Want To Find Out How Prepared You Really Are? Consider Doing A Survival SWOT Analysis.

A SWOT Analysis is a simple, but useful method of really understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses. It will also help you identify Opportunities that you can exploit, and Threats that you might face in a survival situation.

Performing a SWOT Analysis on yourself and your capabilities is a great way to determine how prepared you really are.

STRENGTHS

A good place to start is to take an inventory of what you currently have. This can be everything from stockpiles of food and ammo to stockpiles of knowledge.

Analyzing your strengths will give you a good idea of what you’re capable of doing. It’s also a good way of discovering things that you may have never considered strengths, but could be extremely beneficial in a survival scenario.

• What survival gear, equipment, and tools do you currently own?
• What other items do you have in your home that might be useful during a crisis situation? (blankets, food, tools, etc….)
• What skills do you have that can be used in a survival situation?
• What resources do you have in your area that can be used in a survival situation?
• Make a list of what you feel are your general everyday strengths, and then determine if these strengths would be useful when the SHTF.

WEAKNESSES

This is where you really have to be honest with yourself, but it’s also where you’ll get the most benefit out of this exercise. By honestly detailing your weaknesses, you can then better prepare to survive a crisis situation. Once you know what your weaknesses are, you can tweak your training to deal with them.

• What skills do you need to improve on?
• Are there certain survival skills that you have never actually practiced?
• Is there anything about your location that could be considered a weakness? (lack of natural resources, hard to defend, etc…)
• Do you have any medical problems or disabilities?
• What other things do you lack that may become a problem during a SHTF Scenario?

OPPORTUNITIES

When listing your opportunities, try to imagine what resources and opportunities are currently available to you, and what will be available when a disaster strikes. List the opportunities that you can take advantage of now, as well as those that will be important during a survival situation.

• What resources and opportunities can you exploit in your area when the SHTF?
• Are there opportunities that you can take advantage of that will help strengthen some of your weaknesses? (local classes, survival schools, library, websites or other learning resources)
• Do you have a network of people who can help?

THREATS:

To truly be prepared, you need to have a realistic idea of what threats are out there and how likely it is that each threat could happen. By going through this exercise, you can better prepare yourself to face each one of these scenarios.  You will know exactly what skills you need to work on, what plans you need to put in place, and what equipment you will most likely need.

• What are the most likely threats that you will face? (natural disasters, economic threats, SHTF scenarios)
• What obstacles will you face?
• What are the immediate dangers in your location?
• Who is the biggest threat in your neighborhood? (gangs, criminals, etc…)
• Take another look at your weaknesses? Can any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your survival?

THE NEXT STEP

The most important part of performing a SWOT Analysis is what you do with your findings. There is no point in performing one, unless you plan on taking action. Now that you have a good idea of your overall level of preparedness, you need to act on your findings and create a strategic plan of action.

by: Robert Richardson