This is an excerpt from my PDF ‘The Preparedness Encyclopedia (TPE)’.
Download the PDF Version Here
Becoming a complacent prepper is one of the pitfalls of prepping. The following will discuss a few reasons we can become complacent and how to prevent them.
No Urgency
When things are going well we may tend to overlook the fact that anything bad could ever happen to us. We just have to turn on the news to see how much of a delusion this could be, especially today. Just because things are going well in your corner of the globe doesn’t mean the violence on the other side can’t affect us.
Expecting Disaster
A lot of preppers are so ready and expectant for a disaster to occur that they actively want one to happen in the back of their mind so they can finally use their preps. They spend so long researching disasters and looking at the worst of humanity that they forget to enjoy life and have fun while the going is easy. Don’t forget to take time and enjoy the world around you while it’s intact.
Ebb and Flow
There’s a natural cycle between hard times and times when a disaster is the last thing on your mind. Sometimes we have to look past the best times and keep on prepping, as well as not becoming fearful if the worst looks like it will happen.
Attention to Detail
Always keep in mind the big picture as well as the small things such as remembering to have breakfast. You won’t be very effective without keeping yourself running smoothly. In a similar way keep checking the basics of preparedness to ensure you aren’t missing a critical area, or forgot you borrowed your gas stove when camping and forgot to put it back.
Self Interest
Preppers can get so caught up preparing for themselves and their family that they forget there will be a lot of other people such as friends and family who won’t be prepared in a disaster. When one does strike, these people will be looking to anyone and everyone on how to proceed in these tough situations. Without any assistance they may have to resort to theft and violence to be able to stay alive which is the last thing you need from your neighbours and friends.
Besides preparing for ourselves we should think about putting together a small collection of gear for our neighbours, friends and family. Not only will this help ease their survival situation, but it could turn a potential threat in a disaster into an ally. You could include long life food, water purification equipment, a torch with spare batteries or candles, some firelighters, a radio, a bible as well as a few survival guides both on a USB or physically printed. You don’t even have to make contact with them on your way to bug-out, just drop it off at their door, ring their doorbell and then bug-out.
The Easy Life
We’ve had such an easy life compared to the other periods of time and regions where nearly everyone sees death, violence and theft daily. Very few of us have lived through a world war or any war for that matter and with other countries boosting their arsenal we should stop being complacent and prepare like these events will happen. Although America is beginning to wake up from this easy-going lifestyle lately with a potential downfall of their entire constitution in the future.
Crying Wolf
Often we’re sure a collapse is imminent or it looks like a disastrous cyclone is heading right for you but then dissipates before anything happening. After these events we can often question our preps and ask ourselves “Is this really necessary?”. We should always remain steadfast in prepping and can’t change our minds because of false warnings. But when you’ve let your guard down is potentially when disaster could happen, and then you would wish you never did.
Local Disasters
We often focus on the large scale world-changing disasters and end-times scenarios but tend to focus less on the common local disasters such as job loss, financial difficulty or the loss of a family member. We can’t lose sight of preparing for the smaller things life can throw at us when we tend to only focus on the large scale disasters.
Situational Awareness
Throughout our often mundane lives are fixed patterns of repeated actions which we often automate because we do them so often. This generally happens at work when we have fixed tasks to complete over and over again and sometimes we take these actions home with us. We often don’t pay attention to our surroundings during these times as it’s a normal, dull day, but keeping an active mind will ensure our situational awareness is always active and alert for any trouble coming our way.
Health
We can easily become complacent about our health which may slip out of our control when we aren’t taking note of what we’re putting into our bodies or how much exercise we’re getting. This will definitely affect our ability to survive in SHTF when the time does arise, and a person with poor health will be a risk to their prepping group and themselves.
Overconfidence
When you’re sitting on a mountain of preps, months of food and enough guns to arm a small country. You may feel the need to sit back and survey the mighty empire you’ve constructed and become overconfident with your prepping. You may think you know it all, but I can guarantee there’s always more you can learn and more research to undertake to improve your skills. Often the more you learn about preparedness the more your BOB changes. Don’t let your number of possessions halt your prepping or your desire to learn.
