Preparing For Beginners

Life can be a wonderful adventure full of fun times, breath taking moments, and lasting memories with family and friends, but it can also be hard, tough, and beat you down when you least expect it. There are many ways life can be a struggle from financially, physically, mentally, and most of all by manmade and natural disasters. Some of the skills you need in life to prepare for bad situations you may already have and just not know it yet. We all know about the countless different TV shows where it shows people surviving some of the harshest environments imaginable, but the reality is those are situations most of us will never encounter in our real life. I want to try to walk you through some basics that normal folks can do to better their odds and their life, by being more prepared.

The first thing I feel is key when it comes to being prepared is preparing your mind, being able to mentally deal with situations is a make or break point for most. If you panic and freak out when disaster strikes, then your odds of getting out of it unharmed go down significantly. Preparing your mind is probably the hardest thing one can do in life and it often can take a lifetime to achieve, but hopefully, I can help you with that. Some simple ways to help you mentally would be knowing what to do in situations and train yourself (like muscle memory) to instinctively react to those situations instead of becoming emotional and distraught over them.  Life itself can be a great teacher for this, for example, losing a loved one, being involved in a car crash, getting into a fight, not being able to pay your bills, going hungry, and losing your job. All of these things happen every day and can have a huge toll on your mental state. Now if you’re able to take those negative situations and turn them into something that’s not as bad or even positive, then you’re already on your way to being more prepared. It’s not easy to contain your emotions but it’s worth it in the end because it will allow you to remain calm, make better choices, and possibly save your life one day. Let’s focus on the natural disaster side of this for a moment before we move on. They happen all the time from floods, to tornados, and earthquakes. These are very scary and life threatening situations and are bad enough on their own, so there is no need to make it worse by panicking. Training your mind for these situations isn’t as hard as you think, just like the military practices drills and operations, you can do the same. Make a plan and act out that plan. It will give you more confidence in yourself and those around you that choose to be prepared.

Next, I want to focus on your skills. We all have things we are naturally good at and naturally bad at but that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn to do something though. In fact someone with natural talent that doesn’t work hard will most likely fail when compared to another who doesn’t have the skill naturally but has the desire to be better and willing to work to learn as much as possible. There are countless videos on YouTube and everywhere else on the internet explaining how to do many simple skills, like fire starting methods, how to purify water, setting up a shelter, what to stock up for disasters, and countless other things that seem hard to manage but are actually quite simple. For example, we all buy drinks at the store that come in 2 liter bottles or something similar. That’s a great way to store water as long as you keep it in a dark and cool place. It’s not expensive and you’re just reusing something you would normally throw away, and that’s one of my favorite skill categories. Using your mind to think of new uses for what most wouldn’t look twice at, or simply put repurposing items is a great way to start being more prepared.

Third in line is stocking up on what you can, even the government suggests to keep enough for at least a 3 day supply. It can be easier than you think and isn’t something you need to do overnight (hopefully). Water is life, so the first item to stock up on is water for drinking and for cooking. Each person needs about 1 gallon a day, times 3 days, so keep at least 3 gallons per person that you are preparing for.  Second is food, which the first rule of food is…GET WHAT YOU LIKE TO EAT! Make sure the food you are stocking up on is actually things you and your family will enjoy eating, it’s a huge boost mentally in bad situations. If you plan on ordering freeze dried then get a small sample pack first before buying bulk. The last thing you want is a whole bunch of food stocked up that you and your family don’t like eating. An easy way to stock up over time is just to buy what you like when it’s on sale and to use coupons when you can, also buying store brand instead of name brands can save you money. When stocking up don’t forget to add things like batteries, hygiene products, cleaning products, or anything else that suits your basic needs. Don’t focus on the extras until you have the basics covered.

Tools and gear are a big part of being prepared as well, we face tasks every day and there are many things that can make your day a little easier. The first item I would recommend everyone to have is a good pocket knife. I use my knife countless times throughout the day at work and at home from cutting open a box, striping wire, and more. Knives have many valuable uses not only throughout the normal day but also if you encountered a bad situations as well it’s a must. Next would be A GOOD quality multiplier such as a Leatherman or a Gerber. Again, it’s a something that I use every day and is a great item to have in a pinch. Third would be a flashlight to EDC, even in the daytime a flashlight can be helpful in some cases, I carry one every day. They make flashlights so small now you can put them anywhere. Being able to handle medical issues is a must so a custom made medical kit suited to you and your family’s needs is a must. Don’t forget the prescription medication if anyone is currently prescribed to any meds in your family. I carry all the things listed and more in my sling bag every day, if you wish to have a EDC make sure it’s of good quality as well, cheap bags break and threads come loose, but that doesn’t mean has to be expensive.

I know it can take some time to get to where you want to be to feel prepared and it is hard work, but you must never give up. Being prepared is important, there is nothing better than being able to solve any problem that arises because you prepared yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically. You will have the proper tools and the knowledge to use them when needed. You can save someone’s life by providing them clean water and more. You will be able to make bad situations better by being prepared for them, plain and simple. That alone not only will boost your confidence in survival and life, but will change your way of thinking about your life and your family’s life and start to take them more seriously. Being prepared is up to you, you can panic when bad things happen, or you can survive and thrive, the choice is yours to make. Be ready!