Tag Archives: getting started

Episode-648- Reaching the Unreachable

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Modern Survival| 12 Comments
Episode-648- Reaching the Unreachable [ 1:00:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Every day I get emails from people that say my ______ just doesn’t get it.  I have tried explaining _____ and ______ and ______ and they still don’t think there is any reason to have a preparedness plan.  What else can I say to reach them.   Now it is easy to write off people, call them sheeple (as most are), etc until they are someone we love and care about.  The problem though can be summed up in the quote, “a profit has no honor in his own country”.

Many of the people closest to you will be some of the last people to listen to you.  Today’s show will hopefully speak on your behalf, it may be something you can provide to the “unreachable” or at least the moderately resistant.  Unlike many in the “survival” niche I do not believe that you reach people with fear, gloom and doom but with empowerment.   So while today’s show may be like preaching to the choir for a lot of the audience I think you will enjoy it as well.  In the end I hope it also gives you a tool for reaching others.

A version with the housekeeping removed will be provided in the show notes as well. (Get it Here)

Join me today as we discuss…

  • Prepping is a normal activity
  • Not prepping is an abnormal activity (10,000 years proves it)
  • Food and water are our most fundamental needs
  • There are real threats to our on demand lifestyle
  • Prepping isn’t “running away” it is the exact opposite
  • Smart prepping has no downside
  • There is no real sacrifice required (long term)
  • The rewards are liberty and freedom
  • It will improve your physical health
  • It will improve your mental health
  • Getting started is very easy and cheap
  • It eventually becomes a lifestyle
  • It is NOT a political issue, prepping isn’t republican or democrat
  • Belief in conspiracy theories isn’t required or even useful
  • The primary rule is to do what YOU think is best

Additional Resources for Today’s Show

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK and you might hear yourself on the air.

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Episode-548- Help – I am Overwhelmed and/or Stuck

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Modern Survival| 6 Comments
Episode-548- Help - I am Overwhelmed and/or Stuck Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I get a lot of emails that are in one form or another a version of today’s show title.  They go one of two main ways

1.  Jack, We are new to this and are having trouble getting started.  This is all so overwhelming we want to store food, learn to use firearms, plant a garden………………………..but just can’t seem to prioritize where to start.

or

2.  Jack, We have at this a long time, we have food stored, a garden going, evac plans, taken some training, etc.  But we know we are still not really prepared for anything more than the most basic disasters, we are trying to decide between ………………………………. as a next step, help, how can we move forward.

While the person in scenario one might wish to have the “problems” of the person in scenario two, the reality is the fix is the same for both of them.  Just like a NFL wide receiver may have caught 5,000,000 balls in his life if he starts to drop passes, the coaches do basic receiving drills with him, some he did back in high school.

When an offensive line starts allowing to many opponents to get to the quarterback the line coach goes “back to fundementals” and works on timing the snap, blocking, deflection, play memorization, etc.  Again things the players have done perhaps since they played Pop Warner.

Why?  -  Why do players making millions of dollars go back often to the same drills and training they used when they played JV in High School?  Because the game is the game is the game and it all comes back to fundamentals.    My Drill Sergeant told me on the firing line one day, “the day you think you don’t need to focus on fundamentals any more is the day your shooting reaches its peak and begins to decline”.   He was correct of course!

So join me today as we revisit the fundamentals of prepping, organizing, getting started, planning, moving forward and making prepping a positive part of your lifestyle.

Additional Resources for Today’s Show

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK and you might hear yourself on the air

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Episode-457- Putting Your House Hold in Order

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Modern Survival| 9 Comments
Episode-457- Putting Your House Hold in Order [ 1:04:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today I though I would give sort of a mile high view of taking your home from grass hopper fields of green to organized ant hill.  Or if you are on the journey already from disorganized ant hill to  organized ant fortification.   Getting prepared seems tough, it seems beyond reach and on some levels it is.   One can never be fully prepared for everything but getting to well prepared for most things is doable in steps.

Join me today as we discuss…

  • Another look at the old story, The Grasshopper and the Ant
  • Taking an inventory
  • Journaling items used on a regular basis
  • Committing to copy canning
  • Develop a black out kit
  • Install emergency lighting
  • Set up some sort or back up power
  • Develop a documentation package
  • Set up at least 2 weeks to 1 month of long term storables
  • Install a back flow preventer on your water heater
  • Store at least 25 gallons of water, more is better
  • Journal your spending – EVERY PENNY
  • Form a debt elimination plan and DO IT
  • Define your lifestyle vision and WORK ON IT
  • Create a get out – get home plan
  • Own and know how to use a grill
  • Teach yourself at least 2 food preservation methods
  • Visit farmers markets
  • Talk to your neighbors
  • Believe you can get it done, because you can
  • Focus on the results, not the battle

Additional Resources for Today’s Show

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK and you might hear yourself on the air.

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Episode-356- Getting Started From Zero the How and Why

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Modern Survival| 12 Comments
Episode-356- Getting Started From Zero the How and Why [ 1:00:13 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So you are brand new to prepping or self sufficiency planning, where do you start?  Why should you in the first place?  Can you actually get reasonably prepared on your budget?  Today we answer those questions and more.

Tune in Today to Hear

  • Start out with what you have
  • The burden of debt and why it must be eliminated
  • Where do you find survival supplies, Walmart, The Grocery, etc.  at least before you need them
  • Starting out with 3 days of self sufficiency and turning it into 10 days effortlessly
  • Pile it on a table, know what you have and organize it
  • Documentation and simple encryption of sensitive numbers
  • Why you must own your plan not follow mine
  • The big regret you never have to face
  • The cancer of fear and how to destroy it
  • The difficult choices you can avoid ever having to make
  • Why now is the time to start and the journey is not a hard as you may believe it to be

Resources for today’s show…

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK and you might hear yourself on the air.

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Episode-298- Starting the Journey from Grasshopper to Ant

Posted on October 15, 2009 by Modern Survival| 13 Comments
Episode-298- Starting the Journey from Grasshopper to Ant [ 1:12:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As we approach the 300th episode I realized it has been a long time since we did a show dedicated to the brand new person.  Today will will lay out 20 steps to take as a person who has just decided that it is time “to do something” but isn’t quite sure what that “something” is.    Even though today is done with the new person in mind I think it will help everyone sort of recenter on the core of what is the most important things to make sure you have accomplished.

I have also created a special commercial free version of today’s show for sharing with others who you want to get thinking about preparedness.  That version can be found on our forum here.

Tune in today as we discuss

  1. Start with the old fable of the grasshopper and the ant
  2. The first thing you do is assess the situation and stay calm
  3. Journal your spending and your eating
  4. Write a plan for debt elimination and begin creating an emergency fund
  5. Put together a basic documentation package
  6. Assemble a BOB for each family member (cheap and fast the first time around)
  7. Inventory your pantry over a week or two (how much food do you have at your low point)
  8. Begin storing up a 30 day supply of food you will eat anyway
  9. Begin assembling a low cost 30 day long term storage supply
  10. Determine where you would go if you had to leave and go at least 50 miles from home
  11. Make plans for how you would help elderly parents or other family members
  12. Update your resume and be prepared to loose your job on any given day
  13. Avoid focusing on any individual coming event or scenario
  14. Plan a garden and start getting ready to plant (depending on the season)
  15. Learn about disaster commonality (it is not about the disaster it is about loss of support systems)
  16. Learn about disaster probability (Personal-Localized-Regional-State-National-Global)
  17. Determine your most probable “personal”, “local” and “regional”
  18. Start window shopping for “country land” or an “urban homestead”
  19. Think of the children, won’t someone please think of the children (seriously think of your children)
  20. Assess your “normal preparations”
  21. Take ownership of your plan and your life

Resources for today’s show…

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

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Episode-246- Episode 2 of The Colony and Getting Started Prepping

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Modern Survival| 4 Comments
Episode-246- Episode 2 of The Colony and Getting Started Prepping [ 48:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today on The Survival Podcast in the intro segment we do a review of episode two of “The Colony” a new disaster based reality show from The Discovery channel.  After that we do our housekeeping and I tell you about a great sale from Safe Castle LLC on Mountain house and we then move into the topic of getting stated with your prepping or taking it to a new level.

On getting started we start out with the three pillars to forming a modern survival plan, threat probability, threat impact and disaster commonality.

Resources for today’s show…

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, (866-658-4465) please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.

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Epidsode-171- Getting Started Moving from Grasshopper to Ant

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Modern Survival| 6 Comments
Epidsode-171- Getting Started Moving from Grasshopper to Ant [ 50:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Someone recently called into our toll free number at 866-65-THINK and asked if I could do a show geared to the “brand new person that has woken up and wants to stop being a grasshopper and become an ant”.  Since that is not a call that can be answered on a listener call in show today’s episode is dedicated to answering that very questions.

Tune in today to hear…

  • Why you must first determine where you are before you start prepping
  • How the one shelf method can easily get you on your way to storing food
  • Why documentation is so important to your success
  • Priorities one, two and three – food, debt reduction, basic planning
  • You didn’t get to where you are in a day, you won’t get out of it in a day either
  • You may already have more food then you realize
  • Figuring out what you already have and reorganizing and purposing it
  • Understand the commonality of disaster and use it to your advantage
  • Why you have to have YOUR OWN plans and goals rather then following another persons plan
  • The place for some cheap long term storage items like beans, rice and pasta in a few buckets
  • Why debt reduction and expense cutting is so important
  • Thoughts on storing water for drinking and “other needs” as well
  • Why I discuss threats and what threat discussions are really about
  • Why the individual threat is not that important to how you actually prep
  • When you actually do need to really pay attention to a threat and gauge your exposure as an individual or as a group
  • Thoughts about self defense beyond concealed carry especially where concealed carry is not legal or practical
  • Being armed increases your responsibility to avoid conflict, understand that or don’t carry any weapon
  • Understand that you can only succeed if you have ownership of your personal plans, goals and objectives

Resources for Today’s Show

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon.   Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, (866-658-4465) please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.

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