Prepping can be a very lonely task, especially if your friends and family either scoff, roll their eyes or shy away from thinking that it's a good idea to be prepared. But nobody can survive alone, that's why it's a good idea to try and convince them that it is not a crazy thing to be ready for a disaster or emergency.
This potential disaster or emergency is waiting just around the corner. It's one that could stop you and your family's life dead in its tracks. It can be a personal disaster, a local emergency or a nationwide or worldwide cataclysmic event. Most people are not prepared for this big emergency – but they should be. You may be prepared, but you won't get far without friends and family. (Related: Preparing your family for disaster: How to develop your emergency plan.)
Here are four ways to convince your friends, neighbors and family to finally start prepping. (h/t to CityPrepping.com)
Buy them preparedness items as gifts
Your spouse or your best friend might not have a prepping tool or kit at the top of their list of expected gifts, but it will be appreciated down the line when an emergency inevitably pops up.
During the next birthday or special occasion, consider purchasing an emergency tool or kit that you know a friend or relative really needs. If your spouse's car broke down recently, consider getting him or her a roadside emergency repair kit. If a neighbor has a kid that recently got injured after playing outside, get a first aid kit.
Check in on your family and neighbors
Offering to help out friends and neighbors is always a good idea. It is the kind of good deed that these people are likely to remember and emulate. You can even do this with your spouse or kids.
Check in on your friends and relatives by cooking them a big meal. This can be a big bowl filled with your favorite stew or a fresh batch of baked goods. Let your friends and relatives reciprocate when they check in on you in the future. This kind of behavior – of looking out for others during hard times – is a way of getting people to turn into preppers.
Form a bulk buying club
A bulk buying club is what happens when you and your neighbors band together to purchase goods from your local supermarket in bulk. This effort increases your purchasing power by allowing you to get more for a lower price by buying in bulk. You and your neighbors then end up with a better inventory of necessary food and toiletries.
Many people might be going through some severe economic challenges right now through no fault of their own. A bulk buying club teaches your friends, neighbors and relatives that banding together and filling up your pantries is essential.
Have a serious discussion about possible emergencies
One good way to really get it through your family that it is important to learn how to be prepared is to sit down with them and have a serious conversation regarding the future. Talk to your spouse and to your kids about the most likely disaster to occur in your area, be that a tornado, a flood or a wildfire.
Try to get them to agree that you need to be prepared for that possible disaster. Emphasize that once that disaster comes and you are the only one who has been preparing, surviving will be almost impossible. But if everyone in the family is pitching in and knows what to do, if everybody has a bug-out bag, if everybody knows the route to the bug-out destination, surviving will be less difficult.
The best way to really get it through your friends and family that preparing is important is to share the knowledge you have gained from being a prepper. Relate this to their everyday experiences without sounding too preachy or too "I told you so." If you are patient and they are willing to listen and take in your advice, they will soon come around.
Learn more about the importance of being prepared at Preparedness.news.
Sources include:
HungerCenter.org [PDF]
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