Getting Your Loved Ones to Prepare

Note: This article was contributed by Dan F. Sullivan of SurvivalSullivan.com.  To learn more about Dan you can see the About the Author section at the end of the post.

Getting Your Loved Ones To Prepare

One of the biggest frustrations we face as preppers is not the myriad of dangers that threaten our existence. It’s not the fact that, the more we prepare, the less prepared we feel. It’s the fact that no matter how much we argue and fight, our families are oblivious to the idea of prepping. Sometimes they even laugh at us and call us crazy, tension rises and, before you know it, it affects your relationships at a much deeper level than you would have thought.

Getting others to prepare is not an easy task and, with most people, you shouldn’t even bother but, when it comes to your loved ones, things are different. The way you handle your spouse and kids is different than the way you handle other people.

Long story short, you should get you family on board no matter what and you should forget everyone else who doesn’t live under the same roof as you. You know the old saying, loose lips sink ships, right?

Why Forget Everyone Else?

Forget everyone else because they’re not in the right mindset and you don’t see them often enough to properly influence them. They need to be exposed to the same information you’ve been exposed to. They need to make the same logical connections you have, otherwise, they won’t reach the same conclusions as you.

There are basically two reasons people start preparing: desperation and inspiration.

People get desperate when they see the impending danger, such as a hurricane that’s merely hours away. Other times, they became desperate after surviving a disaster or critical event by sheer luck. That’s exactly what happens after each major hurricane: a lot of survivors turn into preppers simply because they’ve seen death with their own eyes and realize that not preparing is the most dangerous move of all.

The second reason is inspiration, it’s the reason most of us do it. We’re exposed to information, we connect the dots and, all of the sudden, it all makes sense: we realize just how dangerous our world is and feel an urgent need to prepare.

Now, if you want to inspire people to prepare, you need to be relatively close to them. Living in the same house, spending a lot of time with them, sharing hobbies and passions. They need to trust you and, if possible, they need to share some of your concerns. That’s a little difficult to do with people at work, neighbors and other people that you don’t see very often.

Sure, we all like to talk politics from time to time but from having a heated debate over which politician is the worst to spending money on preps you may never use… that’s a big leap in the mind of the average Joe.

Why Should You Get Your Family On Board?

To put it simply, you just won’t be able to prepare without them; you really have no choice. Let me give you a few reasons to back up that statement:

• You and your family are in the same boat, whether you like or not (meaning, the same house and the same location that will be hit).
• You can’t leave your family behind, no matter how unprepared they are. You’ll do your best to help them go through this because no mother or father can leave their entire family behind and just run away to save their own skin.
• When SHTF, your family’s going to react like rest of the sheeple. They will freeze, they won’t know what to do, they will hide in the basement or some room even though, to you, it’s obvious that they’re making a big mistake. They’re going to be stubborn and unpredictable and this could kill you all.

Now, I know that convincing someone who’s not awoken to start putting effort and money into something that may never happened is hard but this is your family we’re talking about. You see them every day. You love them. You have the power to influence them. And you won’t leave them behind when SHTF, meaning their fate is your fate.

You can awaken them only if you do it right. Yes, most people do it the wrong way by approaching them in a way that’s guaranteed to fail. What they do is try to scare them with apocalyptic scenarios… and hit a brick wall.

That’s not how the human mind works, ladies and gentlemen!

And to prove it, you need to look no further than yourself. Did you start preparing the first time you heard the acronym EMP? Probably not. You had to let that information sink in, do some further reading, watch some more news, maybe talk to someone who was already preparing.

The dots started to appear to you and it was only a matter of time before you started connecting them.

Here’s another thing that probably happened: you learned about the possibility of small-scale, localized disasters. Things like flash floods, angry protests and even critical events such as electrocutions or terrorist attacks. That’s when things started to become real to you. That’s when you said to yourself:

Hey, this could one day happen to me!

Starting Small

So, you see, if you want to convince your loved ones to prep, you have to start talking about small scale events that happened close to where you live. Things that are already happening.

Every year we have blackouts, tornadoes, floods, rapes, heavy snow, assaults, failed police raids and so on. You have to look no further than old local newspapers and local news sites to read about all the disasters that happen every month or every week… even if you live in a really small town!

That’s your starting point. Start digging and talk to your family about them. Don’t look scared, don’t look in a hurry to prepare. Talk to them in an assertive manner and they’ll listen.

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to awaken them to some of the more complex scenarios. No, no nuclear attacks or a nation-wide EMP just yet. Talk to them about something believable, such as how the U.S. seems to be turning into a police state and it’s only a matter of time until Martial Law is declared.

As a matter of fact, why not show them videos that bring proof about this, such as this one that I made myself. In it, I reveal:

#1. …everything about the “undercover police state” a lot of analysts are saying the U.S. has turned into;

#2.  …why sticking together as a family to prepare is important. How to do it and how to put together a fully-functional family survival plan.

Be Prepared For Counter Arguments

Now, once you start talking to them about disasters, you’re gonna hit some objections. They could say things like, such as:

• What if nothing happens?

• Prepping is hard.

• Prepping is expensive.

• People will think I’m crazy.

• People will think WE’RE crazy as a family and are going to laugh at me in school.

• I’d rather just live my life.

Remember, the first two steps were just to get them interested and open to what you have to say. This is where the “fun” begins. You’re going to have some heated discussions but not like the ones you’ve had before. This time they’re not going to make fun of you, call you crazy. They’re actually going to be logical and a lot more open.

All you have to do is have comebacks for each of them and after that, you need comebacks to their comebacks!

For example, if they say prepping is hard, you can tell them that a 72-hour disaster kit and a few survival skills will make a world of difference. Make sure you leave out the more advanced things preppers do such as having a one year stockpile. Your only goal right now is to get them to make the first step. That’s it. For more information on getting started prepping, CLICK HERE.

Maintaining Momentum

Now, you may be asking yourself:

Once I get them through the door, how do I make sure they stay inside?

Well, you have to make continuous effort to keep them on track. You know what they say:

Motivation gets you started, habits keep you going.

You need to make a habit of doing small things every 2-3 days. Maybe it’s buying some canned food, maybe it’s getting a new HAM radio. Even the purchase of a single bottle of water is a tiny guarantee on their part that they’re IN.

Now, if you really want to hit a home run, what you need to do is make it FUN for them. And what better way to make prepping for newbies fun that camping in the middle of nature?

Camping is not just a great way to “get away from it all” but an opportunity for your kids to brag at school with the survival skills you’ll be teaching them, especially the boys. See, if you want them to commit, you have to find all these reasons that make sense in their heads, not just yours.

If you can do that, if you can get them started, you’ll really be on your way to creating a survival dream-team that won’t be just willing but eager to help you. That means they’ll come up with their own ideas on how to prep, start reading on their own and even come up with new ideas on how to do things more efficiently. Leave it to the kids to browse around the internet for new and exciting ways to prep you never would have thought about.

What’s next?

If you want to learn the A to Z of how to prepare yourself and your family for any disaster, whether natural or man-made, I urge you to watch this video I made. Watch it all the way to the end for a complete family survival blueprint. Why? Because prepping is about the team. Remember: their fate is your fate.

As we mentioned at the top of the article, this post was contributed by Dan F. Sullivan.  If you want more information from Dan on preparing with your family, I encourage you to check out his book, Family Survival Blueprints, which comes with 6 FREE bonus resources that will get your family prepared in no time.  You can check it out by clicking on the book below:

Your Thoughts?

Getting your loved ones to prepare is a challenge many preppers have in common. Have you faced any obstacles to convincing members of your household to commit to your survival plan? How have you attempted to overcome them? Share your frustrations and successes in the Comments section below, thanks!

About the Author

Dan F. Sullivan runs SurvivalSullivan.com.  He describes himself as:

My dad was military. My grandfather was a cop. They served their country well. But I don’t take orders from anyone. I’m taking matters into my own hands so I’m not just preparing, I’m going to friggin’ war!