THE "WHAT IF" GAME. THE GAME THAT WORKS

The "What If" Game

The game works by shifting your brain from watching the world go by to predicting potential outcomes. This overcomes —the dangerous tendency to assume everything is fine even when warning signs appear.

How to Play the Game

You play this mentally, in short bursts, whenever you enter a new environment. The formula is: "If [Specific Event] happens, I will [Specific Action]."

1. Walking the Dog Scenario

• The Prompt: "What if a child comes screaming around the corner riding a bicycle on this sidewalk?"

• Solution: Decide now, where/how to transition the dog to a safe position."

2. Walking the Dog Scenario

• The Prompt: Walking into an unfamiliar or dimly lit area.

• The Solution: Determine now whether to allow the dog to have more freedom of movement, curiosity satisfaction and watch the dog for behavior changes. Nose height, more active smelling (air scenting), slowed or accelerated pace, eye and ear movements, hackles showing or any other inordinate behaviors.

• Determine you actions now! Continue with caution, stop to determine the cause of the changes, seek escape routes, turn and go or move safely to a more well lit area until you can truly determine the cause of the behavior changes.

EVERY DAY ACTIVITIES

1. The Restaurant Scenario

• The Prompt: "What if a fight breaks out at the bar?" or "What if the main entrance is blocked by fire?"

• The Solution: Identify the kitchen exit or a secondary door immediately upon sitting down. If a disturbance starts, you have already decided to leave via the kitchen, bypassing the 5-second "freeze" of deciding what to do. 

2. The Parking Lot Transition

• The Prompt: "What if someone steps out from between those vans as I unlock my car?"

• The Solution: "I will drop my groceries, not my keys, and run back toward the store." By deciding this now, you won't waste time trying to save your milk cartons during an actual assault. 

3. The Traffic Stop (Static)

• The Prompt: "What if the car in front of me is carjacked or disabled?"

• The Solution: "What lane am I in?" Can I drive over the curb and through the grass?" "I have left one car length of space ahead of me so I can pull out and drive around without reversing." 

Why It Works:

The "What If" game triggers the brain to "hack" your reaction time.

•  By visualizing the scenario beforehand, you create a pathway in your brain that treats the event as a "memory" rather than a surprise. When the event happens, your brain recognizes the pattern and executes the pre-planned script immediately, often cutting reaction time by seconds which lessens or prevents "the freeze" —which is the difference between safety and victimhood.