Being a prepper means being in a constant state of learning. There will never come a point at which you will know absolutely everything there is to know about this lifestyle. There will always be something new to discover. Even your own mistakes can teach you something new about yourself.

The point of being prepared for everything isn’t to avoid mistakes and failures at all costs. Rather, the point is to survive whatever the world throws at you and still come out on top. You should learn to use your past failures and experiences to become a better prepper and a better person. Here are three reasons why you shouldn’t be afraid of failure. (h/t to KwikLearning.com)

You get to learn how to face failure

In everything you do, there will always be a chance of failure. The fear of failure can be paralyzing, but it is possible for you to overcome it. As long as you’re alive, you can keep trying again. After failing at something, you need to come to terms with your situation, take stock of what you have left and face whatever challenges you might encounter head on.

This is not to say that you should take a big leap of faith and gamble everything on trying something that you have no previous experience in. What you should do instead is get out of your comfort zone and try something that you’ve never tried before in a safe, no-stakes environment. That way, even if you fail, the consequences won’t be as bad as they would be if you were forced into a similar situation. Doing so can help you hone your survival skills with a calm and rational mind. (Related: 5 skills you need to hone now for when SHTF.)

Your brain gets a workout from experiencing new opportunities

While the human brain is wired to avoid risk, it is also wired to seek out new experiences. Doing the same things every day might feel safe and comfortable, but it can cause your brain to fall into the same neural patterns day in and day out. This means that you get to exercise only certain parts of your brain, while the rest of your brain remains neglected. Trying out new things might come with the potential risk of failure, but that new opportunity allows you to exercise different parts of your brain. Disasters can happen in the blink of an eye and you should be able to react accordingly if you want to survive. By reacting differently to new and unfamiliar situations, you can give your brain the workout it needs and you also learn to better adapt to your surroundings.

You familiarize yourself with your own strengths and weaknesses

If you succeed at everything, it can make you believe that you are invincible. It can also make you become complacent with your prepping since you’ll fall into the trap of succeeding even with minimal effort. If nothing you ever did had any consequences, it can make you unmindful of your surroundings, not to mention unmindful of the repercussions your actions might have on other people. Failure can make you aware of your strengths and weaknesses in a way that success never can. Your strengths and weaknesses shine through the most when you find yourself in an unfamiliar situation.

It is important to uncouple your sense of self-worth from your idea of success. You are worth much more than what you are capable of doing and you should accept your failures as part of life. Use these mistakes as opportunities for growth and self-betterment.

No matter how badly you might fail, what matters is that you can make the most out of a bad situation. For other useful tips on staying prepared, visit Preparedness.news.

Sources include: 

KwikLearning.com

MoreThanJustSurviving.com