I was sitting outside yesterday afternoon when a loud yell and screeching of car tires grabbed my attention, and that of everyone in the vicinity.

Some valet driver in his white work coat, making a right turn in a white Camaro (I think), had stopped too late to prevent hitting some guy who was riding his bike in the bike lane.

I looked up in time to see the biker hopping up angrily (he wasn’t hurt, apparently) and start yelling at the driver. The driver calmly got out and walk to the front of the car, where he and the biker briefly debated who was right and wrong in the situation. I snapped a couple videos of the incident, which we bystanders stopped watching once it was clear nothing else was going to happen there.

Conversation over, the biker rode off about 50 feet, where he stopped and examined his allegedly-damaged bicycle, still yelling, at this point to no one in particular. I do remember him announcing that all motorists driving cars were “a gang” who did not care about the well being of humans.

I, for one, ride my bicycle in Miami all the time, albeit during off-peak early morning hours. If a driver were to hit me with their car and do anything other than apologize for their mistake — like yesterday, where the valet guy argued that he had right of way when he surely did not — there would have to be repercussions.

The biker could have chosen to:

Beat up the valet driver
Call the police
Take photos of the incident and file a report
Sue the valet company for the reckless driving of their employees, and gotten his bicycle repaired/replaced

But he did none of these. He yelled about it, first to the valet, then to no one, about his victimhood.

Watching the whole thing, I felt more disappointment than anything that the biker so deeply embraced his state of being a lowly victim. Which tells me that he’s probably a victim in many areas of his life, and the valet driver hitting him was just that day’s proof.

Now, maybe you’re thinking, anyone could get hit by a car while bike riding. You’re right. Anyone could also get punched in the face, have their car broken into, deal with a dishonest person who acts unethically, or be struck by lightning. Anything can happen.

The question is, what do you do then? Embrace how terrible it is that this thing happened to you, or do you go on the offensive and do what you can do about it?

For Your Game
Victims will always be victims. These people always find a way to be on the receiving end of bad luck, bad people and f*cked up situations. Never be a victim — Bulletproof Mindset will ensure you won’t ever be one.
People who live life on the offensive — taking initiative in doing things, looking for opportunity instead of waiting for it — seem to be victimized much less often. I don’t know that there’s a measurement for how and why, but it’s true.
Look, sh*t can happen in life. That very well could have been me on that bicycle yesterday. But, once something does happen, what then? How long do you allow yourself to bitch about what happened before you go back on offense mentally? I wrote The Mental Handbook to keep you on offense.

When’s the last time you found yourself being a victim? What percentage of your life is spent on offense these days? Reply and let me know.

#WorkOnYourGame