What can I do? (Critically Important)

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Yesterday I hit on the “7” practical areas of prepping but there is more to cover that is really important as it applies to each of the “7“. So there are some categories of learning that kinda fit outside of the “7” put actually touch on each in some way or another. However, I can’t tie them to any of the “7” specifically. I will cover some of those in general…

Psychology & Personalities –

Here is what I am saying…there are certain personality types that exist pre & post event/incident. Meaning people behave one way during normal everyday life, but after an event/incident, when the stress is really on, their true personality comes out. Often this transition is determined by stress and desperation, but not always. Sometimes people in every day life can hide really well who they truly are under layers of society’s norms. But once those norms, such as laws/expectations/rules, no longer apply…they become who they were all along…who they were deep inside their soul. Understanding this potential transformation could be just as important, maybe far more so, than owning a great shotgun with plenty of ammo or having the best water filter in town.

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Exercising & Scenarios –

Over the years I’ve come out with ways to think through different scenarios and options on how to react. Yup, it’s called training. It’s not meant to dictate to you what you must do…but showing you what you might run up against and letting you figure out how you might handle it.

Do NOT discount this kind of training. It has proven over and over again how effective that role playing and scenario training works! Do not doubt me on this one. The time to be making big decisions is not when they have a gun pointed at your head. The decisions should have been made a very long time before that occurs. But if that time should ever come…you will already have a pretty good idea what to do if you have done role playing and scenarios.

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Parallel Action Tracks –

I am sure you already figured this out, but let me sound important (at least in my own head) and share this with you. This is not a plan (or suggestion) to do one thing at a time, it is not a plan to work on only one of the “7” at a time…you can work on whatever you can at any time. Meaning?

While you are working on the “who are you” principles part you can certainly be buying extra cans of food for your pantry when you go to the store. That’s a no-brainer…you are going to need some soup so buy it next time you go to the store. But that shouldn’t delay you from figuring out what you believe in…discovering your core values.

While you are buying ammo (part of priority #1) you can also purchase a Olicamp Vector Stove (part of priority #7). When you order items for your medical kits (part of priority #2) you can also order a water filter/purifier (part of priority #5). You get the idea, yes?

CAUTION: Although you can work on multiple areas at the same time…concentrate on the “7” in order. Meaning, don’t neglect buying a shotgun to buy all of your food storage. Don’t ignore putting together your IFAK to buy a pressure caner.

Remember the “7” are there for a reason…and they are in a particular priority order for an even greater reason. Neglecting a high priority area for an easy/lower priority can lead you and your family to disaster. Yeah, you might have bought an awesome tent…and die from an injury that a simple Home/Family First Aid Kit could have prevented.

Realistic Expectations –

If you are brand new to prepping you are probably pretty excited to get started…and that is great! If you are an old hand at prepping but you’ve just kind of stumbled around in your quest to become prepared you too might be excited to find an actual systematic approached in this series of articles to better ensure you are truly prepared. But there is a nasty little problem lurking in the shadows.

Unless you are blessed with unlimited funds (i.e. money) you probably can’t do everything immediately. And, due to the time required, you probably couldn’t do everything immediately even if you wanted to and had the money to make it all happen.

The answer is ‘realistic exceptions’…yeah, maybe you’ve never heard that term before or maybe never truly understood it. Let’s start with an example…You’ve never shot a pistol before, is it realistic that you can become a highly effective gun fighter in a week? Ah, no. Can you be better than when you started? Yes. Can you be Delta Force level good within that week? Absolutely not…it’s not realistic! Can you be good enough to defend yourself or your family in that week of training? Maybe…probably. For most people it takes time to develop all of the motor skills required to become a good gun fighter. And a lot of that time isn’t spent punching paper at the range.

Wait a second…do you know why I use the term “gun fighter”? Well, it is a matter of skill level. Many people can safely handle a pistol, many can shoot great paper target scores, some have mastered mag swaps, FTF/FTE drills, and off-hand shooting. But, few can shoot accurately and effectively under pressure, on the move, with the bad guys shooting back at you.

About 10 years ago I took a class designed to teach you how to shoot accurately enough, under pressure, effectively, against odds…with the bad guys shooting back at you. In the class, once we proved our basic firearm skills, they put us into scenarios with high-powered paintball guns. Yeah, laugh it you want to…it changed the whole concept of gun fighting for us. My point? I was a good gun fighter before that…but only to a certain degree. But once I went through that training my abilities went up by a factor. But it took me years to get to that point.

Another example would be food storage. Is it realistic that you can acquire 5 years worth of food storage, or even 1 years’ worth, overnight? Of course not…unless you have thousands of extra dollars on hand just laying around. It will take time to understand what you need, where to find it, and then actually to acquire it. Then there is how to store it and how to use it in rotation. So not only is there the realistic time-frame to acquire your food storage…there is also the realistic time-frame to gain the skills associated with using food storage.

You already know what your priorities are…the “7”…now you have to set goals that are both achievable and realistic. If you don’t…then you are going to get very, very frustrated…or maybe you get burned out.

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Balance –

I could have just as easily labeled this section as ‘burnout’ and maybe that would have painted a clearer picture. But let’s stick with balance.

If you are a fairly average person you have a spouse, kids, job, church, home, garden, yard, hobby, and friends. Think for a minute what would happen if you started spending all your free time with one particular friend. Or, you worked all the time and stopped going to church and/or spending time with your spouse and kids. What would happen? Yeah…a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting would take place and you would be told to straighten out your life.

Same will be true when it comes to prepping…you gotta stay balanced. If you don’t folks are going to get ticked-off at you or you will simply burn out. The key to the ‘balance’ is to steal a little time from each area of your life and use it to prep. Here are some pictures to give you an idea what I am getting at…

Do these graphics help?

Articles in this Series –
Related Articles –

 

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