Sorry, no life hack

I grew up learning that my fear and flight from the dog is exactly why it chased me. Noted.

Then I was watching that epic scene in The Blacklist where the bull attacks Raymond specifically because he stood still, calm and fearless. Apparently he knew how the bull would respond and wanted exactly that.

There was me thinking staying calm and fearless was the way to deal with potentially violent animals. There goes my life hack.

It reminds me how formulas hardly work for every context. Every situation requires its own careful observation and learning. The one thing that helps you win here might be why you lose there. What brought you here might not be what takes you forward. Maybe you met a dog yesterday. Sorry it’s a bull today.

There’s no one life hack — context wins.