Improve Your Fighting Position!
There is a saying in the U.S. Army that is used to ensure soldiers never get too comfortable or complacent. You hear this adage from Basic Training all the way through your career.
The saying is, “Improve your fighting position!” Where this originally comes from is efforts to ensure your position is sound. You have enough sandbags, there are enough provisions, you have dug a trench that will enable rain water to drain away from your foxhole instead of fill it up. Just when you think you are good to go, you are then told to step away from your position and look at it from the outside.
What are the vulnerabilities?
Does it have enough camouflage?
Where are your blind spots?
Can your fortification take a shot?
If the wind blows too hard, will it collapse?
Those were the days!!!
I have been out of uniform for quite some time now but I continue to employ this approach to life outside of the military. I would argue that many homesteaders, preppers, or those seeking financial independence do so as well, just with different terminology.
There is an inherent trap in being prepared. This trap is feeling that you have accounted for everything that could go wrong, you believe you have a level of security and redundancy that ensures you will be able to weather almost any storm. In some cases, you may be right! However, as when I was in uniform, we had another saying, “No plan survives first contact.” Some of my more religious friends say, “Man plans, God laughs.”
You plan, and plan, and plan, and revise, and plan some more. Then you go to execute and the one thing that can undermine all of that planning and preparation happens. What now? You fall back on what you know!
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. [Mike Tyson]
The important lesson here is that reality has a way of exposing flaws in your plans, even the best ones.
Here is my recommendation to you: If you think your position or plan is sound, take another look at it. If you can’t or don’t see anything wrong, show it to someone who will be honest with you and see if they can find a deficiency.
In the words of Samuel L Jackson in Jurassic Park, “Hold on to your butts,” because you are about to have your ego busted.
Pennywise from the Movie “IT” is the equivalent to Murphy’s Law in the Military, “What can go wrong, will go wrong”
Often times we are too close to our plans to spot the shortcomings. When someone comes in and critiques it, we can take it personal. This is understandable. The person may not know how much effort you put into your planning. The late nights, hours of number crunching, building your food stores, establishing your contingency plans if a black swan shows up in the form of Pennywise from the movie ‘IT’. Then someone comes along and points out something wrong.
Everything was going great…until it wasn’t. [The Person in the Arena]
This is where you have to check yourself. Don’t get mad. Don’t take it personal. Shut up and listen!
Whether you realize it or not, this person just did you a huge favor. What you wanted to hear them say is, “this is flawless!” From this, you gain nothing. Yea, it feels good. You have a smile from ear to ear, but have you improved? No.
Understand that corporations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for people to tell them how messed up their business is, where their weak points are. The smart organizations make changes. The organizations stuck in their ego ignore this feedback… until something bad happens. Are you so sure of your individual fighting position that you won’t even ask someone to tell you what they think?
So, the next time you find yourself laughing at the TV because people have raided stores or are in food lines because they didn’t prepare like you, go over your plan! Ask yourself the hard questions.
Have you forgotten something?
Is there a skill that you don’t have that you should develop?
If a critical part of your plan falls through, are you able to deal with it?
What if a sibling shows up to your house, does that blow your food math up?
There is no such thing as a perfect plan. But there is such a thing as a really damn good one.
Improvement is a process, not a destination. What worked yesterday may not work next week.
Improving your fighting position is not just adding more cans of beans to your pantry, or adding another generator, or acquiring a few more cases of bottled water. You are part of your fighting position. You have to improve yourself. Keep learning new things and gaining new skills.
At the end of the day, the fighting position can be the best in the world, but if the person in it is inept, it won’t do a whole lot of good.
