The Pillars of Preparedness set the framework and break down the way that we, here at Fieldcraft Survival, structure and plan how to best be prepared. The Pillars are broken up into mental and physical categories. The mental pillars address your ability to overcome and work through whatever challenge you have and to be prepared before and during a crisis. The physical challenges are the skills and tools and resources you need to be able to effectively work through those. These are broken down in Mike Glover's book PREPARED: A MANUAL FOR SURVIVING WORST CASE SCENARIOS BY MIKE GLOVER. Let's take a look at the mental pillars. 

Resilience is your ability to adapt and overcome a challenge. That moment when you figuratively or literally get hit in the face, what goes through your mind that allows you to gather yourself and decide to fight back and win. Are you willing to fight and understand that how you fight will determine the outcome of not only this instance, but your future.  The ability to get back up and stay in the fight is done through a resilient mindset. 

Next, we have Situational Awareness. Broken down into the simplest terms, this is paying attention. Look around and see what is going on. Keeping your head up and notice what is happening around you. If you see something out of the ordinary then you will notice potential threats or situations that you might want to avoid. Spending more time with your head in your phone than looking around and observing the environment will allow you to walk right into trouble that could have been avoided. As you gather information you can make decisions to change your situation, gather time, distance, or prepare yourself for an impending situation to give you a better chance of survival. 

Planning, while many perceive as boring or unnecessary, is a key indicator for success in an emergency situation. Having a well laid out plan with redundancy will give you options and backups for when things go wrong. Following the P.A.C.E. planning method you will have a Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency path to follow for a given situation. This helps to identify weakness and vulnerability that you can address and strengthen. Only through understanding your shortcomings and weaknesses can you truly become your strongest self. 

The last mental pillar is Decision Point. This is the process of making decisions under stress. When you are faced with an emergency situation or a life threatening situation, are you able to clearly and concisely make the best decisions. We frequently look at this in self defense. When SHOULD you use deadly force? Being able to internalize a situation and articulate the exact point at which you can and should deploy deadly force is critical to being able to morally, ethically, and legally utilize deadly force. 

There is also low-grade stress vs. high-grade stress. Low-grade stress can be everyday struggles, such as arguments with significant others, bills to pay, going to work, etc. High-grade stress can be seen as the situation where you get punched in the face. Something like a car crash, a home invader, or another disastrous situation. Being able to function in the low-grade stress is key to being able to handle the high-grade stress. If you feel unprepared for the high-grade stress, or even the low-grade stress, the key is building resilience.

As we break down the Pillars of Preparedness and incorporate these pillars into your preparedness journey it will help you determine places you can focus on to become a more prepared and Responsible Citizen.