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Dear FerFAL,
I have read your book and have been following your blog since 2009. You have said much about the importance of mindset in a survival or emergency situation. And I agree with you – the correct mindset is the first tool anyone should possess to survive not just a disaster or emergency but life in general.
Correct me if I am wrong – I gather that your opinion to develop the right mindset is to gradually discover and learn things for ourselves. And I generally feel the same – realizing the world is going to change does not take place overnight, especially when most people have numerous preconceptions about the situation otherwise. Being ready to kill someone going to harm your family is not a mindset to be taken lightly and neither does it come automatically.
My question is: do you know of any training methods to accelerate the formation of the right mindset with respect to survival. If you do, what do think of the effectiveness of these methods? Being such an important tool, I feel anyone serious about survival should take time and effort to work on one’s mindset or attitude.
Thanks
Ken
Hi Ken, thanks for your email.
You might want to read this blog entry I wrote some time ago titled “Survival Mindset”.
It is indeed a process and in my opinion it depends mostly on how serious you are about preparedness. For some people it’s a lifestyle, part of who they are. Others just read about it but take no action. Some other people choose to focus on the parts they like or consider fun, completely overlooking the rest. There’s all sorts of folks out there. Some are all about the guns, yet the same person that is now driving back home from a week long “Urban Carbine” class has not kit in his vehicle, not even a simple bottle of water, nor does he check his surroundings when stopping on a red traffic light, let alone bothered to lock the vehicle’s door to being with. Then you have people that claim to be “prepers” because its now becoming main stream media, even considered cool. Each time I get a “business proposition” by some self-claimed marketing expert, they spend half the email explaining that they are real “prepers” themselves as well, how they are true believers as if preparedness was some sort of religion. Most of them are out to make a buck using you. Unfortunately that’s the situation these days.
What I consider to be true modern day survivalists are no different from any other average Joe person. The only difference is that they think a certain way and take a few steps to be better prepared in case some of the most probable disasters both large and small ever occur.
Thinking in such a way affects the decisions they make, looking for the most benefit and edge during unfavorable situations. It´s also about understanding how the world works, what most politicians really care about, the bias in the different media groups. The person with a true survival mindset, while not stubborn, thinks for himself and will hardly be persuaded by the media and public opinion.
I’ve talked about this with friends, what could be a “mindset” training or seminar, and it´s definitely not easy. The problem is that it involves so many things, from awareness to having the confidence to make life decisions in a matter of seconds. As you say, the conviction to use lethal force is needed is a good example. How about getting a grip and calming yourself when needed? The ability to cope with daily problems with a cool head? Some guys that think of themselves as “survival minded” have hysteria fits over things I wouldn’t even waste my time worrying about. People just are not all equal and we all must eventually understand that.
About your question, no I dont know of any training methods to accelerate the correct survival mindset formation. That was one of the main objectives when writing my book, to have the reader start thinking a certain way after reading and re-reading it, taking his own notes. Since you read it and now are asking about it, I believe you’re in the right track. Reading more material, learning more, but even more important DOING, that will help the most.
A good way to stay on track is being part of the community of people that think like you do. Try joining The Modern Survival Forum and talking with other people. It usually helps to see what others are doing, tell your experiences. People soon find others that live near by, share experience and such. It becomes part of your daily routine to check the forum and see what others have to say, what they are up to. The best possible course of action is finding like-minded individuals which you can meet once a week or so. This may be people at the gym, people with whom you spar. I found that the community in my shooting club has a few like-minded individuals.
If someone takes half a dozen defensive shooting classes, there’s a good chance he shares some of your same beliefs. Its funny how in the club´s bar the different tables have different people´s profile seated in them. There’s the pigeon shooters table, older folks with Beretta shotguning vests. There’s the black powder shooter’s table. They dress more “bushcrafty” and can be overheard complaining about smokeless power and guns that hold more than two rounds. The defensive shooters are dressed more tactically and usually pass along some tool of the trade such as knives, batons, torches and such. Finding such a group of people you get along with should be your objective, like a spotter, like-minded friends will help in your preparedness.
As for now, DOING some preparedness each day helps gain and keep that mindset. Maybe tis just storing some extra food, putting together a car or house kit, getting started with gardening, maybe its going camping to test some gear as you have a good time, going to the range to practice. After that you can go on line in the forum and share your experiences, see what others have to say about it. Doing some every day or so forces you to keep thinking about preparedness.
I read, and I forgot.
I saw, and I believed.
I did, and I understood.
-Confucius
Take care and good luck!
FerFAL
Join the forum discussion on this post
I have read your book and have been following your blog since 2009. You have said much about the importance of mindset in a survival or emergency situation. And I agree with you – the correct mindset is the first tool anyone should possess to survive not just a disaster or emergency but life in general.
Correct me if I am wrong – I gather that your opinion to develop the right mindset is to gradually discover and learn things for ourselves. And I generally feel the same – realizing the world is going to change does not take place overnight, especially when most people have numerous preconceptions about the situation otherwise. Being ready to kill someone going to harm your family is not a mindset to be taken lightly and neither does it come automatically.
My question is: do you know of any training methods to accelerate the formation of the right mindset with respect to survival. If you do, what do think of the effectiveness of these methods? Being such an important tool, I feel anyone serious about survival should take time and effort to work on one’s mindset or attitude.
Thanks
Ken
Hi Ken, thanks for your email.
You might want to read this blog entry I wrote some time ago titled “Survival Mindset”.
It is indeed a process and in my opinion it depends mostly on how serious you are about preparedness. For some people it’s a lifestyle, part of who they are. Others just read about it but take no action. Some other people choose to focus on the parts they like or consider fun, completely overlooking the rest. There’s all sorts of folks out there. Some are all about the guns, yet the same person that is now driving back home from a week long “Urban Carbine” class has not kit in his vehicle, not even a simple bottle of water, nor does he check his surroundings when stopping on a red traffic light, let alone bothered to lock the vehicle’s door to being with. Then you have people that claim to be “prepers” because its now becoming main stream media, even considered cool. Each time I get a “business proposition” by some self-claimed marketing expert, they spend half the email explaining that they are real “prepers” themselves as well, how they are true believers as if preparedness was some sort of religion. Most of them are out to make a buck using you. Unfortunately that’s the situation these days.
What I consider to be true modern day survivalists are no different from any other average Joe person. The only difference is that they think a certain way and take a few steps to be better prepared in case some of the most probable disasters both large and small ever occur.
Thinking in such a way affects the decisions they make, looking for the most benefit and edge during unfavorable situations. It´s also about understanding how the world works, what most politicians really care about, the bias in the different media groups. The person with a true survival mindset, while not stubborn, thinks for himself and will hardly be persuaded by the media and public opinion.
I’ve talked about this with friends, what could be a “mindset” training or seminar, and it´s definitely not easy. The problem is that it involves so many things, from awareness to having the confidence to make life decisions in a matter of seconds. As you say, the conviction to use lethal force is needed is a good example. How about getting a grip and calming yourself when needed? The ability to cope with daily problems with a cool head? Some guys that think of themselves as “survival minded” have hysteria fits over things I wouldn’t even waste my time worrying about. People just are not all equal and we all must eventually understand that.
About your question, no I dont know of any training methods to accelerate the correct survival mindset formation. That was one of the main objectives when writing my book, to have the reader start thinking a certain way after reading and re-reading it, taking his own notes. Since you read it and now are asking about it, I believe you’re in the right track. Reading more material, learning more, but even more important DOING, that will help the most.
A good way to stay on track is being part of the community of people that think like you do. Try joining The Modern Survival Forum and talking with other people. It usually helps to see what others are doing, tell your experiences. People soon find others that live near by, share experience and such. It becomes part of your daily routine to check the forum and see what others have to say, what they are up to. The best possible course of action is finding like-minded individuals which you can meet once a week or so. This may be people at the gym, people with whom you spar. I found that the community in my shooting club has a few like-minded individuals.
If someone takes half a dozen defensive shooting classes, there’s a good chance he shares some of your same beliefs. Its funny how in the club´s bar the different tables have different people´s profile seated in them. There’s the pigeon shooters table, older folks with Beretta shotguning vests. There’s the black powder shooter’s table. They dress more “bushcrafty” and can be overheard complaining about smokeless power and guns that hold more than two rounds. The defensive shooters are dressed more tactically and usually pass along some tool of the trade such as knives, batons, torches and such. Finding such a group of people you get along with should be your objective, like a spotter, like-minded friends will help in your preparedness.
As for now, DOING some preparedness each day helps gain and keep that mindset. Maybe tis just storing some extra food, putting together a car or house kit, getting started with gardening, maybe its going camping to test some gear as you have a good time, going to the range to practice. After that you can go on line in the forum and share your experiences, see what others have to say about it. Doing some every day or so forces you to keep thinking about preparedness.
I read, and I forgot.
I saw, and I believed.
I did, and I understood.
-Confucius
Take care and good luck!
FerFAL
Join the forum discussion on this post
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1 comment:
Confucius was right!
Oh and a word of warning.
We are living in a world of wolf and sheep.
If you used to be a sheep, chances are you got plenty of sheep in your family and most of your friends will be sheep as well.
The moment to descide to be a wolf, sheep will start to feel uneasy around you. You will be invited less, people might become silent when you talk about "prepardness", or worse they flat out go away when you present your latest folding knife. Thats how they seperate their sheepdom from your new self.
FerFal always says how important it is to have good relations with your wife/kids/inner circle - thats so important because these are the only people you can truely rely on. The more you realize how shallow and unrelyable your "joe average buddies" realy are the more you will seperate yourself from them as well.
So be warned - once you dive into a prepardness mindeset your reality might change more than you might think.
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