Quiet Professionals

Ah, Testosterone and tactical training.  Can’t forget Martial Arts too.  Want to be a competitive badass, want to be famous, want to have a position of power over others or do you want everyone to know that you’re an INSTRUCTOR?  If you do, you’re probably nowhere near being a QUIET PROFESSIONAL.

I get it, we all got into learning how to defend ourselves for a reason.  For most of us, it was something that we had to do to in order to feel safe, to feel normal because of past traumas.  For others it was something your parents made you do so that you can grow up with more confidence and discipline.  There’s also those that go into it because they want to be some sort of badass, wanting everyone to know about their well deserved “Higher status”.  I’ll give you an example of the last sort of person.

There was this guy in my old home town,  He would always tell people he carried weapons, how he was going to carry twin pistols on the small of his back and how he was going to go to a bodyguard school.  Listening to him talk was painful really.  We weren’t friends, but somehow I would occasionally see him out and he was almost always talking to his friends about himself.  At the time, I was actually going to a Defensive tactics and Bodyguarding academy.  I never said a thing to him about any of it.  See, I get it, we all go through the different stages, I didn’t want to talk about it with someone I didn’t know.  I didn’t want people asking me the same kinds of questions everyone else had for me.  I didn’t derive any pleasure from it.  That was over 15 years ago.  To this day I find myself around some people talking and arguing about Self-defense techniques, which guns are better and why and which gym was crap and why.  I’m past that point.  I have nothing to prove to anyone.  I know I’ve helped people live a better life and that’s all I need.

Recently, I discovered a guy on Instagram that actually made a living off of trashing other peoples Self-defense videos.  Granted, most of the videos were obviously sham Martial arts, with people flying back from a mere touch, but he did showcase a real tactical instructor and bashed him because he was showing someone how to gain the upper hand against someone sticking him up with a gun.  His tactics were good, he had a higher understanding of the human physiology, but this “Karate influencer” relentlessly bashed him for something he thought would get other people killed.  By reading the comments, you can clearly see that people were feeding into it too.   He thought he knew better and he wanted to showcase himself as being a better, all while making a living from it.  Now that, folks, is the exact opposite of being a Quiet professional.  You don’t see Navy Seals brag about killing people do you?  They are perfect examples of what a Quiet professional should be.

Don’t take credit, don’t brag, do your job and just be proud of yourself for all the good that you do.  Be professional and know that you don’t have to be loud, because that behavior exudes confidence and professionalism.  That’s something that everyone respects.