It’s nearly the New Year and driven by positive intent, many of us will be thinking about where we are in our lives and what we want to achieve in the next year. Will we change jobs, study for that extra qualification, finally do that marathon, learn Spanish or lose weight? In short, we will be identifying our New Year’s Resolutions.
Well, how about this, why not commit to a New Year’s Resolution which may save your life. Not only will it help you to stay safer, but it may also help you at work, boost your enjoyment of all that is going on around you, and help you empathise with others.
But before we get into that. Why do so many New Year Resolutions fail?
The end of one year and the start of another just feels right as a moment to re-set our targets but the truth is we are really bad at sticking to these resolutions. Some estimates suggest that only 1 in 12 of us are likely to succeed in sticking to their resolutions. So why is that?
Yes, it’s true we may frame our resolutions badly, and over commit to something, but the central reason behind many failures is that we rely on our determination alone to help us succeed and fail to turn our commitment into a habit. Creating habits is a whole subject on it’s own, but in essence we need to create trigger events which cause us to act in the way of the habit, such as the process of going to bed triggers us to clean our teeth.
If you want to learn more about creating habits which stick, I recommend Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg.
Become Aware of your Surroundings
So, what is this habit which offers so much potential? It is the habit of awareness, in this article, focusing on your safety I call it Street Safe Awareness.
All too often we are told that if we see something strange, we should alert others and they will deal with it. That is good if others are there to help, and it does of course depend completely on our ability to notice things which are “strange”. In a world where we rarely practise observation, how can we be expected to notice.
Street Safe Awareness
Street Safe Awareness is the practice of observing what is going on around you and asking the question, ‘will any of this affect me?’. We all already do this in part but generally fail to practice it properly. To do this it needs to be broken into three simple observations.
Observation One – Who is around me?
Being aware of who is around you, and questioning what their intent may be is your first stage of observation. In any physical threat, assailants need to close you down, to be able to harm or get to you. They need not be predators as such, a drunken person or even an unruly crowd can affect you just as much.
Try to pay attention to all people but it is those within 5 metres of you who should be your primary focus. They are now close to your personal space.
Ask yourself, do you know them; do they look like they could bother you; do they appear friendly; are they carrying anything which could help them against you; have you seen them watching you from a greater distance? The point of these questions is to allow yourself to be suspicious of anybody you cannot immediately discount as friendly or un-threatening.
Observation Two – What are the conditions right now?
We all become aware of extreme physical conditions such as gales and thunder storms but are rarely as accomplished at spotting the signs that they may be deteriorating. Sailors often say that if you are worried that you have the wrong sails on then it is already too late.
Mostly though we don’t face such extremes but that doesn’t mean we aren’t affected by everyday physical conditions, and not just weather. Does the restaurant you have just entered have more than one exit, if so, how accessible is it? If you must evacuate the hotel at night where are your valuables and coat to immediately grab, as you make your way to the exit? Where are the emergency stairs? Where is the nearest defibrillator in your office or work place? How good is the lighting in your car park?
All of these are questions which may cause you to pause and adjust your plans. Perhaps you’ll wait a few minutes and walk to the car park with a friend rather than on your own.
Observation Three – How are you?
This is more than asking yourself, how are you feeling. It is a question of how will you fit in with where you want to go. It’s not about being unseen, you can stand out and, if where you are going is the Oscars then perhaps you should, but more of a case of how well are you feeling to be able to deal with the world you will face in all of its vagaries.
We know you shouldn’t drink and drive, but what about walking through a crowded place with your ear pieces in. Will that mean you cannot hear clearly everything which is going on and may not be able to react quickly.
Just have a quick look at this clip of film and see how being distracted, or closing down any of your senses can affect your awareness, and makes you more vulnerable to anybody who wants to exploit that.
Turning Street Safe Awareness into a Habit
So, how do we turn this into a habit?
The key to each of these is our ability to scan. To lift our focus from whatever we are doing, for even a second, to scan our surroundings. The more we do this, the better we will become at it.
Only two years before winning the Rugby World Cup, England great Johnny Wilkinson worked with coaches to help him see the field better, to scan as a habit and enable him to make better decisions. In football, players like Frank Lampard built it into the way they moved around the pitch. In hospital surgeries and on aircraft flight decks, surgeons and pilots are scanning and evaluating all the time.
To make your scanning second nature, use the next month to force yourself to pause every time you are about to set off anywhere. Make that the trigger for the habit.
As you prepare to leave a shop, get up from a chair in a restaurant, cross a road, or get off a train, pause for one second and look completely left and then completely right of where you are planning to go. As you return to the line you want to walk lift your eyes to the sky to check higher obstacles or threats and then you can confidently focus on where you’re off to.
If you see anything you don’t like, at any stage, be prepared to change your route or plans, and if you are with friends or colleagues share any concerns with them.
At first it will take a few seconds but force yourself to see people, traffic, buildings, animals and whatever else is there. As you improve, or when you are on well known territory, you will be quicker as you more immediately will start to assess people and the environment.
Once you’re moving, use the natural breaks, like a pedestrian crossing, as an opportunity to re-scan, and limit any activity which will otherwise eat up your focus. If you need to make a phone call, move to a safe place and stop, take the call and then set off once more.
Street Safe Awareness frees you up to act
Street Safe Awareness isn’t about turning us all into James Bond or Jason Bourne. Such hyper-vigilance is wearing and for many of us will stop us from getting on with our lives.
It is about lifting our awareness of our immediate circumstances. In gaining that extra sense of what is going on around you, you will not only be safer, you may also notice how everyone else is, see things you will otherwise have missed and be more attuned to the world.
To find out more
If you would like to find out more about Street Safe Thinking or are interested in any training sessions or presentation, please email: john@streetsafethinking.com
Cover image by Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash
