Subject: Trust Your Instincts
Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 10:03 AM
Hi
What is the #1 thing that gets us in trouble every time, whether it be in
business, relationships or personal safety?
Not doing what we know is right.
As they say, the right thing to do isn’t usually the easy thing to do, and I’m as
guilty of this as anyone.
In self defense, doing the right thing often means trusting our instincts. In
my upcoming video/DVD set on self defense, one of the things I’ll include are 5
Rules Everyone Needs to Know.
Rule #1 is trust your instincts. If you follow this rule, the other 4 will
probably be unnecessary. So, if it’s such a simple rule, why don’t people follow
it?
Usually because of social conditioning, that is, no one wants to be rude.
Example: We’re approached in a place, at a time, in a certain way, by a person
who makes us immediately uncomfortable, yet we don’t simply walk away. Why not?
Ask someone who’s been the victim of a crime and they’ll likely tell you that
they were ill at ease from the start – even before it was clear what was going
on. They’ll tell you that something didn’t feel right. Maybe it was the person,
the setting, the time of day, all of that, but they just didn’t like the vibe.
And they still went along with it. And they got in trouble.
Ask them later why they didn’t just turn around and leave and they’ll almost
always say it was because they didn’t want to be rude or appear to overreact.
They should have paid better attention – and respect – to that gut feeling,
because predators don’t wear signs around their necks. Also, if you ever are the
victim of a crime, Justice Department statistics suggest there’s a high
likelihood you’re dealing with a recidivist. That means he’s experienced,
hardened, and has done jail time. The last thing you want to do is give a person
like that control of the situation by “being polite.”
Most of us deal with many people in the course of a day, but somehow manage not
to make any of them fearful or anxious. If someone else makes you feel that way
there’s an excellent chance it’s not you . . . it’s them.
So trust your instincts.
Keep tuned for the other 4 Rules.
Stay safe, train like you mean it.
Rob LaPointe
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