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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIf you really want to know what it is, forget all the technical garbage. Situational Awareness is simply the ability to assess your environment for threats so that you can either avoid those threats or control the situation and start stacking things in your favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s it! No flow charts, no color codes, just awareness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s all the hype?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, from a preparedness perspective, I hope it\u2019s obvious. There simply isn\u2019t a more important survival skill that you can possess. If you can identify a threat before it becomes a threat, you put yourself ahead of 99% of the public, and you go a long way to ensuring your safety and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, in today\u2019s world, this is a skill, or better yet a mindset that most people simply don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We live in a world where people live in a contact state of distraction. From walking around with their heads buried in some electronic device to stressing out about their day or trying to recall yet another thing that slipped their mind, most people are blissfully ignorant to the world around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what should you do then, live in a constant state of paranoia?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an argument that you will often hear from people who are not prepared. Rather than do the work, they just claim that it\u2019s paranoia. I mean why worry about what could happen, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n All joking aside, when it comes down to it, it\u2019s the people that do prepare who are the ones that are least likely to live in fear, or succumb to fear when things go bad. It is the preparedness minded individual, who is confident in his ability to assess threats on a subconscious level, who can walk through life without having to even consciously think about what problems they may face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They don\u2019t have to live in fear because they are confident in their ability to detect threats when they arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, let\u2019s look at a couple of different scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are at a theater watching a movie with your family, and the fire alarm goes off. A number of things could be happening right now. It could be a false alarm, it could be an actual fire, or even worse there could be an active shooter<\/a> picking people off in the theater right next door. That\u2019s the world we now live in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this situation, most people are going to panic.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re in a dark theater, children are probably crying, and adults are probably stampeding the aisles not knowing exactly what to do. But you, if you\u2019re a situationally aware individual, already left ahead of danger. You smelled the smoke, heard the gunshots, or recognized the threat before the alarm was ever even pulled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if it was a false alarm, you weren\u2019t injured by the panicked crowd because you calmly headed to the exit point that you instantly identified as you walked into the theater. While everyone else was running for the main entrance, you quietly and calmly helped your family slip out that little noticed side exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We live in a world where it cannot be ignored; criminals and violent criminal attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, when it comes to situational awareness many criminals are damn good at it; but even worse for you, is they are good at spotting people who are not! These people come into a situation with the upper hand; in most cases, they have diligently planned for what they are about to do, and they took the time to select the target that they felt was most vulnerable to an attack \u2013 usually the guy who is walking around totally oblivious to the world around him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen, self-defense training is great; knowing how to use a firearm is a skill everyone should have, and I highly advise you go out and find a good self-defense school. That being said, none of it means anything without being aware of your environment. Any self-defense school that doesn\u2019t stress that fact is a school you don\u2019t need to waste your money on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your only real chance of not being targeted by these people is to be able to perceive the threat before it becomes a threat: Situational Awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Situational Awareness isn’t the supernatural ability that some Hollywood movies make it out to be; in fact, I believe it can be learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, in real-life Jason Bourne is an Anti-Gun Jackass who couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag, let alone recognize a threat!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen, I\u2019m not going to lie to you and tell you this is something that is going to be easy. It\u2019s not. But if you take the time to start looking at the world around you and running through some of these drills, you will start to develop the background skills you need to protect yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you notice the word background in that last paragraph? Again, this is not living in a constant state of fear and paranoia. I know I said this wasn\u2019t a supernatural skill, but it is a subconscious mindset that allows you to know when something isn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s that gut feeling that most people have been conditioned to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ok, I\u2019m not going to go all hippie new age guru on you, but there is a concept that can help tie things together. Buddhists, and those who are into meditation practices, call it Mindfulness. But don\u2019t worry, in the context of this article, it\u2019s not a religious thing. What we are looking at here is the concept of releasing your stress, and fully becoming one with your environment. Simply put, you are present in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of stress release and anti-anxiety therapies are built around this concept because it allows the person to stop thinking about their fears and anxieties and instead just live in the moment, really taking in the world around them \u2013 the sights, the sounds, and the baseline world. That is what\u2019s important here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s about recognizing that baseline. That state of how things are in the world when things are normal. By understanding your environment and being able to recognize the baseline realities of what\u2019s going on around you, your subconscious mind will instantly be able to pick out what doesn\u2019t fit and what things signal danger ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mindfulness, from a therapeutic standpoint, is simply the mental state achieved by focusing your awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily feelings. Simply taking the time to release your anxieties, to relax, and just take in the world around you can do wonders for your overall situational awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of this information isn\u2019t going to be politically correct, but if you\u2019ve followed this site for a while you know that I excel in offending people! I don\u2019t do it to be provocative; I just don\u2019t live my life pussyfooting around other people\u2019s P.C. bull crap or emotional insecurities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m a realist. And I realize that we live in a world that has made people weak; a bunch of precious snowflakes who are so offended by everything in the world that they have become unable to recognize the real dangers in life and in our society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Profiling people is an acceptable reality!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not racist, sexist, islamophobia, hate speech or any other label that you want to attach to it; it\u2019s reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact is criminals do fit certain profiles. Profiling has nothing to do with race, but it does have everything to do with appearance. Think about it; who is more likely to rob you, the 80-year-old black grandmother in the wheelchair or the white teenager sagging his pants below his ass, sporting gang colors and gang tattoos? Was the skin color important, or was the person\u2019s overall appearance important?<\/p>\n\n\n\n That being said, there is no denying that a significant portion of urban (black) culture is deeply engrained into a society that glorifies street gangs, violence, and an attitude that they are owed something and are justified in taking it by force. You can pretend that this doesn’t exist, you can bow down and be fearful of being called a racist, or you can protect yourself and be mindful of the reality of the world we live in. The media won\u2019t say it, but we have a cultural problem where certain groups of people in this country have no respect for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of this stuff is just common sense, and some of it requires ignoring what the media tells you is wrong and right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I\u2019ve pointed out in my book<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/em>The Ultimate Situational Survival Guide: Self-Reliance Strategies for a Dangerous World<\/strong><\/em><\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0and as we constantly warn our readers on OFFGRID Survival,\u00a0<\/strong>the Ghettoization of our culture and our country is one of the biggest threats we face! <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n So now to the meat of the article; the real-world things you can do to help develop a situational awareness mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before it can become part of your background thought process, or your subconscious mindset, you are going to have to be purposeful and do things to hone your skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The truth about situational awareness, what you can do to develop the mindset, and why it’s the single most important survival skill you can have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":25148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,16,34],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-self-defense","8":"category-skills","9":"category-tactical"},"yoast_head":"\n\n
Why is Situational Awareness Important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"inside](\"https:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/wp-content\/themes\/church_10\/images\/2016\/08\/theater.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCriminals are experts when it comes to situational awareness!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What can you do to Develop Your Situational Awareness?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/wp-content\/themes\/church_10\/images\/2016\/08\/jasonbourne.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStep one: Mastering Mindfulness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step Two: Honest Analysis and Identifying Threats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step Three: Situational Awareness Drills, Games, and Tactics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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