This video from Wheel of Fortune has gone viral. The reactions have been a mixture between “Not fair” and “Thems the rules baby”.
I have to say that the rules ARE clear and “thems the rules” have to take precedent. I am certain that this lady was very familiar with the fact that you have to enunciate things clearly and properly to win. So what happened? In my humble opinion, this lady has most likely sung this song all of her life saying “7 swans a swimmin’ “, like so many people do. She knew that she had to say “swimming” but the adrenaline was flowing. This is national TV, she wanted to win, she wanted to make a good impression. Whatever she was feeling, we can all assume that the adrenaline was flowing freely.
How many times have we read the quote from Archilochus: “'We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.”
This is exactly what happened to her. In her head she wanted to say it correctly but under pressure she said it the way she has been saying it all her life. She fell to the level of her training, her conditioning. Did she want to kick herself for it? You bet! Did she know better? Again you bet!
Apply this concept to fighting for your life or defending your loved ones. You can’t have a higher level of stress and adrenaline dump. How will you react? You will react the way you have conditioned yourself your whole life. If it is a bad response, you may be in trouble. If you have never conditioned yourself for such an event, you WILL be in trouble, because you WILL freeze.
So start NOW! I don’t know if we can ever be fully prepared because so many variables are part of this equation. But in the wise words of Marc MacYoung, “Get prepared for what happens the most and you will be prepared for most of what happens.”
Will you be swimmin' or swimming??
Be smart, stay safe.
