Live the Pirate Lifestyle

Situation awareness, or SA, is the perception of environmental elements within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future. It is also a field of study concerned with perception of the environment critical to decision-makers in complex, dynamic areas from aviation, air traffic control, power plant operations, military command and control — to more ordinary but nevertheless complex tasks such as driving an automobile or motorcycle.

Situation awareness (SA) involves being aware of what is happening around you to understand how information, events, and your own actions will impact your goals and objectives, both now and in the near future.

The above definition is from Wikipedia.

Why is situational awareness so important?

Too many people, probably most, go through their life with blinders on. They live life in a fog and the image I think of is people having a giant ping-pong ball over their head. Why?

Often, people will get up out of bed in the morning and not “feel” like going to work today. Or in the evening, while reviewing the days activities comment, today was a “good” day or a “bad” day. The problem is they don't think about WHY it was a good day or a bad day. Why don’t they want to go to work?

The problem, as I stated above, is people are in a fog. You get so caught up in making it through the day, getting out of the house on time in the morning, getting to work on time, getting your work done on time, getting back home at a reasonable time, getting everything done at home, and getting to bed on time so you can do it all again tomorrow.

This is where situational awareness comes in to play. You must become aware of what is going on around you. For example, in self-defense training one of the key things you learn is situational awareness. You learn to pay attention to what is going on around you. Another example we all deal with is driving a car. Many people get in their car and drive down the road looking straight ahead, in their own little world, not aware of what is going on around them. Others, like me, keep their head on a swivel and pay attention to everything going on around them.

Why did you have a good day or a bad day? You must train yourself to pay attention to the details of your life, exactly like you train yourself in situational awareness. Stop passively living life and get out of the fog, remove the ping-pong ball, and see the trees and not just the forest. As you discover what activities and actions make for a good day, you can do more of these things. As you discover the activities and actions that make for a bad, you can do less of these things.

Now you are using situational awareness and actively living your life.

CaptRobLee