FFN 020： Situational Awareness
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
215.68098
Summary
In this episode of Friday Field Notes, Ryan talks about the lack of situational awareness in the modern world, and why it is so important to be aware of what is going on around you and who you are in order to be a better leader.
Transcript
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You're a man. You're committed to the work required to forge your own destiny.
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You will not be defeated. You cannot be deterred.
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Nothing stands between you and the victory you seek.
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You're a rock. Steadfast, resolute, and unwavering.
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And, at the end of the day, the job will be done.
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Men, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Michler, and I am the host and founder of Order of Man.
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If you're new to the show, you might be asking yourself, what is the Order of Man all about?
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This is about making you guys a better man, a better father, a better husband, a better business owner, and a better leader.
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Now, I'm seeing this huge and disturbing trend in society today that's telling men that it's okay not to be manly,
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and that you should actually avoid even acting like a man.
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We're expected to be sensitive. We're expected to be in touch with our feelings.
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We're told what to do, and frankly, we are told to live a life other than the life we're meant to be living.
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John Eldridge, the author of Wilder Heart, says,
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Deep in his heart, every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.
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But can you look yourself in the mirror every single morning and honestly tell me that the man staring back at you is living this type of life?
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I'm willing to bet that you are living life less than you're meant to live.
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I'm willing to bet that most days you don't enjoy the work you're doing.
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I'm willing to bet that most days your marriage isn't what you envisioned when you first said, I do.
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I'm willing to bet that you're a little heavier than maybe you used to be.
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And I'm willing to bet that you are not satisfied in life.
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It's time to break through that conditioning that society has placed on you and me as men and regain our sense of masculinity and power.
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It's time for you to do the work that you love doing.
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It's time for you to step up as a leader in your business and your family and your community.
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It's time for you to reconnect with your wife and your kids.
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And frankly, it's just time for you to become the man you were meant to be.
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We've got an interview podcast available for you each and every Tuesday.
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And of course, we have this Friday Field Notes show where I talk about some of my thoughts and insights for the week.
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Now today, I want to talk with you about something I'm seeing as I go out into the world,
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whether that's driving down the road or taking my wife to dinner.
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And this problem that I'm seeing is this complete lack of situational awareness.
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It seems like everywhere I look, I see men and women in these zombie-like trances,
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staring at these little electronic devices that we call our phones.
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I see people driving who are completely oblivious to anything going on around them.
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And I really see an inability for people to connect with other people who are literally,
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Now, situational awareness to me is about knowing what is going on around you.
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It's about recognizing the mood and the attitudes and the behavior of those closest to you and even complete strangers.
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At the end of the day, and because you are a man, you have been called upon as a leader,
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a leader in your family or your community or your business.
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And frankly, there are going to be strangers even who are looking to you for leadership.
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That might be an active shooter type situation or an emergency,
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or it could even be just somebody asking for directions.
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But if you have no idea what the hell is going on around you, you are not going to be an effective leader.
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At best, you might give somebody the wrong directions.
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And at worst, your lack of awareness might actually get somebody killed.
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Now, I can't obviously get into all the details of every situation that you need to be aware on an eight-minute podcast.
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But let me share with you some quick insights from my glory days of high school.
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I had a high school football coach, Matt Labrum, who would always say to me,
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So I was a linebacker in high school, and the goal was to see the entire field at any given time.
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Were the linemen on their heels or on their fingers?
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If one receiver was cutting across the middle, what were the other guys doing?
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This is what it means to be situationally aware.
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If you're out on a date with your wife, what is the overall mood of the environment?
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But it's not just about being aware of any of those threats.
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It might even be a conversation with a coworker or a loved one.
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If so, it's your job as a leader to address the issue.
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So let's talk about a couple of things that you can do to be more aware
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And again, although I can't possibly explain every situation you might encounter,
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if you just incorporate just a few simple tactics, a few simple strategies,
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these will help you assess and adapt and overcome just about any situation you may find yourself in.
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I alluded to this already, but you need to understand the overall mood of the environment
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Is there anything out of the ordinary going on?
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What is different about this location or even people than normal?
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Bottom line, it's about asking yourself questions and then identifying
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if this is what I would call quote unquote business as usual or is something else going on.
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Now, the next step is to control the environment.
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Look, you're going to find yourself in situations that you have no control over.
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People are going to do what they're going to do.
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But what you can control is how you position yourself in that environment.
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Is your back against the wall or is it exposed?
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Can you actually see what's going on or is your view obstructed?
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If something were to go down, how would you maneuver the environment to get you and others
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You've got to be aware of the views, the locations, the sounds, the smells, and use all
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of your senses to get an idea of the environment in which you find yourself.
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So I'm going to go back to sports here for a minute.
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And during practice, our coach would often call us out and ask each one of us what we
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would do if the ball was hit to the infield or to the outfield, or if it was a ground ball
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We would be encouraged to walk through every possible scenario imagined so that when and
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if the ball was hit to us, we already knew what to do.
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This idea of visualizing a play before it happened, it allowed for quicker reaction time and more
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effective play because we didn't have to think about what we were going to do in the moment.
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So you need to ask yourself these type of questions so that if something happens, you
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Now, the last thing I want to mention is that you need to take action.
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If you notice something is off or not quite right, it's on you as the man to change the
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You may need to change your position in the environment.
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You may need to get yourself out of the situation before something goes down.
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But the bottom line, guys, you need to trust your gut here.
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I promise there are things going on subconsciously within your mind and body that are trying to
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I don't know all the science behind it, but I can tell you that we as humans have evolved
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over literally thousands of years to first survive and second to thrive.
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So you need to have the courage to listen and act upon what your subconscious is telling you.
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It's just a quick rundown today on how to be a bit more aware of what's going on around
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I'm going to be bringing on some guests in the near future to talk about more at length
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some of these topics in this subject, because I firmly believe that all men need to be more
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But in the meantime, let me quickly tell you about our elite mastermind, The Iron Council.
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This is an exclusive group of men who are working together to improve their relationships
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and their health and being aware and their wealth and themselves in every area of
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Each and every one of us is committed to leveling up our own lives and then helping our council
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We've got a private Facebook group for discussion and a ton more.
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You can learn more about The Iron Council at orderofman.com slash ironcouncil.
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Until next week, guys, be more situationally aware.
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Understand what's going on around you and have the courage and fortitude to actually act
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upon what you know, be a better leader, and live manfully.
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Now it's time to crush your excuses, own your choices, accept responsibility, and live manfully.
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Learn how at orderofman.com forward slash field notes.