Echo Valor Podcast

This episode features Chapter 3 from Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell—a critical lesson on one of the most effective mental models in personal safety: Jeff Cooper’s Color Code of Awareness.

Based on decades of experience in war zones, rescue missions, anti-terror operations, and civilian protection, David explains the color-coded mindset that has kept professionals and ordinary peopl...

This is Chapter 4 from the full audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell. It is a guide to understanding danger before it strikes and living with quiet confidence in a chaotic world.

In this episode, David explores what living in Condition Yellow means—a calm, composed, and prepared state of alertness. It’s not about fear. It’s not about paranoia. It’s about developing the everyday...

This episode features Chapter 5 from the book Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell—a striking exploration of the biology, psychology, and responsibility behind one of your greatest survival assets: your vision.

“You were born to see danger.”

With parallax vision—forward-facing eyes that grant depth perception—humans are designed to navigate and assess threats. Dav...

This episode features Chapter 6 from the book Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell—a powerful, practical lesson in protecting your most sacred defensive asset: your personal space.

We all have a box—an invisible perimeter built by instinct and experience. In this chapter, David Burnell shares gripping stories and hard-earned wisdom about why controlling your space, setting boundaries, an...

This episode features a standalone chapter from the book Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

In Chapter 7 – Reading the Room & the Streets, David Burnell takes you deep into one of the most vital survival skills: understanding what your environment is trying to tell you. Whether you’re walking into a gas station, a restaurant, or across a quiet parking lot, the room—and the street—...

This episode features a standalone chapter from the book Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

In Chapter 8 – Eyes, Hands, Direction of Travel, David reveals one of the most powerful threat-detection tools you’ll ever carry: the ability to read human behavior before violence starts.

Whether you’re walking a quiet parking lot or standing in a crowded store, people don’t just “snap.” They l...

This episode features a complete standalone chapter from the book Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

In Chapter 9 – Environmental Red Flags, David teaches one of the most overlooked yet life-saving skills in personal safety: reading your environment for silent threats—before the bad guy even shows up.

From war zones to strip malls, he’s learned one truth: the environment sets the stage...

This episode features a critical and potentially life-saving chapter from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

Chapter 10 – Secondary Locations Are Death Traps delivers one uncompromising message:

If someone tries to move you—resist. With everything you’ve got.

Drawing from years of experience in protection, rescue, and real-world violence prevention, David expla...

This episode features Chapter 11 from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

Mental Models for Survival explores one of the most powerful tools in personal safety—not technique but thought structure. In moments of chaos, the mind either panics or performs. This chapter shows you how to ensure that it performs.

From combat zones to crisis convoys to everyday parkin...

This episode features Chapter 12 from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

When everything goes sideways, thinking faster can save your life. This chapter introduces the legendary OODA Loop—a four-step mental model used by fighter pilots, protectors, and survivors to stay ahead of violence before it erupts.

Observe. Orient. Decide. Act.
Mastering this simpl...

This episode features Chapter 13 from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

Sometimes, awareness isn’t enough. Words fail. Distance collapses. And violence is forced upon you. What do you do when there’s no other way?

David Burnell delivers one of the most intense and empowering chapters yet—teaching the mindset and method behind Surprise, Speed, and Violence of ...

This episode features Chapter 14 from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

What happens to your brain when fear hits? Why do people freeze, forget, or fall apart—even with training? In this powerful chapter, David Burnell breaks down the inner battle that happens the moment stress spikes—and how to win it.

You’ll discover:

• The difference between the cognitive...

This episode features Chapter 15 from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

What if real strength isn’t about fighting—but about knowing when not to?

In this heartfelt and eye-opening chapter, David Burnell takes you to the edge of conflict and back again, sharing moments from humanitarian missions and tense street encounters where empathy, ethics, and escape pro...

This episode features Chapter 16 from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

Helping others is noble, but good intentions alone aren't enough in a world of deception, chaos, and rapidly evolving threats. In this gripping and wise chapter, David Burnell breaks down one of the most challenging questions in modern personal safety:

When should you step in? And wh...

This episode features Chapter 17 from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

In this chapter, David Burnell teaches what might be the most powerful and underrated skill in personal defense: de-escalation.

Whether it’s a gas station standoff, a heated public argument, or an unexpected confrontation, the ability to lower the emotional temperature without losing your...

This episode features Chapter 18 from the full-length audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

In this powerful chapter, David shares the life-saving mindset of necessity—the ability to act decisively under pressure when the luxury of time, analysis, or politeness has vanished.

From a tense alley in Southern California to elevator escapes and real-life decisions under stress, you’l...

This is the final chapter of the audiobook Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell. In this powerful conclusion, David delivers a personal message of strength, clarity, and purpose for those who’ve walked through the full journey of preparation, mindset, and situational awareness.

This chapter is not a recap—it’s a call to action.

You’ll be reminded:

• That survival is already inside you—it...

This episode features a whole narrated chapter—The Prelude—from the book Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts by David Burnell.

In this powerful opening message, David—combat veteran, rescue operator, and protector of innocents—delivers a raw, honest, and essential foundation for anyone who wants to live prepared, not paranoid.

This isn’t a book about fighting. It’s about seeing danger before it turns int...

Welcome to a powerful feature on the Echo Valor Podcast — where real-world survival meets real-world stories. In this episode, we spotlight Before It Happens: The Art of Staying Safe Before Violence Starts, the newest life-saving guide by veteran and tactical expert David Burnell.

Why This Book Matters:
Violence rarely happens in a vacuum. It builds. It signals. And in most cases, it can be seen — before it happens. This isn’t ...