Over the course of my medium-spanned life so far, there has evolved in me a philosophy. It can be termed a variety of ways, and I did not formulate, invent or even come up with it.
The philosophy is a blend of adopted phrases, quips and anecdotes all of them offering profound insight to any who sit for a moment escaping their own clouded, distracting thoughts and contemplate upon them. These are not spiritual or faith based proverbs, these are ideas that push us in a forward direction towards success in our endeavors. These can be applied in the tactical setting, for training as well as towards life. This may be expounded greatly with each line below being discussed at great length, however I will use this as a way to plant the seed for perhaps further discussion at a later time.
ATTACK LIFE
SPEED, AGGRESSION, SURPRISE, OVERWHELMING VIOLENT FORCE OF ACTION, MOMENTUM
THERE ARE NO VICTIMS, ONLY VOLUNTEERS (Feeder vs. Receiver)
CHANGE THE SITUATION & WIN
Attack Life - the first one came from a guy I once worked with in construction. Energetic, passionate and vigorous, positive regardless of circumstance, this was a phrase he uttered, often shouted even with intensity, nearly every morning. The idea is simple - ATTACK LIFE.
Wake up, and charge head on into the thick of whatever "it" is and attack it. Tear it apart. Disembowel your day with a Gladius and make it succumb to you. Dominate it. Find out what needs to be done and DO IT. Set goals and accomplish them. Attack each incremental step. This is not just a daily philosophy - it is your LIFE. Attack your life - your future - your conditions - fight for it with energy, passion and tenacity! What do you love, what do you want? ATTACK FOR IT.
You want to be in better shape? Do it. Drop and crank out push-ups by the hundreds daily, stop drinking soda and eating sugar. You want more money? Work harder, work more, get more education, more skills - attack it and gain a position of necessity among peers and employers. Don't like where you live? Move.
SASOVFAM - Speed, aggression, surprise, overwhelming violent force of action, momentum. This is one of the fundamental tenets of small unit tactics in combat, taught, preached and passed on in gunfighting schools, CQB courses and developed over thousands of years as the premise behind small unit tactics in order to project your small force as a much lager formidable foe to the enemy.
Whether in sports, or you are being mugged in an alley and you are a force of one - apply it. Be swift, use speed to act, hesitation kills. Do not dwell on the past as you cannot change it, move and move quickly, be aggressive, more aggressive then they, overwhelm them with more violence or purposeful action than they anticipate or prepared for, keep them reacting to you so they cannot make their own plan or decisions, and maintain momentum. With momentum the direction of the event is controlled by you - PUSH them, through them, into them, force them to give up ground or retreat.
A small unit of special forces can utilize overwhelming small arms fire with explosive ordinance, all of it timed to purvey to an enemy that a force much greater and much more lethal is about to destroy their world. The above principle is key in any conflict from the unit of one to ten thousand. Those who apply it win.
The following two come from perhaps the most valuable brief you will ever hear, and yes the principles can be applied to various parts of our lives. I will post the link below so you can hear it from Kyle Defoor (Former SEAL Team 6).
"There are no victims there are only volunteers".... "Be the Feeder NOT the Receiver"... "Change the situation and WIN". This means that no matter what situation you are in, YOU control it. This includes a bad situation you are reacting to. This goes along with what we discussed above - making THEM (opposing force or circumstances) react to YOU, and YOUR actions is key.
Someone decides to assault you or a loved one in your immediate vicinity? Ok, react, fast, look around you, change the situation and win. Grab something, anything. Use the above mentioned SASOVFAM if applicable.
This is not only something you have to consider for violent action or incidents. Apply this to life. Do not let life manipulate you. Do not react to others, letting others dictate or manipulate your emotions, your happiness, your state of being. No. Change your circumstances, change the way they impact you, defend yourself, speak your mind, if necessary break contact. You control your environment, your day, your life. Do not allow others to deter your path to success or hold you back. Do not succumb to others. Do not VOLUNTEER. Be the feeder - you feed the situations all of them. You control your plans, your life, your everything.
Before I knew the above or trained on these briefs, I lived much of my life by some of these principles without even knowing. I strove to attack life. Adventure, exploration, wilderness, extremes, all of it I sought.
Perhaps this will hit close to home or help some of you in your life.
