Why Is It Important To Be Prepared?
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Why Is It Important To Be Prepared?
Why is it important to be prepared? Why should you prep? The point of this blog.
I spend a lot of time talking to people. As an extrovert in a group of friends who are mostly introverts, I spend a lot of time going from person to person talking- having a tame extrovert is useful, since I can talk to the door to door salesmen, but my care and feeding means that I end up hanging out with a lot of small groups of people on a regular basis. But I digress.
As a matter of fact, I have been known to make a living talking to people. Literally did that for a little bit, interviewing people for their life stories, or the times I have spent doing customer service and handling complaints – most of which comes down to listening to them.
Something I have found from talking to people? A lot of them are unprepared. I am not talking about the people who don’t have a bunker with a year’s supply of food- I’m talking about people who don’t have a clue on how to change their tire. I’m talking about people who don’t have three days of food in the house, and who think that if there is an emergency they will just live off of credit cards.
The Importance of Being Prepared
Case in point- COVID-19. How many people do you know that have lost their job, or are struggling financially, because of this?
How many do you know that were struggling before, and due to lack of adequate preparation, now it’s worse?
Thankfully, that has not been as bad as it could have been. Initially published casualty estimates from some sources said it could have been as high as 15% deaths among the general population. It has been much lower than that, and though there have been deaths, it has not been the absolute horror that it could have been.
I would argue that out of the people I have talked to about it, and the people I know, well over half of them had some negative consequence from COVID-19. Probably half of the people I have talked to about it were hit by some aspect of COVID-19 in a way that they could reasonably have prepared for. This is one more piece of evidence for the importance of preparation.
Why Successful People Care About The Importance Of Being Prepared
To put this in perspective- most people I know wear helmets. Helmets are not part of a bike (or motorcycle) like seatbelts are- they cost you money above and beyond what you spent on the vehicle. The chances of your needing that helmet are relatively small- probably only once or twice in the entire time I rode a bike to and from high school I was glad I had a helmet.
And yet, because of that helmet, I am not a drooling mess, requiring help to use the crayons I got for Christmas.
What Does Being Prepared Mean?
So- what is the equivalent to a bike helmet for you? Low cost, high protection, probably not used very often but can literally save your life? What does being prepared mean to you? What is your action plan to avoid the impact of disasters, including natural disasters?
I don’t know. At least not right now, and not for you, not for sure . But that is why I write this blog- to help you to figure out what you need for yourself, and provide the tools to you to get ahold of it.
But I would suggest something to you- Education.
Successful People Invest Time In Education
Education is arguably the greatest tool to protect yourself in the event of negative situations. Thankfully, education can be had for cheap (we live in the age of youtube videos and blogs, most of which are at your fingertips) and education is something you take with you no matter where you go. Nobody can take your education and knowledge of key skills from you.
Evicted from your home because of a hurricane? Education comes with you. You don’t have to stop and pack it up, you don’t have to think about it while you run- it is right there.
Worried about civil unrest and protesting? Is your local government going to pot? Fires in the forest around you? Earthquake? Education will follow you wherever you go, cost you nothing to take with you, and can show you key skills such as how to use the things around you to keep yourself alive. Basic medical needs for example.
There are a lot of secondary tools around you that you can use- books, apps, websites, youtube videos- but being able to store those inside your head is an amazing tool.
Don’t get me wrong- knowing how to change a flat tire on my car does me no good without a wrench. It can be hard to cook food without a heat source, and knowing how to bundle up the best to keep warm does no good without materials to bundle up. But education (and a bit of skull sweat) can potentially show you how to improvise the wrench, use acid to cook your food (like Ceviche) or that the newspaper that you get in the mail can be crumpled up and put inside your clothing to act as an insulator.
And hopefully, I can provide some of this in an entertaining way, and might be able to help a few of you.
Good luck.