If you wonder why the Navy SEALs are so good at what they do, it’s because they are trained to think in “what-if” scenarios. In their line of work, a SHTF situation is right around the corner and they need to know how to react quickly. Their motto is: Be prepared, feel confident, step up, and know exactly how to survive any life-threatening situation.
Their mental preparation requires intensive training and using situational awareness is one of those important factors. Put simply, situational awareness is having an understanding and an awareness of what is going on in your environment. They use a checklist to determine safe and unsafe areas.
Situational Awareness Checklist
- Try to guess what individuals around you are thinking or doing.
- Look for odd behavior or things that seem out of place.
- Determine where you’d go if you had to seek immediate cover from an explosion or gunshots.
- Find the two closest exits.
- Determine whether someone is following you or taking an unusual interest in you.
Mentally preparing oneself for a disaster is one of the most important aspects of being prepared. Like any aspect of preparedness, practice makes perfect. Using the checklist above, regularly simulate practice drills to get your mind into the habit of using situational awareness. So many people walk around completely unaware of their surroundings; and at times, walk into dangerous situations. Remember to stay alert and be aware of your surroundings – it could save your life.
I found this by doing a Google Search for [situational awareness checklist] since I want to concentrate on that due to really my own dimwittedness. In addition to the simple list here I would add water sources, sun rise/set, moon rise/set, and what phase the Moon is in. Whether or not there is moonlight makes the night a very different place. And how many hours til night or daybreak is another factor for advanced situational awareness.