How To Have A Survival Mindset: From a Combat Veterans Experience
A strong mind and the right mindset is a crucial part of making it through any survival situation. Here are 7 principals to follow to have a Survival Mindset.
1. You’re Not Special
No matter how much of a “good person” you are, you can still die just like the rest of us. I’ve known men that I will always know to be better men than me, who have died in some very gruesome ways. No matter how big, small, smart, or dumb you are, you have the same chances of dying just like the rest of us. When it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go.
There are no awards, nor rewards for a dire-survival environment. Your reward is survival, and that should be enough for you. If you do things in expectation that you’ll get a reward, you’ll surely be disappointed. Everything you do during your time of survival should be for one thing and one thing only: survival.
2. Food is Meant for Fuel, Not for Taste
When it comes to eating, you need to spend less time worrying about how good your food tastes, and more time worrying about the nutrition content. Calories, protein, carbs, healthy fats, and vitamins are more important than a pre-packaged lasagna that tastes like the way “mama cooks it”.
3. You’re Going to Get Dirty
If you have an issue with being wet or getting dirty, you need to get over that quick. Your hair will be gross, you’ll have dry skin, you’ll have bad breath. Get over it, your concern is primarily survival. Conduct hygiene when you can, but don’t make it your priority over survival. There will be some days where you might not have a lot of time for hygiene, so when you get time you need to make the most of it.
4. Accept that You May Have to Take a Life
If somebody is showing that they are willing to kill you, you need to act quickly in whatever way necessary to defend yourself (or whoever you’re with). People are willing to commit atrocities when it comes to their own survival (supplies, locations, etc.), so you must be willing to counter their violence with more violence if you wish to survive.
Always be on the look-out, and if you have to take someone’s life in order to protect yours or your family’s, don’t hesitate to do so.
5. Accept The Fact that You Can Die
I’m not saying that you should just keel over and die when things get hard, but rather you should accept the fact that you can die. If you spend your time in constant fear of death, you’ll more than likely hesitate when it comes to making important split-second decisions. Fear is crippling, so you need to get out of that “fearful” mindset if you wish to survive.
Remember, survival is still the goal. Don’t take unnecessary risks simply because “you don’t care”. Respect different factors that can cause death, but don’t fear them.
6. Violence is Violent
Confusing title, right? However, it makes more sense than you might think it does at first. Real-life violence is way more humbling than playing a video game. There’s a huge difference between bashing someone’s head in with a rock in real life, and doing it in a video game.
Close-quarters combat is very brutal. Once you’re in a struggle man-to-man all rules go out the window. If this is a struggle between life and death, with the loser ending up dead, there are no rules. Be prepared to encounter horrible things, should you have to resort to violence.
7. If You’re Out of Shape, You’ll Die
If you are physically fit you have a higher chance of survival. You need to prepare physically for being on the move quite often. If you can’t even jog up a flight of stairs without becoming winded, you’re going to have a hell of a time bounding to a covered position during a firefight. Take some extra time out of the day to work out, effectively.
You can’t expect to navigate through 12 miles of rugged terrain with 40+lbs on your back, plus ammunition, gear, and water, then be worth a damn in a firefight right after. Get off your ass and work out.
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