Survival Skills: Work On Your Work Ethic

It’s not too obvious at first glance, but your work ethic plays a major role in your success as a survivor. If you do a crappy job building your shelter, you’ll pay for it when the hard rains come. If you don’t get enough firewood for the whole night, someone’s going to be stumbling around in the dark looking for sticks. You might learn the hard way (if you survive your initial lazy spell), but it’s better to learn from the suffering and experience of others. Work hard on the task at hand, do a good job, go above and beyond, and stay with your task until the job is done. This means building a bomb-proof survival shelter – the first time around. It means dragging in a giant firewood pile. It’s about doing your best the first time around, not playing catch up and damage control after the fact. Always try to do your best, plus a little extra for insurance.

Even if you’re the biggest slacker in the world, your work ethic can be built up with practice and attention to the issue. A work ethic is a skill, and it can be improved just like your other skills. You might even surprise yourself (and others) with the carryover value of this skill. You might find yourself working harder at your day job or around the house. It’s almost like a good work ethic is its own reward.

No time like the present to take a survival class. Put in the work now. Better to take the class and not need it - than to need that knowledge and not have it.

Written by Tim MacWelch First draft published on outdoorlife.com