The Ultimate Firearms Destination for the Gun Lifestyle

Training Mindset: It’s All Cerebral

Thinking, and more importantly speaking your own opinions may possibly be the most daring thing a person can do. Even in spite of those around them who may have opposite viewpoints, learning to harness the power that resides in being able to simply stand out – to be a pariah. Everyone seems to want to fit in and “go with the flow.” They dare not disobey what’s expected of them, whatever that may be. Yet, leaving the safety of the harbor is the only way to test one’s mettle and for them to see if what they have practiced can bring them safely home. Life’s hard, and it’s even harder when you lack the depth to look internally for a solution for an external problem. As firearm owners, it’s all too easy to become tool fixated. Believing something else will fix the problem satisfies the ego better than the long road that’s involved in self-sovereignty.

Runenation indoor training

Photo Credit: @rangefox

DO THE WORK

Living in an era where the transmission of information appears to be limitless, many, if not all, take it verbatim. Formulating your own opinion appears to be a dying art of sorts. It’s easier to just nod and go along with the crowd, than it is to hold fast and say your piece. Caring about the opinions of others is a false idol that needs to be silenced. This holds especially true in the realm of firearm ownership. The world doesn’t care about what you did a decade ago, your ego does. Fall in love with starting over, anew, again. It’s ok if you’ve never been to a formal training class before, or if the last one you were in was 15 years ago. Start to develop this concept of self-awareness, it’s one of the few ways you can have these honest conversations with yourself. To develop this honest understanding, it simply starts by getting up and doing the work necessary every single day. Sometimes it’s the simplest solutions for the grandest situations. Regardless, it comes down to your willingness take a closer inspection and re-prioritize your life.

iain Strimbeck training

Photo Credit: @one_7_six

Nothing can replace the effort that’s placed towards achieving a goal, especially if it’s something that’s truly important to you. Reading books, watching motivational videos, and even pre-planning can only take you so far. You must take that first step. Even in full acknowledgement of the pain, the failure, and the anguish that may follow suit. The most honest way you can not only see firsthand if your theories actually work, but more importantly who you are as a person, is to make constant movement forward. No matter how small, it’s still moving farther than you were the day before. “Overnight success” isn’t a thing, and the sooner you realize that the sooner you’ll have clearer expectations as to what lies ahead. Life-altering success can only come if you’re willing to receive it in the long run. It’s not necessarily about how great you are now but instead in 12 months, 5 years, or even a decade from now. Yet, for many this is already asking much as they realize they have yet to develop the patience needed to get there.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Existing in a culture that is so hyper fixated on instant gratification, understanding patience can be a pipe dream at best. It is not yet known or at least not common knowledge how streaming videos, one-day shipping, or instant bank transfers subconsciously alters our perception of proper timing and discernment on what else should operate at that same tempo. Emotion undoubtedly plays a role in either keeping you at an even keel or rocking the figurative boat. When people aren’t in touch with themselves, they’ll find ways in blindly inviting in negative consequences. To become an asset to your family and community, you should have complete control over your emotions. The recipe to accomplish that is fairly straightforward, become comfortable in the uncomfortable.

ian Strimbeck range teaching

Photo Credit: @rangefox

Making a life or death choice is difficult, if not impossible for the uninitiated.  This is either because they don’t intellectually understand the choice they’re about to make, or what’s more common is that it’s because they’re scared. They’re scared in turn because they don’t have the experience yet to base their emotions off of. When people don’t have a baseline event to bounce other experiences off of, they emotionally shy towards everything being scary, bad, or horrible. The only real way to gain that first experience is to simply dive in, even if trembling in fear. It’s a completely normal bodily reaction, yet so many people allow it to dictate their direction in life. If emotions are allowed to take control, how are we as concealed carriers supposed to make unbiased decisions when our very life or our loved one’s life hangs in the balance.

INDIVIDUAL AUTONOMY

Whether it’s painful for you to admit or not, you’re granted with the ability to choose your own path in life. You as a person aren’t defined by your job, your car, your clothes, your firearm, your house, or your bank account unless you willingly allow them to. So many people get spun up by the opinions of others or things that don’t affect how they put food on the table. Just stop, you’re wasting precious time. If you’re choosing to carry a firearm in public space, then it’s your responsibility to seek out the proper coaching. No one demands you carry a gun, it’s of your own volition. People need to fully understand the drastic consequences involved if you draw prematurely in an entanglement, if you shoot inaccurately in a crowd, or if they simply drew a gun when it wasn’t the best solution to the problem.

runenation rifle

Photo Credit: @ohiopews

You can only understand this on an intimate level, if you’ve tested your skills in a safe and reality-based learning environment. Simply plinking at the range when you feel like it isn’t going to cut it when your mugged on your way back to your car or hear the door to your house get kicked in at 2 a.m. If the preservation of your life or your loved ones is of any importance to you, then you need to have the maturity to have it take precedence. If not, that’s fine too. It just means that you’re willingly placing the burden of your safety on someone else. Here’s a little trade secret though, no one is coming to save you.

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One response to “Training Mindset: It’s All Cerebral”

  1. Timothy Hudson says:

    Excellent article. Never stop learning.

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