The biggest preparedness challenge some of us will face is convincing our loved ones to get on board with our preparedness planning. Whether it’s convincing your immediate family about the importance of prepping, or talking to extended family and friends about why they need to prepare, the conversation is something we need to have if we really care about our loved ones.

How to get your wife and kids to prep (or your husband for the ladies)

This one is really a no-brainier; to truly be prepared for disasters, crisis, and threats, your immediate family needs to be on board with your plans. It’s really the only way you can ensure their safety.

Talking to your spouse about preparedness issues

• The best thing you can do for a spouse who might not understand your reasoning is to simply open up and really communicate your concerns.
  
• Share examples of past disasters, and try to make it as relatable and personal as possible.
  
• Explain to your spouse how it’s really no different than buying health, life or car insurance. You’re basically taking out an insurance policy against future disasters.
  
• Start slow, and don’t start with worse case scenarios – even if that’s what you’re preparing for. Ease them into the idea. Explain to them that it’s also about preparing for things like a job loss, a loss of income, or an illness that could cause you to have to take time off of work.
  

Talking to your kids about Preparedness

• Keep it simple and age-appropriate. The last thing your want to do is over complicate it or cause your children unnecessary stress.
  
• Focus on things that make sense to them, and try to relate to them using experiences that they can understand. Talk about what they would do if a disaster hit while they were at school.
  
• Take it slow. Try to work the topic into everyday conversations and make sure you involve them and ask for their feedback.
  
• Take the time to point things out when you’re out and about. Help develop there situational awareness; point out things like exits in stores, and ask questions on how they would respond to certain situations.
  

Talking to your friends and family about prepping

When it comes to talking to extended family or friends about preparedness, the importance of raising the topic really comes down to how much you care. While convincing them isn’t necessarily going to affect your efforts one way or the other, it is good to know the ones you care about are prepared to take care of themselves during times of crisis.

On the more selfish side of things, convincing the ones you care about to become more self-reliant also helps to ensure they won’t show up on your door step during a disaster, expecting you to take care of them.

Things you can do to convince your friends and family to prepare.

• Give them the gift of preparedness. Give them something small like a vehicle preparedness kit or a first aid kit as a way to open the conversation and help change their mindset. It’s also something they can easily wrap their minds around and can help get them thinking about what else they might need.
  
• Give them a book. A book is a great non-threatening way to introduce the subject. Shameless plug alert: The Ultimate Situational Survival Guide hits store shelves in November, and is now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It covers just about every type of disaster, threat and crisis your loved ones will ever face.
  
• Use what’s in the news. When there’s a disaster in the news, use it as a way to bring up the topic. Don’t go overboard, but try to get the conversation started and try to get your friends or family thinking about what they would do in that situation.
  

No matter how hard you try there are some people who are never going to see things your way. As much as that may hurt, especially when it’s someone you really care about, you may have to just let things go and hope for the best. In the end, there’s only so much you can do or say; if someone refuses to care about their readiness to face disasters, be satisfied that you’ve done what you can and then move on and focus on yourself and your immediate family.

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

Via: offgridsurvival

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