Sometimes you have to focus on survival before you can turn your attention to excellence.
One of the most stimulating and perceptive things I’ve read in some time is the “12 Rules of Survival” by Laurence Gonzales on his web site, deepsurvival.com
The author’s introduction reads:
“As a journalist, I’ve been writing about accidents for more than thirty years. In the last 15 or so years, I’ve concentrated on accidents in outdoor recreation, in an effort to understand who lives, who dies, and why. To my surprise, I found an eerie uniformity in the way people survive seemingly impossible circumstances. Decades and sometimes centuries apart, separated by culture, geography, race, language, and tradition, the most successful survivors–those who practice what I call “deep survival”–go through the same patterns of thought and behavior, the same transformation and spiritual discovery, in the course of keeping themselves alive. Not only that but it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are surviving being lost in the wilderness or battling cancer, whether they’re struggling through divorce or facing a business catastrophe–the strategies remain the same.”
He’s onto something. His insights have been used in training by Navy SEALS, firefighters, police, and others to study the science and art of survival.
As a teaser, here are the titles of the first three rules:
- Perceive and Believe
- Stay Calm–Use Your Anger
- Think, Analyze, and Plan
The author elaborates on each rule and gives examples that illustrate his points.
Okay, another one. As you might imagine, number 12 is “Never Give Up.”
So, head on over there and check it out because sometimes, it’s SURVIVAL FIRST, THEN EXCELLENCE!