Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
At the moment, prepping is experiencing a boom in popularity. People from all walks of life, all over the world, are starting to understand the value of self-sufficiency. Since 2020, prepping has become much more acceptable to the general public than it was in years prior.
Prepping is largely a practice that happens in phases. From afar, it can be really fun to look at others’ stockpiles and setups with aspirations to reach those heights. Once you are in the thick of it, the whole thing can feel pretty overwhelming.
Then of course, there is the phase where you have done lots of work and achieved a level of preparedness that puts you at ease, at least a little bit!
Along the way, you come to realize that prepping, building chicken coops, and learning survival skills is not all butterflies and rainbows. There are some harsh truths to face should you really dedicate yourself to prepping.
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1. It Takes Time
This is one of those truths that you simply cannot avoid. Prepping, homesteading, self-sufficiency…these things all take time. If I’m being honest, it will likely take you years to hammer down all the parts of your preparedness plan and feel good about where you’re at.
For me, it felt like around 10 years before everything was running smoothly. That says nothing about being close to finished. It just felt like around 10 years that we were in a good place should things finally come loose in our society.
You will make tremendous strides in your first year. You will do things in prepping year 5 that make all the difference, but the reality is, prepping just takes time.
2. Prepping Can Take Its Toll on Your Mental Health
Maybe one of the most important things for you to understand about prepping is that it can take a toll on your mental health. As I mentioned, prepping happens in stages, and one of the earliest stages is a massive influx of nerve unraveling information.
That said, even seasoned preppers can get stuck looking for that powerful END TIMES dopamine hit from headlines or videos.
As you get further down your path of preparedness, these things will affect you less because you’ll have the counterbalance of all your preps. Still, if you spend too much time in the world of doom and gloom, it will most certainly begin to rub off on you.
You must be very careful of apathy which can set in and ruin your prepping goals.
3. Prepping Requires Discipline
In prepping, there are things that MUST get done. I you have animals, they will need to be cared for every day of the year whether you are sick, tired, don’t feel like it, or want to go on vacation. Your chickens, ducks, quails, rabbits, goats, whatever you have depends on you.
Training, fitness, practice, are also examples of things that require serious discipline if you want to achieve anything in the world of prepping and survival. I know a lot of people who take one wilderness survival class and never step foot in the woods again. That’s not a good plan.
A prepping lifestyle that changes you into a more capable person requires daily discipline.
4. People Will Misunderstand You
With everything that is going on in the world, there are still a LOT of people who look at prepping as something that is really strange and outlandish. Mostly, this comes from a place of ignorance because they don’t understand what a prepping lifestyle really looks like.
When it comes to admitting that you’re a prepper, you can face an overflow of prejudice. People make some incredible assumptions about you, your politics, your family, and even your aspirations.
It’s true that prepping is becoming much more palatable to the public. You still gotta be tough if you are going to openly admit to prepping for disasters. Keeping it a secret might be the better option.
5. You Gotta Hide Stuff
No matter who you are or what type of group you spend your time with, as a prepper there are things you must hide. It might not even be for a lack of trust or concern about the people who might see your preps. Even the shear need to maximize space often puts you in a position where you have to hide things.
It is always a much better idea to hide your preps than to have them all out in the open for everyone to see.
Even in your yard, it might be worthwhile to consider hiding things like your chickens, solar panels, or other things that could either be a target in a darker time or create problems with the people you live around.
6. You Could Become a Target
As a prepper, you can become a target in many ways. You can become a target of ridicule in your own personal circles. You can become a person who is looked over for professional opportunities if you make it known that you’re a prepper.
You can be targeted by criminals who understand the prepping world and understand that valuable things like guns and gold are often in our homes. Be very selective about who you share this information with.
It’s becoming a bit fashionable to be a prepper in some circles, and I worry that this could get people in trouble.
7. You Have to Change Your Lifestyle
Many are unwilling to do this, but if you really want to become a prepper, then you’ll undoubtedly have to change your lifestyle. You won’t necessarily have to give up a bunch of things, but you have to add things to your life.
Fitness, gardening, maybe some hens, shooting, other training, learning, building—all these kinds of things should become part of your daily life.
These kinds of life changes will add some challenges to your day-to-day life but, in my experience, they do much more to make it better. Striving towards self-sufficiency and strength is just a much better way to live.
8. You’re Gonna Spend Money
There are a lot of ways to prep for free. There are also some incredible articles out there on how to prep on a budget. However, if you are really going to immerse yourself in prepping, then you’re going to spend money.
Solar panels, rifles, lumber, food storage—these things are gonna cost money. You might even consider changing your entire living situation and selling your home. Homesteading and learning skills can also be an investment of time and money.
Prepping is gonna cost you, but the peace of mind you get back in return is priceless.
9. You Alone Are Not Enough to Prepare for/Survive Doomsday
If we are talking about the end of all things, TEOTWAWKI, a collapse that crumbles all our systems, then you are simply not enough on your own. You must have people for all kinds of things. Namely security, but also work that will need to be done to sustain things like waste management, water systems, and producing large amounts of food.
It would only take a small group of men to overwhelm you and your family. Unless of course you are willing to put a rifle in your loved one’s hands and let them exchange fire with the bad guys. Remember, bullets go both ways.
Getting to know your neighbors, creating a MAG (mutual assistance group), or even just talking to your friends about coming together in a crisis will give you a much better chance of surviving the worst case scenarios.
10. Fitness & Health are in the Top 3
There are guns, comms, optics, boots, tactical pants, bug out vehicles, and any number of other gear-specific areas a prepper can focus on. Remember, I told you that as a prepper, you are gonna spend some money. However, your physical fitness and your health sit high above any piece of gear on the market.
To put it frankly, you gotta workout and eat healthy, period. If you are out of shape, then it’s gonna hurt and it’s gonna be hard. You will be sore between workouts. You will struggle to get your eating habits straightened out. Still, it will be worth it.
See a doctor NOW before that option is no longer available, and find ways to treat any issues you have with things like herbal medicine and natural remedies.
There is a chance you are already living through a collapse. It might just be the collapse of your personal health. Start working on it today!
Conclusion
There are many harsh truths when it comes to prepping for disasters and emergencies. What’s important for you to remember is that many of the principles of preparedness are simply how humans have lived for thousands of years. Only recently have we traded our self-sufficiency for dependence on governments, corporations, and comfort.
I have never regretted prepping for one day. Since I started some 12 years ago, it has taken work, money, and changed my life but I have never thought it better to live in ignorance of the threats we all face.
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