11 Signs You're Predatorial

If there's one thing I've learned about myself over the last few years of being forced to take a back seat to life, it's that I have a lot more patience than I thought I did. I'm used to being ferocious and going after everything I want. It was how I was taught to live my life. I had to learn the hard way, though, that chasing after things had to be done the right way or it was worse than pointless - it became counter-productive. So, with that in mind I've come up with this list of qualities a truly predatorial creature should display.

P.R.E.D.A.T.O.R.I.A.L Qualities

1) Patience - Predators need patience in order to find the right moment to go after what they want. Striking too soon usually results in loss of your prey. Everything is about timing here.

2) Restlessness - An unwillingness to lie back and do nothing, or sit still while life passes you by. It might seem like the opposite of patience, but it's part of a pattern that works toward a successful hunt.

3) Eyes Front - All predatory animals have eyes that face forward. It's simple evolution. You have to be able to see and track your prey, and if your eyes don't face forward you can't do that effectively. Eyes on the side of the head are still useful to some extent, but the inability to judge distance to prey means they're only helpful in seeing something is actually there and not how near or far it is.

4) Devotion -You know what you want. You focus on it. You stick with it. Loyalty to a goal is the only way anything ever gets achieved. If you waffle in your devotion, you can be sure you'll never get anything. There's an old native saying along the lines of, "If you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both." Pick a goal, stick with it.

5) Ambition - You have to want more than what you already have. Makes sense, doesn't it? If you don't want something, you don't chase after it. If you already have it, there's nothing to chase.

6) Territoriality - Hunting for anything means guarding your territory. If you don't, someone starts poaching. This applies to life and business. The worst consequence of not guarding your territory is when you've done all the work and some other predator swoops in to enjoy the spoils. If you don't make sure you've claimed those spoils, you don't reap the rewards.

7) Openness - Occasionally things don't work out the way you think they should, which means being open to a change in focus or direction. That doesn't mean giving up on your main goal. It means finding another path to it.

8) Ravenousness - Hunger is vital. Without hunger there is no motive for the hunt. If you're not hungry for something, you'll lack all of the other qualities required for a successful hunt.

9) Intensity - The need to feed and achieve will come across as intense. The fact is, this is threatening to most people who are the focus of this intensity. They should feel threatened. Humans have the instincts of both predators and prey, so when someone more predatory than we are comes along, we fear them on a primal level.

10) Aggressiveness - You can't eat something if you don't go after it and kill it. All the skill in the world won't help you if you don't close the deal. That means showing no mercy when you've got your prey begging for it.

11) Linearity - Once you discover what you want, there is a very direct line to it. If you dodge and weave, it's going to get away from you.


As far as my own situation is concerned I'm in the patience phase, but you can't be fooled by the facade. It just means I'm waiting for the right moment to strike. Most of the other qualities are already in place just waiting for the lame gazelle to make its appearance. Do you have what it takes to be a predator and go after what you want? Well, I hope so...as long as it's not in my territory that is.

Note - Predatorial is not a word. It's a mash-up. Just thought I'd share that before someone else gave me a verbal smack-down.