would become very in tune with anomalies along the roadways. It's just being human. We become aware of what is important to us and fear can greatly intensify the learning and focus of what is important to us.

For the "mere mortals" and I can assure you I am one as well, just be aware of what is going on around you. Every time you have to go to one of those family events that you have little interest in, WATCH whats going on around you. That rom-com movie your wife wants to see (and you have no interest in)- sit down and plot out all the escape routes. What do you have on you that you could use if something happened? What would you do if....

Family gatherings with the whole family- see who is alert and who is not. Who is paying attention and who is oblivious.

Go to the park and watch the people. The mall. See who's watching who and why. Is that guy checking out that girl's butt or is he watching her shiny new iPhone 6s? Who is up and looking around? Who is completely in "condition Facebook"? Who is watching you?

The more you do it the more it becomes ingrained. The reasons guys like Nyeti and Wayne are so sharp is they have been doing it so long. Every one here is the same way, just focused on different things. It doesn't matter whether you're an intel analyst, a LEO or an accountant- all can spot an anomaly in their profession because they know what looks normal and what does not. Everything begins with observation. No military or police raid begins without a lot of observation or ISR. Same for every day humans. Same for bad folks casing your joint.

You don't have to become a nervous nelly, doomsday prepper or a paranoid schizo (however, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you...) just become a little more aware of who and what is going on around you. And if you think you are safe in your world, get your local police blotter!

Pat's book is on my list of recommended books in the aforementioned notes. Easy read and very understandable by the average guy/gal.

[Luke]

I believe the highlighted part is a crucial part of a proper mindset.

It's one thing to develop proper awareness, it's another to be ready, willing and able to "hit the switch". Both are crucial but they are not the same.

If your not a cop/military how do you know if you have a switch and it works? Ive done a little FOF but you go in knowing your gonna shoot most of the time so..

Serious question. Been thinking about this since the thread got started. Only thing I've come up with is only way to tell is if you honestly have to make the switch, and then hopefully you do.

[JM Campbell]

If your not a cop/military how do you know if you have a switch and it works? Ive done a little FOF but you go in knowing your gonna shoot most of the time so..

Serious question. Been thinking about this since the thread got started. Only thing I've come up with is only way to tell is if you honestly have to make the switch, and then hopefully you do.

ECQC with Craig Douglas.

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[Dagga Boy]

ECQC with Craig Douglas.

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I like Craig, think his classes are good, but a class will not give you a switch. It can help get you there to show how it works and in mindset development, which is good. But simply taking classes is only a part of the equation. Trust me, there are a bunch of well trained folks out there who do not have a switch when it gets real, and a bunch of totally untrained folks who do have one. I look at high end classes as motivators and artificial experience....which is better than not having any experience and a misunderstanding of what a violent encounter feels like.

A word Wayne and I both use is developing "Will". It is one thing to say and verbalize what you would do, or how you would do it. It is vastly different to have the absolute determination and motivation to impart the highest levels of violence on another human. Personally, it took me some time to get good at it. I will say that an exercise we did in the academy called Will to Survive (sort of ECQC type stuff) did help to not make those first heavyweight violent interactions a first experience, but it was those initial encounters with no protection and no real rules that set my will and determination to do anything to win....and anything was not in a class or books. You had to really feel "anything" to develop it, and then use a switch to control it.

[Notso]

If your not a cop/military how do you know if you have a switch and it works? Ive done a little FOF but you go in knowing your gonna shoot most of the time so..

Serious question. Been thinking about this since the thread got started. Only thing I've come up with is only way to tell is if you honestly have to make the switch, and then hopefully you do.

Answer this and you have the billion dollar answer that many a military and police force would pay you for. And the "switch" gets kind of overused a little. Being "switched on" means you're alert and have your wits about you- attentive to your environment if you will. The "switch" as Wayne or Nyeti said and jump in if I'm wrong is that mental leap you have to take to stop the paralysis/fight the fear when something bad happens. It's that moment when life goes from 0-100mph in 1 second flat and things are no longer going your way. Many people freeze. People who can flip the switch can mentally function- the best remain calm like nothing is going on. That is a true art and is very probably an innate ability that later gets honed.

As Nyeti said, training helps but at the end of the day you still know its training or a drill or an exercise. Some people have it and some don't. You can get it but it takes living through those experiences to learn how to control it. The reason why the SEALs and other SOF units assessments are so arduous is precisely for this- to see if they can endure and function smoothly under the worst conditions. And the funny thing about this stuff and Nyeti hit it- you can't pinpoint who has it and who doesn't. It's all how people handle fear and surprise. It might be the little skinny kid who just was never put in positions to develop it but he/she doesn't get shocked or surprised and the fear doesn't grip them.

How the regular military tries to solve the equation is through training and planning. Training force on force with simulations and explosions and such. Planning is more for the tactical/unit side but can be worked for the individual. A plan can be as simple as "that dude looks spooky and if he does this (or gets within 5' of me) I will do that". But having the will to survive, to do anything it takes to stay alive- the best survival schools in the world will tell you that they can't predict in a class who will endure and who will fold.

[Danny304]

I cannot speak for the military, but I know in law enforcement sometimes people cannot adjust, become overwhelmed at the moment they are needed, or simply due to past experiences cannot get into the game when they need to. These people cannot “flip the switch,” and sometimes they are quietly moved out of patrol into an admin position or the decision is made by them or for them, that it is time to try something else.

My thought is confidence helps some people “flip the switch” and function. From a law enforcement prospective, being somewhat fit, knowing policy and procedure, in-service training, and being familiar with equipment all go to being confident. Many times when things are starting to go bad and being able to say, “This is what we are going to do,” keeps things from getting worse.

For guys who are not military or law enforcement, working out, studying laws of deadly force, developing mental exercises to articulate their actions, going to firearms or FOF training, all of these build the confidence that when things go bad maybe the guy can do something to keep things from getting worse. If they can, then they succeeded.

[Tabasco]

I lived in San Francisco for 20 years. The SF Bay area has a historical penchant for large earthquakes. I was there during the 7.0 Loma Prieta in 89. I worked in IT for most of that 20 years, and disaster recovery was usually part of my job. One of the biggest obstacles I ran into in both my personal life and business when trying to get people to prepare for the inevitable was a reaction of anger for even bringing up the subject. I realized later that that anger was part of a denial mindset that these individuals and companies had. By preparing for such an event, you are admitting to yourself that such an event could actually happen. For some, that's just too scary to contemplate.

[Al T.]

Tagged. Wayne, PM sent.

[Wayne Dobbs]

I have sent copies of the aforementioned notes to all who have requested them. If you sent a PM to me and didn't receive them for some reason, please resend your email address and I'll get them to you. Hope they're helpful to all of you good guys!

Happy New Year!