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Listening To Your Instincts
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By Kerry Sauve
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Your Instincts, Natures Air Raid Siren
Instinct: Natures Air Raid Siren
This month we would like to talk to you about listening to your instincts. Let’s look at a few facts; our world has become a more violent place. You only need to pick up a newspaper or watch a local school practicing Lock-Down drills in order to see how un-safe people are feeling.
We work daily with some of the most potentially violent and unpredictable people in society. We have become very good at reading people, their intentions and their potential for violence. We’ve learned these skills the hard way by witnessing hundreds of violent incidents over our careers. What we’ve learned is that in 99% of the time our instincts have warned us that something was going to happen. We have learned to trust our instincts because our safety and our lives can depend on how we react during a crisis.
Have you ever walked down the street and had the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Have you had that visceral reaction to someone you’ve just met that tells you immediately that you don’t like or trust this person? Most of us have these types of reactions all the time. This is our instincts or what we like to call our “Creep Meters” reacting to environmental variables that add up to tell our brain that something is not right.
Our brains receive literally millions of bits of information daily. In order to not become overloaded with input a lot of this data is dealt with at a subconscious level. Instinct works on this level. We don’t need to consciously think about not running off a cliff, the little voice inside most of our heads tells us this course of action will generally have negative consequences for us. Our instincts are great at recognizing and assessing potential dangers in our lives.
When you meet someone who you immediately dislike or feel wary of, or you are in a situation that makes you anxious for no apparent reason, this is instinct. Your instincts are great at telling you that something is wrong or has
the potential to go wrong. What your instincts can’t do however is always be specific.
If you had a bad feeling about the man that just got in behind you on the elevator your instincts are telling you to leave the situation as soon as possible. They can’t tell you specifically that the man is a predator with a long history of violence against women and that he has been up for the last three days high on methamphetamine. Your instincts probably picked up on subtle body language and actions on his part that made your brain scream….”RUN”.
The question is how do you deal with this very important signal from your Creep Meter? Do you ignore it like many of us do thinking “Oh that would never happen” or “I must be imagining it”? Or do you hit the button for the next floor and place yourself in a position where you can watch him at all times? You see society conditions us that it is not right or ok to profile someone based on the way that they look, act, or make us feel. I’m sorry but that is a ludicrous and potentially dangerous attitude. We are making judgments and assessments of people, places and things all the time.
Our instincts have developed by countless generations of people who did watch someone step blindly out of the cave only to be devoured by a bears. They witnessed this and their brain interpreted this as an undesirable, even negative outcome. Over the intervening millennia our species has developed a rather healthy aversion to bears. If I was to say to you that you should not prejudge all grizzly bears based on the fact that a few of them occasionally eat people, you would have me committed. Why is it any different when we are dealing with people?
Your instincts will always tell you that something is potentially wrong. Learn to trust them and they will help keep you safe. The three keys to keeping yourself safe are listening to your instincts, developing mental toughness, and maintaining situational awareness. Next month we’ll talk about situational awareness. Until then stay safe and watch out for bears.
Kerry Sauve
StreetSmart Safety & Security
This month we would like to talk to you about listening to your instincts. Let’s look at a few facts; our world has become a more violent place. You only need to pick up a newspaper or watch a local school practicing Lock-Down drills in order to see how un-safe people are feeling.
We work daily with some of the most potentially violent and unpredictable people in society. We have become very good at reading people, their intentions and their potential for violence. We’ve learned these skills the hard way by witnessing hundreds of violent incidents over our careers. What we’ve learned is that in 99% of the time our instincts have warned us that something was going to happen. We have learned to trust our instincts because our safety and our lives can depend on how we react during a crisis.
Have you ever walked down the street and had the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Have you had that visceral reaction to someone you’ve just met that tells you immediately that you don’t like or trust this person? Most of us have these types of reactions all the time. This is our instincts or what we like to call our “Creep Meters” reacting to environmental variables that add up to tell our brain that something is not right.
Our brains receive literally millions of bits of information daily. In order to not become overloaded with input a lot of this data is dealt with at a subconscious level. Instinct works on this level. We don’t need to consciously think about not running off a cliff, the little voice inside most of our heads tells us this course of action will generally have negative consequences for us. Our instincts are great at recognizing and assessing potential dangers in our lives.
When you meet someone who you immediately dislike or feel wary of, or you are in a situation that makes you anxious for no apparent reason, this is instinct. Your instincts are great at telling you that something is wrong or has
If you had a bad feeling about the man that just got in behind you on the elevator your instincts are telling you to leave the situation as soon as possible. They can’t tell you specifically that the man is a predator with a long history of violence against women and that he has been up for the last three days high on methamphetamine. Your instincts probably picked up on subtle body language and actions on his part that made your brain scream….”RUN”.
The question is how do you deal with this very important signal from your Creep Meter? Do you ignore it like many of us do thinking “Oh that would never happen” or “I must be imagining it”? Or do you hit the button for the next floor and place yourself in a position where you can watch him at all times? You see society conditions us that it is not right or ok to profile someone based on the way that they look, act, or make us feel. I’m sorry but that is a ludicrous and potentially dangerous attitude. We are making judgments and assessments of people, places and things all the time.
Our instincts have developed by countless generations of people who did watch someone step blindly out of the cave only to be devoured by a bears. They witnessed this and their brain interpreted this as an undesirable, even negative outcome. Over the intervening millennia our species has developed a rather healthy aversion to bears. If I was to say to you that you should not prejudge all grizzly bears based on the fact that a few of them occasionally eat people, you would have me committed. Why is it any different when we are dealing with people?
Your instincts will always tell you that something is potentially wrong. Learn to trust them and they will help keep you safe. The three keys to keeping yourself safe are listening to your instincts, developing mental toughness, and maintaining situational awareness. Next month we’ll talk about situational awareness. Until then stay safe and watch out for bears.
Kerry Sauve
StreetSmart Safety & Security
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