How to Protect my Family in 2021
So 2020 was a dumpster fire, wasn’t it? We have blamed 2020 for the worst of humanity, haven’t we? It felt good to kinda push all of our collective bad luck onto 2020.
But as we’re 13 days into this new year, I think we’ve all discovered that our problems didn’t vanish on New Year’s Day. So that means we need to take what we learned from 2020 and minimize the chances of being unprepared again.
Murphy’s Law
The first thing that we need to embrace in order to thrive and survive in 2021 is that Murphy’s Law exists.
Murphy’s Law states that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
People joke about this with me since my last name is Murphy. But embracing that law has made me more prepared for some of life’s curveballs. So what that means we need to be ready to deal with setbacks and random things like pandemics, shortages, and civil unrest.
Quote: The year 2020 taught us that strange things were going to happen that we can’t predict, but as a family, we need to be ready to adjust.
Toilet Paper Shortage
Do you remember that people went nuts and bought out all of the toilet paper… twice? This is panic buying. And it’s frustrating for so many reasons. Not the least of which is that it didn’t really have anything to do with COVID.
To help our families in this new year consider buying some extra common items as you go. I’m not saying panic buy anything. What I am saying is that when you go to the store, buy one more pack of toilet paper for later.
Grab a few extra packs of batteries. Throw an extra case of water in the cart. Find what your family needs the most and buy one extra just in case.
Don’t buy the store out of Advil, just grab one more of something with each trip that you take. This includes ammo, too. If you can find it in the first place. This way you can slowly build up common items you might need during a hurricane, blizzard, or wildfire.
Money Solves Problems
Another way we can be ready for this new year is to be financially prepared. I want to encourage you to look at your finances and try to make your money work for you.
Maybe you lost a job in 2020. I did sports videography and all of a sudden one day in 2020 that disappeared for months and so did that income.
I like a mindset from Ed Calderon from Ed’s Manifesto. He says that money solves problems. I like looking at it that way. Money solves our housing problem, our food problem, and some of our safety problems.
Let’s have money ready to solve our problems in this new year. Take a look at what you’re spending money on. Do you have a gym membership that auto-renews each month but you haven’t been there in a year?
Are you drowning in a car payment that you can’t afford anymore? Maybe you trade it in for something you can manage.
And the changes don’t have to be major. Just think about where your money is going and ask if it’s solving a real problem for you.
Then ask yourself is there a big problem that you’re not solving with your money. Because it goes both ways.
Become an Asset
Lastly, to help us survive 2021 we need to push ourselves to get training. I’ve said this for a long time. Get training in something that is going to make you an asset to your family.
That can be self-defense training, firearm training, or even emergency medical training. There’s tons of stuff out there. There’s nothing like getting hands-on training to better protect yourself with your hands or with a firearm.
You might be a little scared to pick up the phone and call to sign up. I understand that. I’ve been nervous too, but it’s worth it. And you just might enjoy yourself.
If you’re concerned about traveling or being in a large group because of COVID, then online training is a valuable resource. I did the Protector Symposium in 2020 which was completely online and it was excellent.
And I am launching an online course later this month that you might want to check out.
But we need to add skills to our lives that we can use to protect ourselves and our families. When we know what to do, we can mentally relax because we’re ready for Murphy’s Law.
