Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?
Are you ready for whatever comes at you?
When I was in the Army, most of what we did was to prepare for chaos.
The last thing we wanted was to be SURPRISED by something we weren’t prepared (Equipped and Trained) to handle.
Virtually all of our training was repetitive, hands-on training intended to “automate” our responses to a variety of scenarios. If someone were to yell: “GAS” . . . everyone within earshot would don a gas mask in a fraction of second without even thinking about it.
“INCOMING” would result in the whole group hitting the ground and taking cover IMMEDIATELY.
When you’re appropriately equipped and trained, you gain the advantage of being able to RESPOND to the threat instead of having to REACT (Chaos).
The better trained and equipped . . . the less the chance of surprise . . . and more effective you’ll be.
The only assumption for every true soldier is that “War is Chaotic Hell!”
We all knew that when the feces hit the fan in combat, we wouldn’t have time to think about what to do. One moment of hesitation might mean the difference between survival and death.
Training Training Training . . . and Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning . . . and Resupply.
After a skirmish, we’d first count people to be sure every made it through the fight . . . Then we’d count ammunition and resupply . . . Then we’d clean and service our weapons and equipment to be sure we would be ready for whatever’s next . . . Then we would eat and sleep.
That’s life on the battlefield . . .
It’s also life in “real life” . . .
How prepared are you?
At home . . . What if the power goes out for days? or the house catches on fire?
or . . . or . . . or . . .
At work . . . What if the system goes down? The car breaks down? A key team-mate falls sick or leaves the team?
Are you prepared to respond to the ensuing the chaos, or will you have to react?
What’s your state of readiness?
It all begins with training and having the right equipment and supplies on-hand.
Do this right, and surprise won’t be quite as chaotic.
🙂