6 Methods of Thinking Like a Covert Operative

A clandestine professional or trade specialist operating in foreign environments require a unique skill set, particularly the mentalities.

It’s hard to do that with people who think emotionally. A lot of people think in terms of people, emotions, and feelings. That’s more complicated. Engineering mentality makes it, in theory, a little easier.” -Marc Andreessen

Directed ways of thinking that can increase your lifestyle efficiency while taking more control of the world around you. Operator, traveler and civilian life.

Active Situational Awareness

Minding your surroundings is as natural as the senses you use to assess them. It’s how broadly yet deeply you can integrate it into the way you effectively react to the actions of the relative world around you that matters.

Knowing more about the details of your immediate presence, no matter how seemingly irrelevant or innocuous will enhance your ability to make better decisions in response to outside forces.

Commanding Passive Influence

The art of persuading a target to seamlessly do what you want them to do. Not to be confused with passive-aggressive manipulation, the key is to make it seem like you’re impartial or as if it was the target’s idea in the first place.

The most powerful and most difficult mind tactic to master. Most effectively utilized by the power of suggestion and even substantive hypnosis.

Character Estimation

Cold reading strangers as well as dynamically defining people with whom you have rapport. Determining a target’s intentions, desires in any given situation as well as predicting their moves. Similarly, physical estimation or “sizing up” a target to evaluate their combat capabilities.

Just as important and useful is how you’re sized up by others. Controlling how you’re perceived by others for an advantage or strategic response.

Situational Mono Game Theory

Even as intelligent beings, most people’s actions and decisions aren’t governed by strategic thought but by impulse and instincts. That’s cause and effect. Whereas cause and react gives you more control of an outcome.

By perceiving problems, confrontations or any given situation as an equation or a puzzle, it makes it solvable and directionable – the core concept of “impossible is nothing“.

Social Simulation

The ability to blend-in to a type / group of people or simulate a specific person or persona. Most effectively achieved by selective cultural assimilation and controlled method acting, respectively.

This is true urban camouflage. The intent of becoming a part of an interpersonal space, not hide within a (crypsis) visual space.

Method of Loci

Also known as the memory palace technique, it’s a practical mnemonic filing system. A way to greatly heighten your memory capabilities in capacity and retrieval accessibility.

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The ability to never have to write down a phone number, email address or never forgetting a name to a face or specific details of an important event is an invaluable life skill.

[The featured photo was taken in Taipei, Taiwan.]