by Fabian Ommar, The Organic Prepper:
We live in a culture that worships success. Everyone loves a tale of winner, it’s no wonder self-help is a top-selling genre. Success is sexy and inspiring: people look for it as a way to attain the same (or similar) level of achievement. Even though science isn’t settled on whether we learn more from our own failures than our successes, it’s essential to observe and study what worked, and why.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Failure, on the other hand, is overlooked, in part because history is written by winners. However, survivorship bias is a thing and shows how critical it is to look beyond success and learn from failure as well (I encourage you to click on that link and do some research on the topic of survivorship bias).
I’ve had more misses than hits in my life, and that applies to prepping as well.
It’s never easy to look inside and confront our flaws and limitations, much less be candid about our f*ck-ups. But I figured sharing some of my prepping mistakes and setbacks (along with the lessons learned) might help others avoid or minimize theirs – and that alone is more than a good reason to do so.
Some say it’s not how much or how often, but how big or small you win or lose that makes the difference (also if you get up and persevere). I agree, and reality seems to support that, too. Anyway, this is not an exhaustive list; that would require a few more articles, notwithstanding the fact I still struggle with flaws and keep screwing things up regularly, light years from anything resembling wisdom and balance.
(The topics are in no particular order.)
1) FOMO attack and overspending (some mistakes come in twos).
As I dove into the details of the 2008 Great Financial Crisis, I started convincing myself the system would collapse in a matter of months. Fearing the window of opportunity would shut down and I’d be left out. I went beyond reasonable to prepare and dug myself into a hole (even though I was just discovering about preparedness and survival). There were some ominous developments, as is always the case. But while an economic SHTF is a real SHTF, none of the apocalyptic fallout I had forecast came to be (thankfully).
As a result, I ended up with loads of stuff that never got used. I didn’t got into debt, but the extra spending was later felt and required discipline and austerity to recover from. It’s fair to say I panicked in a way. I should’ve known better than that because my country is crazy and has been through more economic crashes and crises than I can recall, some pretty nasty. Still, this time I thought there’d be chaos. Let me be clear: I still think that can happen (now more than ever), just not suddenly or at once as I did back then.
Human psychology is weird: things like insecurity and anxiety have cunning ways of manifesting, and this shouldn’t be underestimated. It may be argued that FOMO is still better than being in denial, complacent, or unprepared – to which I agree in part. However, panicking and overspending are never positive for preparedness. Maintaining healthy finances is more important than stuff before and during a downturn, when the best strategy is saving and increasing income.
2) Neglect.
I built a stockpile of food, medicines, ammo and other essentials around that same time. Then I thought to myself, “Let it come, I’ll watch the mob rip themselves apart at the grocery stores!” (OK I didn’t actually think that, and stockpiling is indeed a sensible strategy.) The real blunder though was ignoring the importance of things like organization, resource management, and stockpile rotation.
As result, I ended up losing almost 90% of the goods. Wasting stuff like food and remedies pains me more than losing the money used to purchase it, but at least there’s a silver lining in this case: I was able to donate everything in time, which brought some good to people in need and ultimately put me in contact with a few nice, hard-working folks and philanthropic institutions.
I’m bringing this up because this kind of mistake can happen with other aspects, not only from neglect but also ignorance. Throughout the years, I have seen way too many committing that same mistake. Getting the stuff is only the beginning.
3) Going overboard.
A similar mechanism, but instead of stuff I tried too hard and fast to acquire information, build systems, and develop new skills. Apart from the risk of burning out, this posed threats to relationships, health, mental stability, social life, and my small business.
Like most ordinary folks, I have limited time, energy, money, and other resources to invest. It makes no sense to sacrifice lifestyle or put important things in jeopardy for something that’s supposed to preserve those things in the first place. I came close to do at one point. Prepping is insurance, and keeping that in mind is important to maintain balance. At least I saw firsthand what happens when this gets out of whack.
The best strategy is to apply moderation and believe in the power of compounding: steady effort, a bit at a time, constant progress. The occasional and measured sprint is OK, but without losing perspective of the big picture.
4) Information overload.
The eagerness to consume information and news has cost me significant amounts of important things that I’ll never get back, such as time, focus, and opportunities. Only a fraction actually helped in decision-making or had consequences in some way. And even part of that I put into question today.
Building knowledge and skills is useful and positive. However, this is not only about quantity but also quality. We’re bombarded nonstop, and it’s just noise for the most part, a huge source of distraction and anxiety. There’s only so much we can process anyway, and it’s already hard to tell real from fake, especially when it comes to the news.
I still try to remain minimally informed, but focused a lot more on things that can objectively improve my life or advance my preparedness. Like staying better connected to the local community as a way to remain ahead of the curve on things that matter (contracts and work opportunities, other income sources, and also supply, security, etc.).
5) Preaching.
I’m not a preachy type. Sometimes I even think I should be more assertive in pushing some ideas I know from experience to work in the real world. But there was a time I would address others too directly and repetitively, especially to close people like friends, relatives, and coworkers, and that’s a bad idea. No one convinces anyone of anything: we can point, show, share, debate, even nudge and influence. However, people see what they see, if and when they want to see (or become ready). (Here’s an article with some tips.)
It’s positive to try and open people’s minds about the importance of staying fit and healthy, increasing self-reliance, staying prepared, and thinking critically. But now I try to focus only on more productive ways to educate others. Putting out the word (such as in a blog, website, a book, YouTube channel, etc.) is OK. People will search and come across and take as they want, however they want.
6) Being hard on normies and other people (relates to the above).
Even though it originated from a benign intention – to warn others of the impending crisis and inspire them about the importance of prepping – it’s a mistake I feel bad about because acting like that goes against my character, education, and principles. I have no business judging others by my standard, for no other reason than because I’m still ignorant, and the more I learn, the more I realize it.
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