How can anyone survive being shot 14 times in 5 seconds?
You’re about to hear audio from a video called Target and I will warn listeners about the graphic and violent nature of what you’re about to hear and suggest that your listener discretion is advised.
In 1994 Derrick McManus was a member of STAR Group in the South Australian Police Force. STAR stands for Special Tasks And Resources and is the elite strike response force and response unit in the state.
He was about to become involved in one of the longest siege situations in Australian history. More than 40 hours involving 2000 rounds of ammunition.
I live by the philosophy that it’s not so much what happens to you in life, its how you handle what happens and I dont know of a better example than my guest for this episode.
I’d like to think Derek for his time and sharing his unique insights into a very traumatic period of his life.
He not only handled what happened to him, he has used his life experiences to forge some very powerful and effective tools that we can use and benefit from to help us better understand and respond to challenges and situations that will inevitably come our way.
These are life changing and life saving tools.
You’ll find Derek’s contact information and everything we discuss in the show notes for this session including his model for Durability of Human Performance which is well worth checking out.
I dont usually prepare for an interview the way I did for this episode.
I sent Derrick some questions to ponder as a way to let him know what I was thinking and he came back to me with some very interesting answers, which you’ll also find in the show notes.
The world can be a crazy place and we can miss important signals and signs. Sometimes we know we need help. Some of us reach out and get it and some of us don’t. As you listen to Derrick’s story, you’ll discover what he did when everything closed in.
Connect with Derrick
email: [email protected]
www.DerrickMcManus.com
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Ray: Right now I’m thinking of a these following questions. I can ask all or none. Let me know.
Derrick: All and any are good for me. There is nothing too personal you can ask me. If I am to really let people see how this philosophy has worked for me then I believe they need to see just how I live all of my life so they can see how similar or different it is to theirs and how they might learn from it and adopt behaviors or say thatll never work for me and reject it. Im not fragile about them rejecting it.
Ray: One reason I wanted to connect is that I’m particularly interested in durability or what (AFL coach) Ron Barassi would call ‘mental toughness’ I like to call it Stoicism.
Derrick: I love the philosophy of stoicism. I read a great deep thinking book called The Antidote - Happiness For People Who Cant Stand Positive Thinking. It is all about stoicism and living with reality rather than dreaming. Positive thinking can actually set you up for the most disappointing times in your life because not everything is going to go right no matter how positive you are. My life is a perfect example of being a positive thinker (and positive actions) ... obviously. You have to be a positive thinker who is prepared to actually take positive action and accept that you wont always win ... and what do you do when you dont win? ... accept that there may be some different action to take to achieve it. You can be disappointed you didnt win this time but youd be crazy if youre destroyed by it. Just keep moving positively towards the next attempt or the next goal. I have a great confidence reinforcing model that everyone resonates with.
One that has just come to mind is always reflecting on the question How does this thinking impact on a real estate agents ability to perfo
