Prepared
A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios
Book Edition Details
Summary
In a world where unpredictability reigns supreme, "Prepared" offers more than just survival tactics—it’s a manifesto for resilience. Mike Glover, a seasoned Green Beret and survival expert, dismantles the myth that safety lies in stockpiles and isolation. Instead, he invites you into a mindset of perpetual readiness. Armed with two decades of combat wisdom, Glover reveals the secrets to transforming fear into fortitude. Learn to master your mind’s chemistry, turning panic into purposeful action, and your home into a bastion of safety with everyday essentials. Whether you’re navigating the chaos of a car accident or the aftermath of a natural disaster, this guide ensures you're never caught off guard. With every page, discover how to turn life's unexpected moments into opportunities for strength, adaptability, and triumph.
Introduction
The world feels increasingly unpredictable. Natural disasters strike with little warning, infrastructure failures leave communities stranded, and unexpected emergencies test our ability to protect those we love. Yet most of us walk through life trusting that someone else will handle the crisis when it comes. This mindset leaves us vulnerable and unprepared for moments when every second counts. True preparedness isn't about living in fear or hoarding supplies in a bunker. It's about developing the mental resilience, practical skills, and physical resources that transform you from a potential victim into someone who can not only survive catastrophe, but help others thrive through it. The journey toward readiness begins with understanding that you are your own first responder, and that with the right knowledge and preparation, you can face any challenge with confidence and capability.
Build Mental Resilience and Situational Awareness
Mental preparedness forms the foundation of all survival skills. Your mind determines whether you freeze in terror or spring into action when catastrophe strikes. Resilience isn't an inherited trait but a developed capability that grows stronger through exposure to controlled stress and discomfort. Consider the story of Clay Violand, one of the few survivors of the Virginia Tech shooting who emerged physically unharmed from room 211. When gunman Seung-Hui Cho burst into his French class, Violand immediately collapsed behind his desk and played dead with such conviction that he fooled the shooter during multiple sweeps of the room. While others froze in paralyzing fear, Violand's mind remained clear enough to recognize that stillness offered his best chance of survival. His ability to think rationally under extreme stress saved his life. Violand's survival demonstrates how mental resilience operates under pressure. Rather than succumbing to the natural freeze response that overwhelms most people, he channeled his fear into calculated action. This mental clarity didn't happen by accident but reflected his capacity to process information and make decisions even while adrenaline flooded his system. Building this resilience requires deliberately exposing yourself to manageable stress. Start by identifying your comfort zones and systematically expanding them. If cold weather makes you miserable, take winter walks in lighter clothing. If you hate public speaking, volunteer to give presentations. Practice conscious breathing and positive self-talk during these challenges, telling yourself "I can handle this" until the words become automatic responses. Remember that every stressful situation you navigate successfully builds your mental callus against future challenges. Your goal isn't to eliminate stress but to increase your capacity to function effectively within it. When your sympathetic nervous system floods you with stress hormones, you want to maintain enough control to assess threats, make decisions, and take action rather than shutting down completely. Situational awareness serves as your early warning system, helping you spot potential dangers before they become immediate threats. This skill involves systematically scanning your environment for anomalies that don't fit the normal baseline pattern of a situation. The key lies in understanding what's normal before you can identify what's suspicious or dangerous.
Master Essential Preparedness Skills and Equipment
Your everyday carry represents your first line of physical preparedness. These aren't just tools you hope never to use, but essential items that expand your capacity to handle emergencies and defend yourself when help isn't coming. The foundation starts with medical supplies, because bleeding kills faster than any other threat you're likely to face. Mike's experience in Afghanistan illustrates why medical preparedness matters so critically. When his friend Walker crashed his motorcycle outside a gas station in North Carolina, Mike reached for his medical kit only to discover it was attached to his seat with MOLLE webbing that took precious seconds to manipulate. Those lost moments haunted him as Walker died despite Mike's desperate efforts to stop the bleeding. The delay in accessing his tourniquet and trauma supplies didn't cause Walker's death, but it reinforced a crucial lesson about equipment accessibility. This tragedy transformed Mike's entire approach to medical gear placement. He redesigned his systems to ensure tourniquets and bleeding control kits could be accessed instantly, without fumbling with complicated attachment systems. Within seconds of recognizing an arterial bleed, he could have lifesaving equipment in his hands and begin treatment. Your everyday carry should include at minimum a tourniquet, trauma bandages, hemostatic gauze for wound packing, and medical tape. These items fit easily in a bag or large pocket and give you the capability to stop life-threatening bleeding until professional help arrives. Practice deploying and using these items until accessing them becomes muscle memory, because fine motor skills deteriorate rapidly under stress. For self-defense, choose tools that match your training level and legal constraints. A concealed carry pistol offers the most stopping power, but only if you can deploy it accurately under pressure. Pepper spray, tactical knives, and stun guns provide non-lethal options that might resolve threats without the legal and moral complexity of deadly force. The key principle remains consistent across all tools: comfort and proficiency determine effectiveness far more than specifications or brand names. Your equipment must serve you reliably when everything else fails. Test your gear regularly, replace expired items, and train with your tools until using them feels natural rather than foreign.
Create Your Mobile and Home Defense Systems
Your vehicle extends your preparedness capacity exponentially, transforming you from a single person with limited supplies into a mobile platform capable of sustaining your family for days or weeks. This mobility offers freedom to escape dangerous situations while carrying everything needed for extended survival. Hurricane Ida demonstrated both the power and limitations of evacuation without proper preparation. As the Category 4 storm bore down on Louisiana, hundreds of thousands of residents fled their homes with whatever they could grab quickly. Traffic jams stretched for miles as people sought safety wherever they could find it, many without clear destinations or adequate supplies. Those who survived the initial exodus often struggled for weeks in temporary shelters or distant motels, dependent on the kindness of strangers and government assistance. The residents who fared best during this crisis had prepared their vehicles as mobile survival platforms before the emergency struck. They carried water purification systems, medical supplies, communications equipment, and enough food to sustain their families during the journey and initial resettlement period. Their vehicles became self-contained units that provided shelter, power, and security while infrastructure collapsed around them. Your mobile setup should address the same survival priorities as your everyday carry, but with enhanced capacity for multiple people over extended time periods. Store at least one gallon of water per person per day, with additional water for cooking and hygiene. Include water purification tablets or filtration systems to replenish supplies from natural sources. Pack medical supplies that can handle multiple casualties, not just individual injuries. Your home represents your final defensive position and long-term survival base. Security begins with understanding your property through military-style terrain analysis. Identify observation points that provide clear views of approaches to your home. Recognize natural and artificial obstacles that channel potential threats into predictable paths. Exploit existing features while adding technological layers like motion sensors, cameras, and alarms that provide early warning of approaching dangers. Food storage extends beyond emergency rations to include renewable sources like gardens and livestock that provide long-term sustainability. Power systems should offer multiple backup options, from generators and solar panels to battery banks that keep essential systems running when the grid fails. These investments transform your home from a place dependent on external infrastructure into a self-sufficient sanctuary capable of sustaining your family indefinitely.
Summary
True preparedness transcends fear-based hoarding to embrace a lifestyle of confident self-reliance and community strength. As this guide emphasizes, "You are always your own first responder," which means developing the mental resilience, practical skills, and physical resources to protect yourself and help others when systems fail. The goal isn't to prepare for the end of the world, but to thrive every day without depending entirely on infrastructure you don't control. Whether facing natural disasters, personal emergencies, or societal disruptions, your preparation creates options where others see only helplessness. Start today by choosing one area that resonates most strongly with your current situation—whether building mental resilience through controlled stress exposure, assembling a basic medical kit, or securing your home's most vulnerable entry points—and commit to making meaningful progress within the next week. Your future self will thank you for taking action now rather than waiting for crisis to force your hand.
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By Mike Glover
