- Learn something. Take a class that will teach you a survival-related skill. Get your EMT certification, pass your HAM radio tech test and join the local HAM radio club, join the local Search and Rescue organization and participate in their trainings, etc.
- Get out of debt. Completely. This will do more for your survival-ability than nearly anything else you do. If nothing else, it will decrease your stress level considerably.
- Exercise every day. No excuses. Even if it just means walking around your block a couple of times a day, exercising every day could help you save your life or the life of someone else when TSHTF.
- Pay cash only. For everything. This will reduce your paper trail and up your personal privacy considerably.
- Spend time building and strengthening relationships with your family and friends rather than being glued to the TV, your computer, or your cell phone. When it comes down to it, the only ones who will have your back are these people. Period.
- Guard your privacy. Change your passwords, back up your files, wipe the hard drive of your old computer, shred all documents that contain personal information, check your credit report annually, etc.
- Know where you live. What are the potential natural and man-made threats? Where are local water and food sources? How many different ways can you enter and leave your residence/neighborhood/city?
- Develop multiple sources of income. I don't care if it is delivering papers and mowing yards. You need to be able to generate income when you need it and on a regular basis. Having multiple sources of income can ensure this.
- Challenge yourself. Make it something big. Huge. A 40-day Amazon River expedition with NOLS, biking across the US, taking a high risk security operations course with Blackwater...er, XE...er, US Training Center. You get the idea.
- Change your life. If you aren't happy with any part of your life, change it. What are you waiting for? No one will give you permission to do such a thing so it is up to you to make your own choices and set your own goals. Of course then it will be up to you to follow through on this decision come Hell or high water...
Will you read this list, think it is a good idea, maybe make a few feeble attempts at achieving some of these goals, then forget about the whole thing within a few month? Or will this be the year that you turn into your own action hero? The choice is yours.
My best friend/roommate and I are signed up for a couple classes in the near future: Beginning Cheese-making, and Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants. But we do need to work on most of the rest of the list.
ReplyDeleteExcellent. In many disasters all you usually have left is your knowledge so that is a great place to start.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few more things to be ready in 2011:
ReplyDelete#11. Make a BOB/survival kit. If you already have one, check it to make sure it's up to date and rotate/replace items about to expire, and add/remove items as your situation changes; for example, I have a new cat, so that means adding some cat food, kitty litter, and pet first aid supplies to the kit.
#12: Update your contact lists to reflect moves/new people you met/people who have passed away, etc.
#13: If you have a scanner, scan important documents (passports, birth certificates, driver's licenses, car titles, house deeds, credit cards, bank papers, etc.), and save them as PDFs on a password-protected, encrypted USB thumb drive (like an Ironkey, but you can get free encryption software to install on any old thumb drive). If you lose them, they're easier to replace that way.
#14: Clean house. As you get new stuff for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Ramadan/Festivus/holiday gifts, identify old stuff that's broken/worn out/hardly used to barter, sell, or donate.
#15: Make time for rest and relaxation. After all, even God took a day off after creating the world.