Why Do People Ignore Warning Signs?
This next sentence could save your life.
“Every victim of violence who lived to tell the tale said they had a ‘bad feeling’ before the actual attack.”
That’s 100% of the [alive] people, 100% of the time.
That statement is based on my interviews with victims of violence over a 40-year period.
What should you do with this startling statistic?
Decide right now that if you have a bad feeling about a person, place, or thing, you will pause and analyze why.
When an alarm goes off, respond to it.
- Got a bad feeling?
- Address it.
- Stop and assess.
- Don’t ignore the signals.
- Don’t rationalize them.
- Don’t dismiss them without assessing them.
You are a human weapon system designed for survival – your body-mind is actually hard-wired for this. Intuition is like a biological alarm system.
Make a contract with yourself right now that the moment your instincts & intuition raise an alarm, you ‘will’ take steps to move to safety ASAP.
There is no downside to being safe or safer – but there is a massive downside to ignoring these survival signals.
Don’t complicate ‘choosing safety’.
Trust your gut.
Trust your instincts and just move fast.
Stay safe!
Coach B
IMPORTANT PSA RE OUR “CHOOSE SAFETY” MANTRA
I’m not going to go deep into WHY so many people ignore the warning signal intuition sends…there are many reasons from psychological fear to cognitive dissonance. The truth is it’s not relevant to the message or our self-defense method.
What is relevant is the simplicity of this formula.
Choose Safety. Always listen to your intuition. Investigate even if you’re scared.
- If you’re wrong, and nothing is wrong, you’re safe.
- If you ignore and there is danger, you’ve made escape and survival even tougher.
Choose Safety ASAP.
One more thing…
Often, when we think about our safety, specifically avoiding danger, we mostly visualize images of ‘moving away’, creating distance. While this is often the right choice, the scenario will always dictate.
Sometimes the safest thing you can do is CHARGE the THREAT.
Think about that.
Choosing safety doesn’t always mean running away or hiding…the direction you move (engage or disengage) will always be based on the scenario!
Your job is to get off the “X” ASAP.
Start moving when time and space are allies and options.
Share this article with someone you care about.
Check out the question below.
What would you do next if this were you, and you got a bad feeling?
*What scenarios can you envision where moving towards the danger would be safer, as counter-intuitive as that sounds, post your comments below.