Every article you ever read about self defense will have some awareness component. The gun-centric will quote Cooper, and neophytes will point to some very nebulous ideas about staying in groups or in well lit areas. Awareness really is a 'magic bullet' solution, and I am glad the people mention it all the time, but they generally don't define what is we are supposed to be aware of, and what to do when we notice something strange.

Awareness is really nothing more than confirming that everything is normal and making intelligent evaluations of anything that does not conform. This evaluation is not a court case, as soon as a situation doesn't look right it is time to being taking action. There is no reason to hesitate until a problem is confirmed. It does no good to stand around and wait to see if the situation is as dangerous as you think it might be. There is no downside to not being around to confirm it was a bad as you thought.

If something about a persons behavior doesn't fit into the broad range of normal it is time to begin getting some distance or improving our position. It is time to look around and see if there is anything else going on that is a more pressing need for our attention.

Continuing to evaluate is a form of taking action, but this additional evaluation should be done to determine a concrete course of action, a reaction to and identified stimulus: "That guy looks suspicious, if he starts to approach me I am leaving."

Make note of the things in your environment that you can use to your advantage, prior to their being an actual problem. It is better to be adjusting a plan than to try to invent one in the heat of the moment.

Routes and Exits What is most efficient path from where you are to somewhere away from the problem? This distance might be measured in feet or miles, but having a few options for immediately getting away from a bad situation is huge advantage.

Barriers What is the nearest thing that I can hide behind and what will it stop? A hollow core door might not stop bullets, but will stop fists for a little while. Light pieces of furniture will slow an attackers advance significantly. Anything that buys you even small increments of time improves your ability to respond.

Weapons Is there anything readily at hand that I can use to gain some advantage? A hot cup of coffee, a beer a bottle, etc. Do not limit your thinking to things that you can hit an attacker with, think also of things you can hit with your assailant - a window, a passing car, a picket fence. Improvised weapons are not nearly as good as actual weapons, but they are generally better than no weapons at all.

Allies Is there anyone here that I can get to help me? Many businesses have some sort of security, at a minimum alert an employee. The time to do this is before the problem is obvious. The nightclub bouncer or the bartender would love a heads up that somebody is a potential problem. Any friends should of course be made aware of suspicious behavior.