Friday May 10th - Special Edition

Welcome to the newsletter where we help you reach your FULL potential in mindset, leadership, and communication. Whether you are a friend, customer, or on a mission to grow - I am glad you are here.

Today’s post shifts focus away from business to discuss HABITS and MINDSET.

PROBLEM: We’re a society glued to our phones, distracted and unaware of our surroundings which can be dangerous.

SOLUTION: Situational Awareness Mindset - I recently attended a situational awareness training in Florida, where I learned the importance of being aware of my surroundings and potential threats. It’s crucial to prioritize this mindset in public settings.

I want to share my experience with you in this SPECIAL EDITION of the newsletter.

Here we go!

Situational Awareness Mindset 
W.O.F.T

I FINALLY trained at WOFT (Where Our Families Train) near Orlando, FL. I went with Lindsey Graham - The Patriot Barbie.

WOFT is a world class education center for real life scenario, safety and instruction. Scenario Safety teaches everyone the skills necessary to handle real-life encounters. Ultimately, WOFT empowers you to deal with the potentially harmful, everyday situations that can happen.

Here’s Lindsey’s take on the training…

the.patriot.barbie

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Phillip Toppino is the CEO and master mind behind WOFT. He studied how nature (you know animals, plants, etc.) blend in or react to scenarios where their life may be in danger. He translated that into the real world and now helps people stay safe out in the wild 🙂 

Here’s an example of an interesting story Philip uses in his training.

Celebrities, politicians, athletes (Shaq) all train with Phillip because he is the best in the world at this.

I was only there for 1-day of the training BUT the activities conducted were:

1. Classroom style training

2. Low-light car jacking

3. Daylight car jacking

Classroom Style Training

Here we learned about the OODA LOOP.

So you are in a parking lot at night and a bad dude sneaks up and gives you trouble. Phillip taught us how to:

• Observe the threat in a productive way. Look at demeanor, body scan, waist, and HANDS.

• Orient our body to the threat to keep HIGH awareness of other potential threats around us.

• Decide the best way to handle the threat

• Act by standing our ground, being vocal, and making a move to your vehicle.

Key Takeaway: This OODA LOOP acronym is turning into a verb in my mind, ingrained in my mindset for greater awareness in public. Remember: thoughts lead to actions, actions to habits, habits to mindsets. The more you think, the stronger the neural pathways become, creating a new habit. Voila!

Low Light Car Jacking

This was crazy interesting. All participants observe from the balcony. Then one-by-one we participated in a scenario.

Here’s an example of a scenario in low light - the grey shirt man is a participant. On a signal he walks inside to go to his vehicle. He has to OODALOOP in real time.

Key Takeaway: Being vocal is crucial. In uncomfortable situations, speak up so others can hear you. If things escalate, your words become evidence when you're vocal. You can translate this to your life in general as well 🙂 Teach people how to treat you. Stand up for yourself.

Day Light Car Jacking

This scenario provided insight on how a participant reacts to a stranger approaching your vehicle during the day.

Lindsey did a great job of attempting to diffuse the situation. Then once the instructors breached her personal space she ACTED on it. We even had a little fun too. Instructors were SO FUN! Those are simulation rounds out of her gun.

And then it was my turn and as usual I was a smarty pants. You can hear Lindsey talking and making fun of my approach. I put the windows up. Obviously we would drive away but couldn’t in this scenario.

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Takeaway 1: We are way too distracted in public, unaware of our surroundings. This training helped me understand how to OODA LOOP: observe, orient, decide, and act if I encounter a scenario with a sketchy person. I fully realize the precursor is putting the phone down more and looking at my surroundings. While this isn’t necessarily business related today, I wanted to share this knowledge to encourage YOU to build a mindset that may potentially save your life.

Takeaway 2: You are your own first responder. Be proactive not reactive. Awareness can save your life. You never know in this crazy ever-changing world when a little situational awareness might come in handy.

Note - I am not paid in any way for this referal but if you are interested in learning more, click the button below.

Thanks for letting me speak into your life, leadership, and growth.

Have a GREAT week!

Derek Matthews
Character Quest Co-Founder
Patriot Pay CEO