Staying Safe in a Dangerous World: How the secrets of professional spies can help you avoid personal harm
The premise of this book is clear: most personal disasters are largely self-inflicted wounds. We inadvertently choose to put ourselves at risk and make ourselves victims.
Over a decades-long career that has taken me to countries in every continent, interacting with people from dozens of different cultures, I'm still amazed at how people tend to live in the past or the future and ignore the present.
What's typical: People view the past with often crippling regret--or it's companion emotion, blame. "How could I have been so stupid!" "Why were they so mean?" Or they obsess with equally crippling fear about the future. "What if [fill in your favorite worry] happens to ME?"
In researching my spy novel, Doppelgänger: An American Spy in World War II France, I realized that professional spies live on a completely different time frame. They learn from the past but don't worry about it. It's over. Similarly, they anticipate and plan for the future, but don't worry about it either, because it hasn't happened yet. Instead, they focus deeply and attentively on staying alive and carrying out their mission in the present moment.
Statistically, most people will go their entire lives without getting robbed, mugged or car-jacked, being caught in an act of terrorism or in random mass violence--like the victims in the Las Vegas shooting. As tragic as the losses people experience in the natural disasters that are becoming increasingly prevalent and more catastrophic, the victims of these natural catastrophes represent a tiny fraction of the entire population of the nearly 328 million Americans. That's the good news.
The bad news: tragedy does happen to the innocent. And for the victims, their families and friends, the results can be devastating.
Danger can come in many forms: terrorist attacks (foreign, and more likely home grown), muggings, burglaries, physical assaults, street theft, or natural disasters.
What You Will Learn From This Book:
AWARENESS: Being alert to potential danger before it happens
SELF-PROTECTION: Knowing how and when to keep yourself safe in dangerous situations
DECISIVENESS: The skill to act immediately and decisively
PERSONAL STRENGTH: The confidence to act when you need to.
Being prepared for potential danger is not the same as being scared.
Fear, and its extreme expression, paralyzing inaction, actually play into the hands of those who might want to do you harm. The preparedness I can help you learn is the diametric opposite of fear. It's the state of being calm, alert, and always prepared to act in the presence of potential danger.
A useful way to think about awareness is provided by the "Color Code" developed by the late John Dean "Jeff" Cooper, USMC, author of Principles of Personal Defense. His system is taught to military and police personnel nation-wide.
CODE WHITE (ALL ATTACKERS LOOK FOR VICTIMS IN THIS STATE.)
• You feel secure, whether or not you are actually safe.
• Awareness is switched off--your attention is focused on your own thoughts.
• You are oblivious to your environment, its inhabitants, and their rituals and signals of attack.
CODE YELLOW
• You are prepared--you have researched or considered the relative safety of your present environment.
• You are relaxed, but attentive to potential threats.
• Awareness is switched on.
• You have a 360-degree peripheral recognition of environmental danger spots such as secluded doorways, entries, and alleys.
• You are aware of people, vehicles, and what you can't see, such as what might be behind large objects or in dark areas, etc.
CODE ORANGE
• You are in danger. You are aware of a potential threat.
• State of threat evaluation. A particular situation has drawn your attention and could present a major problem. Someone may be giving oral indicators such as direct threats or using suspicious language or body movement. Focus on the potential attacker.
• Check to see if there is an avenue of escape, potential weapons available, and if others around you are friend or foe.
• Make the decision to take action, NOW.
CODE RED
• You are in conflict.
• State of threat avoidance or elimination.
• Fight or flight. Flee, defend, or attack. You have evaluated the situation, and if there is a threat, you prepare to fight or run.
• Never stand or fight if there is a possibility of fleeing.
• Carry out the decision to act made in Code Orange. You don't have to think; no indecision on the course of action; you are prepared.
• If use of physical self-defense techniques is necessary, use the level of force appropriate to the threat. E.g., don't treat someone who pushes you because he is rude like someone who is trying to stab you with a knife.
"1129908691"
Over a decades-long career that has taken me to countries in every continent, interacting with people from dozens of different cultures, I'm still amazed at how people tend to live in the past or the future and ignore the present.
What's typical: People view the past with often crippling regret--or it's companion emotion, blame. "How could I have been so stupid!" "Why were they so mean?" Or they obsess with equally crippling fear about the future. "What if [fill in your favorite worry] happens to ME?"
In researching my spy novel, Doppelgänger: An American Spy in World War II France, I realized that professional spies live on a completely different time frame. They learn from the past but don't worry about it. It's over. Similarly, they anticipate and plan for the future, but don't worry about it either, because it hasn't happened yet. Instead, they focus deeply and attentively on staying alive and carrying out their mission in the present moment.
Statistically, most people will go their entire lives without getting robbed, mugged or car-jacked, being caught in an act of terrorism or in random mass violence--like the victims in the Las Vegas shooting. As tragic as the losses people experience in the natural disasters that are becoming increasingly prevalent and more catastrophic, the victims of these natural catastrophes represent a tiny fraction of the entire population of the nearly 328 million Americans. That's the good news.
The bad news: tragedy does happen to the innocent. And for the victims, their families and friends, the results can be devastating.
Danger can come in many forms: terrorist attacks (foreign, and more likely home grown), muggings, burglaries, physical assaults, street theft, or natural disasters.
What You Will Learn From This Book:
AWARENESS: Being alert to potential danger before it happens
SELF-PROTECTION: Knowing how and when to keep yourself safe in dangerous situations
DECISIVENESS: The skill to act immediately and decisively
PERSONAL STRENGTH: The confidence to act when you need to.
Being prepared for potential danger is not the same as being scared.
Fear, and its extreme expression, paralyzing inaction, actually play into the hands of those who might want to do you harm. The preparedness I can help you learn is the diametric opposite of fear. It's the state of being calm, alert, and always prepared to act in the presence of potential danger.
A useful way to think about awareness is provided by the "Color Code" developed by the late John Dean "Jeff" Cooper, USMC, author of Principles of Personal Defense. His system is taught to military and police personnel nation-wide.
CODE WHITE (ALL ATTACKERS LOOK FOR VICTIMS IN THIS STATE.)
• You feel secure, whether or not you are actually safe.
• Awareness is switched off--your attention is focused on your own thoughts.
• You are oblivious to your environment, its inhabitants, and their rituals and signals of attack.
CODE YELLOW
• You are prepared--you have researched or considered the relative safety of your present environment.
• You are relaxed, but attentive to potential threats.
• Awareness is switched on.
• You have a 360-degree peripheral recognition of environmental danger spots such as secluded doorways, entries, and alleys.
• You are aware of people, vehicles, and what you can't see, such as what might be behind large objects or in dark areas, etc.
CODE ORANGE
• You are in danger. You are aware of a potential threat.
• State of threat evaluation. A particular situation has drawn your attention and could present a major problem. Someone may be giving oral indicators such as direct threats or using suspicious language or body movement. Focus on the potential attacker.
• Check to see if there is an avenue of escape, potential weapons available, and if others around you are friend or foe.
• Make the decision to take action, NOW.
CODE RED
• You are in conflict.
• State of threat avoidance or elimination.
• Fight or flight. Flee, defend, or attack. You have evaluated the situation, and if there is a threat, you prepare to fight or run.
• Never stand or fight if there is a possibility of fleeing.
• Carry out the decision to act made in Code Orange. You don't have to think; no indecision on the course of action; you are prepared.
• If use of physical self-defense techniques is necessary, use the level of force appropriate to the threat. E.g., don't treat someone who pushes you because he is rude like someone who is trying to stab you with a knife.
Staying Safe in a Dangerous World: How the secrets of professional spies can help you avoid personal harm
The premise of this book is clear: most personal disasters are largely self-inflicted wounds. We inadvertently choose to put ourselves at risk and make ourselves victims.
Over a decades-long career that has taken me to countries in every continent, interacting with people from dozens of different cultures, I'm still amazed at how people tend to live in the past or the future and ignore the present.
What's typical: People view the past with often crippling regret--or it's companion emotion, blame. "How could I have been so stupid!" "Why were they so mean?" Or they obsess with equally crippling fear about the future. "What if [fill in your favorite worry] happens to ME?"
In researching my spy novel, Doppelgänger: An American Spy in World War II France, I realized that professional spies live on a completely different time frame. They learn from the past but don't worry about it. It's over. Similarly, they anticipate and plan for the future, but don't worry about it either, because it hasn't happened yet. Instead, they focus deeply and attentively on staying alive and carrying out their mission in the present moment.
Statistically, most people will go their entire lives without getting robbed, mugged or car-jacked, being caught in an act of terrorism or in random mass violence--like the victims in the Las Vegas shooting. As tragic as the losses people experience in the natural disasters that are becoming increasingly prevalent and more catastrophic, the victims of these natural catastrophes represent a tiny fraction of the entire population of the nearly 328 million Americans. That's the good news.
The bad news: tragedy does happen to the innocent. And for the victims, their families and friends, the results can be devastating.
Danger can come in many forms: terrorist attacks (foreign, and more likely home grown), muggings, burglaries, physical assaults, street theft, or natural disasters.
What You Will Learn From This Book:
AWARENESS: Being alert to potential danger before it happens
SELF-PROTECTION: Knowing how and when to keep yourself safe in dangerous situations
DECISIVENESS: The skill to act immediately and decisively
PERSONAL STRENGTH: The confidence to act when you need to.
Being prepared for potential danger is not the same as being scared.
Fear, and its extreme expression, paralyzing inaction, actually play into the hands of those who might want to do you harm. The preparedness I can help you learn is the diametric opposite of fear. It's the state of being calm, alert, and always prepared to act in the presence of potential danger.
A useful way to think about awareness is provided by the "Color Code" developed by the late John Dean "Jeff" Cooper, USMC, author of Principles of Personal Defense. His system is taught to military and police personnel nation-wide.
CODE WHITE (ALL ATTACKERS LOOK FOR VICTIMS IN THIS STATE.)
• You feel secure, whether or not you are actually safe.
• Awareness is switched off--your attention is focused on your own thoughts.
• You are oblivious to your environment, its inhabitants, and their rituals and signals of attack.
CODE YELLOW
• You are prepared--you have researched or considered the relative safety of your present environment.
• You are relaxed, but attentive to potential threats.
• Awareness is switched on.
• You have a 360-degree peripheral recognition of environmental danger spots such as secluded doorways, entries, and alleys.
• You are aware of people, vehicles, and what you can't see, such as what might be behind large objects or in dark areas, etc.
CODE ORANGE
• You are in danger. You are aware of a potential threat.
• State of threat evaluation. A particular situation has drawn your attention and could present a major problem. Someone may be giving oral indicators such as direct threats or using suspicious language or body movement. Focus on the potential attacker.
• Check to see if there is an avenue of escape, potential weapons available, and if others around you are friend or foe.
• Make the decision to take action, NOW.
CODE RED
• You are in conflict.
• State of threat avoidance or elimination.
• Fight or flight. Flee, defend, or attack. You have evaluated the situation, and if there is a threat, you prepare to fight or run.
• Never stand or fight if there is a possibility of fleeing.
• Carry out the decision to act made in Code Orange. You don't have to think; no indecision on the course of action; you are prepared.
• If use of physical self-defense techniques is necessary, use the level of force appropriate to the threat. E.g., don't treat someone who pushes you because he is rude like someone who is trying to stab you with a knife.
Over a decades-long career that has taken me to countries in every continent, interacting with people from dozens of different cultures, I'm still amazed at how people tend to live in the past or the future and ignore the present.
What's typical: People view the past with often crippling regret--or it's companion emotion, blame. "How could I have been so stupid!" "Why were they so mean?" Or they obsess with equally crippling fear about the future. "What if [fill in your favorite worry] happens to ME?"
In researching my spy novel, Doppelgänger: An American Spy in World War II France, I realized that professional spies live on a completely different time frame. They learn from the past but don't worry about it. It's over. Similarly, they anticipate and plan for the future, but don't worry about it either, because it hasn't happened yet. Instead, they focus deeply and attentively on staying alive and carrying out their mission in the present moment.
Statistically, most people will go their entire lives without getting robbed, mugged or car-jacked, being caught in an act of terrorism or in random mass violence--like the victims in the Las Vegas shooting. As tragic as the losses people experience in the natural disasters that are becoming increasingly prevalent and more catastrophic, the victims of these natural catastrophes represent a tiny fraction of the entire population of the nearly 328 million Americans. That's the good news.
The bad news: tragedy does happen to the innocent. And for the victims, their families and friends, the results can be devastating.
Danger can come in many forms: terrorist attacks (foreign, and more likely home grown), muggings, burglaries, physical assaults, street theft, or natural disasters.
What You Will Learn From This Book:
AWARENESS: Being alert to potential danger before it happens
SELF-PROTECTION: Knowing how and when to keep yourself safe in dangerous situations
DECISIVENESS: The skill to act immediately and decisively
PERSONAL STRENGTH: The confidence to act when you need to.
Being prepared for potential danger is not the same as being scared.
Fear, and its extreme expression, paralyzing inaction, actually play into the hands of those who might want to do you harm. The preparedness I can help you learn is the diametric opposite of fear. It's the state of being calm, alert, and always prepared to act in the presence of potential danger.
A useful way to think about awareness is provided by the "Color Code" developed by the late John Dean "Jeff" Cooper, USMC, author of Principles of Personal Defense. His system is taught to military and police personnel nation-wide.
CODE WHITE (ALL ATTACKERS LOOK FOR VICTIMS IN THIS STATE.)
• You feel secure, whether or not you are actually safe.
• Awareness is switched off--your attention is focused on your own thoughts.
• You are oblivious to your environment, its inhabitants, and their rituals and signals of attack.
CODE YELLOW
• You are prepared--you have researched or considered the relative safety of your present environment.
• You are relaxed, but attentive to potential threats.
• Awareness is switched on.
• You have a 360-degree peripheral recognition of environmental danger spots such as secluded doorways, entries, and alleys.
• You are aware of people, vehicles, and what you can't see, such as what might be behind large objects or in dark areas, etc.
CODE ORANGE
• You are in danger. You are aware of a potential threat.
• State of threat evaluation. A particular situation has drawn your attention and could present a major problem. Someone may be giving oral indicators such as direct threats or using suspicious language or body movement. Focus on the potential attacker.
• Check to see if there is an avenue of escape, potential weapons available, and if others around you are friend or foe.
• Make the decision to take action, NOW.
CODE RED
• You are in conflict.
• State of threat avoidance or elimination.
• Fight or flight. Flee, defend, or attack. You have evaluated the situation, and if there is a threat, you prepare to fight or run.
• Never stand or fight if there is a possibility of fleeing.
• Carry out the decision to act made in Code Orange. You don't have to think; no indecision on the course of action; you are prepared.
• If use of physical self-defense techniques is necessary, use the level of force appropriate to the threat. E.g., don't treat someone who pushes you because he is rude like someone who is trying to stab you with a knife.
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Staying Safe in a Dangerous World: How the secrets of professional spies can help you avoid personal harm
Staying Safe in a Dangerous World: How the secrets of professional spies can help you avoid personal harm
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940161779378 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | E. Thomas Behr LLC |
| Publication date: | 11/17/2018 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Sales rank: | 512,370 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
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