When I was in the military, my instructors taught me the SURVIVAL acronym as part of wilderness survival training. The acronym went like this:
- Size up the Situation
- Undue Haste Makes Waste
- Remember Where You Are
- Vanquish Fear and Panic
- Improve Your Situation
- Value Living
- Act Like the Natives
- Learn Basic Skills
At some point I may do a deeper dive into these points, but here are some quick takeaways:
Size up the Situation
Take an objective look at the situation you’re in, whether it’s being lost in the woods, getting laid off from a job, a crisis in your business, and so on. When you’re in crisis mode and people around you are panicking, it’s very easy to overestimate the size of your problem or its severity. Yes, you may be out of work, but you can claim unemployment insurance. Yes, you may be lost in the woods, but it’s still daylight and you have plenty of water.
Undue Haste Makes Waste
The key word here is “undue.” Obviously in a crisis you need to get out of it as soon as you can. But it’s important to move quickly when there’s a clear and decisive plan of action. If you rush things without careful consideration, you will generally make things worse.
Remember Where You Are
In order to get to a “safe” situation, you have to know where that is, and where you are. How are you going to get there from here? In the metaphorical sense, remembering where you are means defining what conditions have to be met to consider the emergency as “over.”
Vanquish Fear and Panic
It’s really hard to make important decisions when you’re afraid. When afraid you focus on the urgent and immediate problem, but is the immediate problem the most important to solve right now? Take a few deep breaths to calm yourself down enough where you can think things a few steps ahead.
Improve Your Situation
Take steps to make your situation better, little by little. Any small gain brings you one more step closer to safety.
Value Living
Never lose hope. At any moment, something could happen that will help you get out of the crisis you’re in. To quote Tom Hanks, in the movie Castaway: “Just keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide will bring in?”
Act Like the Natives
Seek out people who have been in this type of situation before. Learn what they did to get out of it, and what they did to cope while they were still in it. And also, what they did to avoid it in the future.
Learn Basic Skills
Some people also use “Live by Your Wits.” In either case, learn to develop a pattern of survival. That means setting your priorities for each day and taking care of them in that order. As the pattern changes, so will your priorities.