Deep Survival

Laurence Gonzales (Author)

Summary: In extraordinary circumstances, like accidents or catastrophes, some people survive and others die, such that sometimes things lead you to believe that the first ones die and the second ones survive; this book explains, using numerous stories of accidents and catastrophes, and by exploring the latest scientific theories – from neuroscience to the theory of chaos – what makes one person die and another survive.

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Research suggests that there are five general stages that a lost person goes through:

1.First, you deny that you are disoriented and you move with a sense of urgency, trying to reconcile your mental map with what you see.
2.Then, when you realize you are lost, the sense of urgency vanishes and becomes a complete urgency to survive. Thinking clearly becomes impossible and actions become frenetic, unproductive and even dangerous.

3.At the third stage, often after getting hurt or exhausted, you develop a strategy to find a place that corresponds to your mental map. It’s a bad strategy, because you don’t have a map; you are lost.
4.You deteriorate both rationally and emotionally as soon as you perceive that your strategy is failing to resolve the conflict.
5.In the final stage, when you are low on options and energy, you become resigned to your difficult situation and accept it for what it is.

To survive: stay calm, make decisions and act, accept the situation and understand whether the chances are slim, everything is possible, and do your best, your absolute and total best, to survive.

To avoid getting into difficult situations:

Notice, believe, and then act
Avoid impulsive behavior; don’t rush
Know your business
Get information
Be humble
If in doubt, don’t

To better manage difficult situations when they arise:
1.Notice, believe. Be attentive to your new surroundings, accept them as well as the consequences that occur.
2.Stay calm. Use humor to focus your fear. Survivors keep their sense of humor and therefore their cool. They use fear rather than being guided by it.
3.Think/analyze/plan. Stay organized. Identify small manageable tasks. Survivors get organized quickly, define routines and instill discipline.
4.Take decisive and appropriate actions. Be both brave and wise when you identify tasks. Survivors are ready to take risks to save themselves and others.
5.Celebrate your success. Take joy in accomplishing tasks. It is a very important step in order to create a sense of motivation and not fall into hopeless depression.
6.Consider yourself happy. Recognize it – you are alive. That’s how survivors become survivors and not victims. They always have someone else to help, even if they are not present.
7.Play. Sing, play mind games, recite poetry, count whatever you like, do math problems in your mind.
8.See the beauty. Survivors are sensitive to the wonders of the world. Beauty appreciation, the feeling of seeing something great, awakens your senses, reduces stress and greatly increases your motivation.
9.Believe that you will succeed. Develop a deep conviction that you are going to live.
10.Surrender. Let go of the fear of dying and accept it. Resign yourself without giving up.
11.Do everything necessary. Be determined. Have the will and the skills. Survivors have a meta-knowledge: they know their abilities and don’t overestimate or underestimate them.
12.Never give up. Don’t let anything break your spirit

About The Author

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Executive Coaching and Business Coaching