What Exactly IS Self Reliance?

The ability to adapt to changing circumstance and to become self-reliant is something that we should all strive for.

I happened across a survivalist forum that asked a general question regarding whether each visitor was a survivalist or a prepper. After some time spent skimming some of the answers to that intriguing question, I set out to read other blogs, forums, social-media sites and discussions on this topic. Eventually, I was able to deduce that there is a historical divide between the two groups for some people, but not for others. I discovered a new, and rapidly-growing group of individuals who appear to label themselves and identify as both a survivalist and a prepper.

Although it appears that this fairly-new, mixed-breed, known as the survivalist-prepper, identifies with both philosophies, they do tend to model skills and information which leans slightly more toward survivalist or slightly more toward prepping. But, as time passes, the philosophies are steadily morphing into an entirely new concoction. The individual that practices outdoor survival skills and bush-craft, believes in home defense, values having food, water and other necessities stocked up for "just-in-case events" is now doubly prepared. This person has an overall worldview that puts a high priority on being prepared mentally, physically and has the skills and knowledge to adapt to changing circumstances whether those circumstances equate to being lost in the wilderness or an economic collapse. This person is self-reliant.

The self-reliant individual is not unlike this multi-purpose tool.

Self-reliance is a term not used enough in the survivalist, outdoor survival, urban survival, prepping or bushcraft genres. It is used with more frequency in off-grid, permaculture and other self-sustaining groups. But, self-reliance and self-sufficient are not the same thing. One can be self-reliant without necessarily living a self-sufficient lifestyle. Generally, I would say that anyone that is able to live off-grid and practices permaculture and self-sustaining homesteads is very much self-reliant in most or all areas of survival and preparedness.

Self-reliance is something that every individual should strive to become. The term denotes that you are capable and able to take care of your self. Self-reliance is saying that you can rely on ...you. This is not to say that you will never need others. A fully self-reliant person is capable of utilizing any skill necessary to accomplish the mission at hand to include social skills if need be. To be self-reliant is to be adaptable to changing circumstance. To be self-reliant is to be capable of navigating the terrain and improvising and adapting when the terrain suddenly or drastically changes. To be self-reliant is to know that you are ready, willing and able to do what needs to be done to acclimate and systematically overcome the odds even when those odds are seemingly stacked against you.

Shouldn't we all want to be able to rely upon ourselves? Yes, we are social creatures and we do need people and we do need groups and communities. Yes, your odds of survival if you are socially adept and can acclimate your social landscape successfully and with ease are increased. But, what if you are ever in a situation where all that you have is yourself? Would you feel safe with you? Would you depend on you? Do you have the knowledge, skills and abilities as well as the mindset to navigate your way through emergencies, disasters or catastrophic events? The confident, self-reliant individual would have adequate knowledge and skill in areas that cover the gambit of survivalist, hunter-gatherer, bushcraft, tactical, home defense and prepper.

When preparedness meets survivalist 

This new breed of prepared-survivalist is not the militant-survivalist of decades past nor the apocalyptic prepper highlighted recently on television, rather something in between the two. And because of this clear delineation that appears to come with differing perspectives that are a combination of multiple lifestyles and philosophies, the survivalist-prepper both needs and deserves a new name that highlights this belief system and the combined knowledge, skill and ability which is exponential when you bring philosophies together.

This new breed is deserving of being coined as self-reliant. With self-reliance comes confidence and competence. Who wouldn't be proud to call themselves self-reliant. There is no doubt that when it comes to everyday life events gone awry or serious life-changing events, I want to either be self-reliant or be right beside someone who is.

Surviving The World As We Know It: Part III

As promised this (PART III) is a continuation of previous posts (Part I and PART II).

Here is an excerpt from those posts: (If you've read this part in the other two posts already feel free to scroll down to the numbered points).

The world as we know it is a social landscape. Everything we have built and everything we do is contingent on other people. We have all become the people we have become because our ancestors were survivors. 

How does learning from my ancestors help me now?

Our ancestors were adept at creating and maintaining groups, tribes and societies. Because of their ability to function in a society or group, the people before us mastered the art of making clothing, tool making, fire, water collection and purification, container making, shelter building, hunting, foraging, fishing, trapping and agriculture. Ironically, all of these things are things that most of us today no longer know how to do on our own. If we face a catastrophic change in our current state of the world, these skills would once again mandate who lives and who doesn't.

But first....

Those ancestral survivors mastered and honed their social skills. They worked together toward a common mission of survival. In order for you to confidently move toward honing the abilities that they once had, you must first master the art of social survival. Even if your preference or your plan is to be a lone wolf, because you live in a social world, your odds are greatly increased if you have social skills to add to your basic-needs "survivor pack."

The following (PART III) is a short list and a continuation of PART I which included skills #1-3 and PART II which included skills #4-6 (both can be found in previous blog posts). This list is not all encompassing and will be added to in future follow-up posts, but here is a mini foundation of basic "social survival skills" for interacting, attracting, inspiring, motivating, and leading people:

So, here are three more "survival skills" to throw into your kit....

7. Judging others:

I find it rather amusing how some people have an unyielding moral compass comprised of heavy, tungsten alloy when expressing their opinions, criticisms and judgments of others. However, when turning that same moral compass to the self, suddenly, morality is flexible, adaptable, fluid and even adjustable to individual circumstances.

Be careful being so critical of the conduct of others if your own self-regulation is void of even an ounce of integrity. Just one more reason why we should all carry two compasses when navigating....in case one isn't accurate. 

8. The best part of an argument is absolutely nothing:

This skill is a reminder that no none actually wins in an argument. No one hears each other. No one will suddenly, amid a storm of yelling, come to your way of thinking during an argument. Generally, someone only appears to win the argument because the other party acquiesces, submits or becomes indifferent. There are no “real” winners in an argument.

In order to “win” someone over to your way of thinking, you need to give them something to believe in. Open up and share your thoughts, feelings, and opinions in a healthy way. Inspire and motivate others and they will follow your lead to include listening to your point. The “loudest” one is rarely the “rightest’ one. If the argument is unavoidable or unsolvable, wait for a better, calmer opportunity to discuss things. Find a creative way to attempt to get someone to hear your point of view. Creativity and compassion, together, can solve problems without argument. Keep this in mind whether you are leading your family, subordinates at work, a committee, or elsewhere.

9. What can you agree on?

This social skill is about finding a happy meeting ground in all discussions and interactions. In a disagreement, you first meet and discuss the points that you both agree on. This tactic is useful when dealing with very confrontational or difficult and defensive people. Find at least one common point or common ground that you each are in agreement about BEFORE addressing anything where your opinions or thoughts differ.

This is a very wise tactic in both leadership and in everyday interactions with others. Finding common ground first and agreeing on points equates to cushioning and calming any discussions or debates that follow and aids in making the conversation more productive and positive.

So, what does this all mean for me?

These three skills in addition to the social survival skills presented in Part I and Part II are should be added to your "social survival kit." Read and re-read these three life skills and begin to practice them everywhere you go and in everything you do. Social skills, like tool making and fire starting, must be learned and practiced.

 Master these and master your social landscape. You live in a social world now and no one can predict what the world will look like one day. Mastering your social landscape can only improve your odds of survival in the world as we know it as well as into the world that we don’t know...yet.

Read more and leave a comment at breadandcountry.blogspot.com

Do You Have What It Takes To Be a Leader in an Emergency?

You may have told yourself and others that you are a "natural leader." You may have gone into interviews professing that you have a leadership background. Maybe you've had people following your lead for as long as you can remember. But, unless you've led under extreme circumstances, you don't know if you really have what it takes to be a leader in an emergency situation.

Without having been through life or death experiences, military training, or really lived an event of catastrophic chaos, you can only surmise as to whether your workplace leadership experience will be of any real value when terrified, panic-stricken people are struggling for something or someone to lead them through and out of the circumstances for which they were ill-prepared or have no control over.

There are ways to know, however, whether you may have the qualities, characteristics, and skills of a true survival or emergency leader. Search your background and your life experiences for the worst times you have endured, the most traumatic events you have navigated, and the most devastating moments you have overcome. Jot these times, events and moments onto a list. The people with the longest lists may very well be the "natural leaders" of the pack. Not because they were born that way from a variety of innate qualities and talents that were bestowed upon them via a predetermined swim in a genetic pool. But, because every ounce of adversity that we humans are exposed to causes us to either weaken, strengthen or become immune and indifferent.

We have all met people that have endured very little negative life experiences. They have, for the most part, been blessed from the moment of birth. They had things handed to them easily from toys to cars, college was paid for, the degree came easy, the jobs poured in, they never wanted for anyone or anything. We hate these people when we should feel rather badly for them. A protected and sheltered environment will stunt deeper development. 

Every animal develops survival abilities from having been exposed to external stress and dangers. For our ancestors, this external stress and danger may have had claws, teeth and an empty stomach. In our modern world, that external stress and danger can be financial, relationships, marriages, inter-personal violence, job loss, emergencies, disasters or even from kennel madness culminating out of confinement eight hours a day inside an office cubicle. The psychological and physiological responses to stress and danger in our modern brains is still happening in the same way as it did in our ancient brains but, with the additional neurotic energy we have accumulated from not getting enough exercise and sunshine's vitamin D. We are no longer chasing and tracking our food as we can pull up and have it brought right to us at a window. The energy released is minuscule today when compared with our energy release of distant times. Whether ancient stress or modern stress, external exposure to environmental stress affects our mind and our bodies. How we handle that stress, how we navigate and circumvent that stress, how we acclimate and adapt to that stress, how we problem solve around that stress and how we overcome and work our way THROUGH that stress are the ingredients of our core adult development and personality and the predictors of our strength, tenacity and survivability.

If you have successfully navigated painful and traumatic life events then all of that adversity that you see on your list was worthwhile in terms of personal development. You may wish you had never been through any of it, but IF you went through it, experienced it, felt it, navigated it, problem-solved it and ultimately overcame it to land on your feet, you are a survivor. Every one of those moments is one more point on your survivor list. Add them up, do you have a lot of points? If you have at least 5 points then you may very well have accumulated enough life experience and personality development to acclimate successfully in an intensely stressful, dangerous and frightening environment. 

The more you have adapted and overcome in your life, the more your ability to be strong in the face of adversity and the greater your ability to lead others through it. The focus is on the "overcoming" of the adversity. Some people become stuck or crippled by their adverse circumstances and never fully overcome or become stronger for them. While others, may have had so much exposure to adversity that they are immune, numb and perhaps detached from stress. Neither of these personality types would be adequately prepared to lead others in a survival situation and even if they could it might not necessarily be good for them until they have worked through their own trauma and emotions related to the trauma. 

Some of the qualities that are developed under adverse circumstance include:

The will to live

Strength of mind

Strength of character

Tenacity

Adaptive ability

Ingenuity

Ability to think coherently and efficiently under duress

Ability to formulate a plan and problem solve while under stress

Ability to have hope in situations that appear hopeless 

Confidence

Competence

Bravery (not the same thing as fearlessness which is rarely, if ever a good thing)

A sense of humor to balance stress 

This list is not all-inclusive, but it shows the multiple ways that we grow and personally develop to become stronger willed, stronger minded and better apt at keeping a cool head in and around chaos. The number one greatest strength that adversity provides is the same as it provided to our ancestors....the ability to adapt and overcome to changing circumstances and environments.

None of this will make it any easier to go through painful or difficult experiences, but it will shine a light on how we grow as people. The majority of our character growth comes from life experiences and human interaction. Leaders are developed, they are not born, and they are not prenatally created or raised. Development takes time and a degree of acclimating and navigating difficult circumstance and life terrain. A true survival leader will have many of the qualities of the above list and will have endured AND overcome very difficult, if not traumatic, life events. These are the developed survival leaders in our world. Do you have what it takes to be a leader in a survival situation or emergency? If your life has been a little too easy, you may think you are ready, but I wouldn't want you leading me.

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