Seek Action Rather Than Reaction
The Action/Reaction Cycle #
The idea of “Situational Awareness,” needs to be seen as part of an active engagement. What you are seeking to do is maintain the initiative in a potential battle. This is staying ahead of the action/reaction curve. Being surprised is a failure of maintaining a proper offensive mindset in this (hidden phase) of an encounter. In this way, situational awareness is not really avoiding a confrontation, as it so often feels to those who manage to escape the encounter unscathed, but rather it is you choosing to act prior the the aggressor’s action, and so maintain the initiative in the confrontation. The battle starts before the aggression begins. The battle starts the moment the aggressor sees the opportunity and decides that they are going to act. At this point, you are already at the disadvantage of being the re-actor not the actor.