A Painful Step - Situational Awareness

A lack of situational awareness is just one of many youthful mistakes we make.  Yet, it is the root of tons of lessons.  We see it as children shining they are immortal in some way.  However, sometimes there is just a misunderstanding of risks involved in actions or environments.  Some of these same mistakes can hit us much later in life and come from incorrect assumptions.

Situational Awareness Cures Many Ills

Sun Tzu points out in "The Art of War" that the best way to win a battle is to avoid it.  Life is full of similar situations.  We are often faced with a challenge that is best avoided.  That is why we spend so much time and money on preventative medicine and other precautions.  Why deal with consequences when you can avoid the source event or action instead?

Take A Breath And Pause

A scene that often occurs in action movies is a sort of calm before the storm.  The hero or heroes are overlooking the enemy territory or compound.  Then we have some sort of planning scene or montage.  A great example of this is the 80's TV show the "A-Team" where there was always a pre-battle planning frenzy.  We need to do something like this on a regular basis in our lives.  When we take a few moments to gather ourselves we avoid rookie mistakes."  This process may include running through a checklist or simply surveying the path(s) ahead.  In any case, those moments taken to pause and plan can often be a highly valuable investment.

If you like this season, you will probably like Scott Adams' book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life."