In today's world, we have to be vigilant about our own safety. We can't rely on anyone but ourselves to make sure we stay safe! Here are 7 tips to help you while you are out and about!
1) The most important thing is to PAY ATTENTION to your surroundings! That means putting your phone away and looking around where you are walking. Looking for anything out of the ordinary or that just doesn't look right to you. Which leads us to the next tip.
2) Listen to that little voice in your head, also known as listening to your GUT. A gut feeling is a visceral, emotional reaction that your body has to something going on around you. For example, I once had a gut feeling not to go down a certain road and I later found out there was a shooting at the stop light right when I would have been there. Trust yourself!
3) Another important tip is to EXUDE CONFIDENCE when you are out. Walking with your head held high also helps in all aspects of your life. Try it next time you are out. Again, phone put away, walking with your head up, looking around you. It's very empowering and it shows any would be attacker that you are paying attention! I teach this at my seminars and had a lady call me and tell me she did this when she went to meet her friends at the movies. The friends kept asking her what was different about her? Did she cut her hair? Color her hair? Lose weight? People notice when you are confident!
4) CREATE BOUNDARIES! Don't let anyone get in your personal space, which should be at least 4-5 feet away from you (I like more!). I was at a store about 2 weeks ago getting ready to walk down an aisle when I saw a young man come into the store. It caught my attention because I was in Total Wine and he was too young to be in the store but I thought maybe he was the son of an employee so I continue down the aisle and all of a sudden I hear "Excuse me, excuse me lady". I stopped, turned around and put my hand up and said STOP. He did but kept trying to inch closer so I said more forcefully "I said STOP". He knew at that point I was serious so he turned around and walked away and went to another lady. She let him walk right up to her and I heard him asking her for money, she said no but he wasn't taking no for an answer. She tried walking away but he just kept following her. She ended up giving him some money just so he would leave her alone. But what if he had other intentions? What if he wanted to steal her purse? He was about 1 foot away from her and it would have been very easy. CREATE BOUNDARIES! They could save your life!
5) Sit facing the DOOR! I always sit facing the door. I don't want my back to the door because then I can't see who's coming in or if someone comes in carrying something strange. This goes back to the first tip.. Paying attention! You see something immediately that doesn't look right and can act or react much faster than someone who has their back to the door or isn't paying attention.
6) Know where all the EXITS are when you are in a restaurant, store, office, etc... It saved my life! My husband and I were in Spain visiting some friends (a husband and wife) when the wife asked me if I wanted to go shopping. I said "YES"! We went to a mall and decided to have lunch before starting our search for the perfect purse. As we entered the restaurant on the top floor of the mall, I automatically looked around to locate the exits. About 2 minutes later, while waiting to be seated, we heard that there was a bomb in the restaurant, there was mass panic like something out of a movie. We made it to the exit as the bomb went off. If I hadn't known where the exit was, we might not have made it out alive. Make it a habit to look for the exits any time you enter an unfamiliar place! It could save your life too!
7) The last tip I have for you is to look at any REFLECTIVE SURFACE you pass: a store window, a car windshield, a mirror, even a side mirror on a vehicle. Why you ask? So you can see what's going on behind you. I always look behind me while I'm out and about. I don't want anyone sneaking up behind me to snatch my purse or knock me over the head. I had a friend once that caught me unaware and thought it would be hilarious to scare me from behind. I palm heeled that friend in the face and knocked her down.. I felt bad when I saw her on the ground but she should have known better than to scare me!
I could go on and on about this topic but I hope you start to practice these 7 tips to help you stay safe in public!
