Tim Larkin: Surviving the Unthinkable

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Tim Larkin is the founder of Target Focus Training and author of the book How to Survive the Most Critical 5 Seconds of Your Life. Tim was a Naval Intelligence officer who spent over a decade training the Special Forces in hand to hand combat methods for high intensity “kill or be killed” situations.

He has spent the past 20 years developing a unique self-defense system, which focuses on using the human bodies most vulnerable points to ensure results regardless of the size or strength of the attacker. Tim has trained over 10,000 clients in over 52 countries.

Favorite Success Quote

“Violence is rarely the answer, but when it is, it is the only answer” – Tim Larkin

Key Points

1. Always Go the Extra Mile

If you really want to succeed, then you must always go above and beyond what is expected of you.

There are literally thousands of other people who want the exact same thing as you, and if you want to be the one who gets it, you have to go the extra mile.

While competing with 275 other candidates for one of the two slots as an officer at BUD/s, Tim literally camped out in front of the Captain’s office for 3 days to get a chance to talk to speak with him face to face and request a shot at the training.

Tim was awarded a slot and learned then and there that if you want something, you better be damn ready to work hard for it.

2. There is Always a Vulnerability

While Tim’s focus is on the weakness of the human body and how you can exploit your attacker’s vulnerabilities during a life or death scenario, his belief that “There is always a weak spot” is applicable to every area of life.

Whether you are competing for a business client, facing a challenge in your health or love life, there is always a solution.

There is always a vulnerability that you can exploit or a “weakness” in the situation’s armor that you can break through to achieve your goals.

You just have to be willing to think outside of the box.

3. Behind Every Disaster there is Opportunity

No matter how terrible something might seem.

No matter how life changing it might appear.

Behind every disaster is an opportunity.

Tim perforated his ear drum while in BUD/s (Basic Underwater Demolition, Seal Training) and was medically dropped from the program a mere three weeks from graduation.

At the time it seemed like his life had ended.

All of the time and effort that he had devoted to his dream of being a Navy SEAL was wasted.

Or so he thought.

In the coming years, Tim used the training and discipline he developed during training to create a series of incredibly lucrative and successful businesses helping people learn how to defend themselves from assailants.

Now, years later, he admits that getting dropped was one of the best things that could have happened to him.

Always look for the silver lining in dark times, I promise it’s there.

4. Hit Fast and Hit Hard

Once again, Tim’s self-defense principle of “Hit fast and hit hard” applies across the board in all areas of life.

If you want to succeed in business, then quit pussy footing around.

Hit fast and hit hard.

Hit the ground running, knock on doors, slam the phones, and send out emails until you have the client base that you need to succeed.

In your health, hit fast and hit hard.

Just get up and go.

Don’t spend too much time thinking about what workout you should do or what diet you should follow.

Just pick one and adjust along the way.

Life happens for those who are willing to strike first and strike with all of the strength and power that they can muster.

So get up and get after it.

5. Cut Out the Negative Self Talk

Anytime that you are faced with a potentially life-threatening situation, you must maintain a positive frame of mind and eliminate negative self-talk.

If you get into a fight with an attacker, you cannot sit there telling yourself that you are screwed.

You have to keep a positive frame of mind and clearly think about the situation, no matter how dark it might seem.

And this is true in any other area of life.

If you are constantly telling yourself that you are not good enough in business, health, or realtionships, your negative talk will become a self fulfilling prophecy.

You must eradicate all negative self talk and replace it with positive statements that empower you and give you the courage that you need to push forward.