We recently connected with Anthony Burnside and have shared our conversation below.
Anthony , so great to have you with us and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community. So, let’s jump into something that stops so many people from going after their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. We’d love to hear about how you dealt with that and persisted on your path.
Great to be here. Well for starters, I’ve never really cared about what people have had to say or think about me. I have never defined myself by others points of view. Their viewpoint would hardly be objective. It reveals more about them, than it does about me. People tend to project.
Here is a life lesson that I’ve learned.
Part of my work in executive protection is the ability to properly assess threats for a client or a protectee.
We look at all factors present and work from there.
That way, we can learn and better keep them safe from harm.
Now, in our personal lives, we can also implement those same kinds of tactics for our human interactions.
If you keep this rule in mind, it might make navigating life more easier and a little less stressful, when it comes to dealing with certain people in your life.
People pretend well,so it’s important for us to see things as they actually are and not as we want them to be.
Remember that pivotal scene in the movie “The Matrix”, when Neo starts to gain clarity and sees the Matrix code for what it really is and then he has that gradual realization? That’s the mindset we should have at times, when dealing with certain people
Keep this in mind…
People will only love you to the level that they love themselves. They will communicate with you to their level of their own self awareness. And they will behave towards you..to the level of their own healed trauma”. Plus learn their attachment style. Goes a long way.
Now you know.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Well, I grew up in the states of Colorado,Kansas and Missouri. My family moved around alot as a child.
I grew up loving sports and traveling. I’m an avid reader. I’m a huge movie buff and I studied psychology and philosophy in college.
When I’m not working, I like to go out and have fun.
Later on in life, I trained in VIP personal protection and later worked in law enforcement and I now own a VIP security protection/investigations company.
My company is tasked with the personal protection of individuals and also certain noteworthy persons around the world. I work alot in Hollywood and New York City amongst other places.
I think the part of my work that I enjoy the most, is knowing that I’ve helped people and knowing that I made a difference in their lives.
In my personal life, I love meeting new and interesting people and traveling to new places and experiencing new things. I’ve also delved into writing articles dealing(non security related )with the way we think and behave.
Kierkegaard one stated that, “We live life forward and remember it backwards”. So it’s important to reflect, but keep moving forward.
I refuse to deal in negativity. As Monty Python says, always look on the bright side of life. I love being around positive people.
The sooner that we learn that almost everything (from the way we see ourselves and the world and others) are based on our mindset or frame of reference, the better off we are.
That’s why critical thinking skills are important in life and in work. If you do not grasp the fact, that we all have some sort of cognitive psychological bias and that we have to work past it, or it can get us into trouble…it’s sad.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
That’s a good question. Persistence is important to me. I never give up on my goals. The world owes you nothing. Always go for it and always be grateful.
It’s the old adage of measure twice and cut once.
So never ever give up. If you learn a negative behavior …remember that you can also unlearn it too.
Whatever field of study you decide to undertake, learn it, until you know more about that particular subject than anyone else in the world.
Humor is another quality. You have to laugh at life and more importantly laugh at yourself.
The next quality is to learn new things.
Be curious. Don’t think you know everything. There will always be new information or new ways to do things. I’m always thinking and observing and finding new ways to be innovative.
Plus, be willing to change your mind if needed.
Lastly, keep in mind the learning algorithm we humans use to learn everything in life.
It’s called Performance,Feedback,Revision!
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
Thank you for interviewing me. Ok, for me, it’s more philosophical and that is being a better person than I was yesterday and fighting pervasive ignorance in people. I think we all face that at some point. I don’t suffer fools gladly.
In my work, I deal in what’s factual. As you go throughout life, it becomes apparent, that some people are going around spreading false information (a form of lazy thinking or a mind virus if you will)without checking its validity first.
We have to do better as a people.
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