When the Dust Settles: Preparing for the Future, No Matter the Outcome

As millions of people descend on voting booths today, I’d like to remind you that no matter the outcome, America will go on. What the landscape will look like remains to be seen, but one thing that will remain constant is the need to prepare.

Hopefully if you’ve been reading ITS long enough, you’ll know the preparedness we foster here isn’t about holing up in a bunker with a tin foil hat, it’s about living your life free from the worry of the “what if’s” that come your way.

What if there’s a financial collapse? What if there’s a power outage? What if I get lost in the woods? What if I get locked out of my house? The answer to those questions lies in building up the necessary skill-sets to overcome them.

Knowing how to plan for your financial future, how to communicate in the event of a power outage, how to navigate using a map and compass or even how to pick a lock, aren’t just cool things to know; they’re empowering skills.

How does, or how would, having this knowledge change your mental outlook during a given scenario? I say that skills are empowering above, but what that really means is that having the knowledge and capability to prevail over anything that comes your way makes you a force multiplier.

Can you hammer in a nail with a rock? Probably. However, using a force multiplier like a hammer will multiply the effectiveness you’ll bring to that task. Skill-sets are like this too, but useless unless you take the time to learn and practice them.

I know it’s a lot to ask. Why learn something and practice it if you might never use it? It’s an easy argument that there’s better things to do with your time. However, to quote the movie Spy Game, “When did Noah build the Ark, Gladys? Before the rain, before the rain.”

You don’t know when the rain is going to come, or when you’ll find yourself or your loved ones in a bad spot, but the time to prepare was yesterday.

We all have our preference for the next President of the United States in this election, but are you prepared for what you think America will become if your candidate doesn’t win?