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Principles of Self-Sufficiency
1. Change the way you look
at everything. Rethink your entire lifestyle.
2. Develop discernment about people.
3. When you invest, invest first in the right people.
4. Honesty, look at yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses.
5. Seek the counsel of others you trust.
6. Find like-minded people who can be part of a mutual support group and
who you can cooperate with.
7. Find alternate methods for doing everything.
8. Develop an instinct for what doesn't feel right. No matter how good
something looks or sounds on the surface, go with your gut feeling, with
your instinct, with your intuition.
9. Eliminate non-essentials from your life. Eliminate all time wasters and
money wasters, and things you don't need - i.e. clothes, furniture, junk,
etc. Eliminate television from your life.
10. Simplify your lifestyle - learn to say 'no' to things or activities
which do not make you self-sufficient. Learn to place faith in God and
yourself, and not other people.
11. Develop physical, mental and spiritual disciplines.
12. Learn to treat everything as if it were irreplaceable.
13. Buy things that will last, even if they cost more.
14. Acquire tools that do not depend upon electric power.
15. Learn to spend time alone with yourself in total silence - think,
reflect, reminisce, and plan [or strategize] in silence.
16. Learn to spend time alone with yourself and your family, apart from
superficial entertainment and distractions.
17. Learn something from every situation you are in everything you hear,
see, touch, or feel has a lesson in it. Learn a principle from every
mistake you make, from everyday life situations.
18. Make sure your trust is in the Lord and not your own preparedness.
Pattern your preparedness according to the guidance of the Lord. Listen to
what the Lord puts in your heart - don't use only your reasoning power.
19. Learn to enjoy simple pleasures from the smallest things - have
measure of joy and happiness that doesn't come from creature comforts or
entertainment.
20. Store up memories for times of isolation or separation from your loved
ones.
21. Establish priorities for all of life [i.e. relationship, needs,
present needs, future needs.] Set goals for areas you'll be proficient or
self-sufficient in. Set a schedule or time line based on money and time
you can invest in self-sufficiency.
22. Examine the concept of civil disobedience [from the Bible and
history.] At what point should the people of Egypt have said 'no' to
killing the male babies in Moses' day? At what point should the people of
colonial America have said 'no' to King George? At what point should the
people of Germany have said 'no' to Hitler? At what point do we say 'no'
to despots in our day - when they take
over money, our property, our guns, our children, our freedom? Decide what
is your choke point - when do you move to civil disobedience? [For many
throughout history - it was when evil leaders handed down edicts that were
directly contrary o God's Word or commands.] Don't set your choke point
too early or too quickly, nor too late, nor never. Think through or
calculate a
strategy - then never look back.
23. Learn to ask the right questions in every situation. [In 'Operation
Waco,' nobody asked the right questions.]
24. Bring orderliness into your life. If you live in disorder it will pull
you down, it will break your focus. Think focus versus distraction.
Eliminate the distractions from your life.
25. Self-sufficiency [or survival] principles are learned on a day-to-day
basis and must be practical.
26. Always have more than one way to escape, more than one way to do
something. Have a plan B and a plan C.
27. Everyday life [and especially crisis] requires 'up-front systems' and
'back-up systems' if the first line of defense or 'up-front systems fails.
28. Real education [or learning] only takes place when change occurs in
our attitudes, actions, and way of life.
29. Wisdom is making practical applications of what you know. It is not
enough to know everything you need to know. It will only serve you and
others if practical application is made of that knowledge.
30. Fix in your own mind the truth about your capabilities. In a crisis
situation this principle will keep you from cockiness [or overconfidence]
and will provide you with confidence.
31. Decide ahead of time before a crisis arrives, how you will react in a
given situation so that you are not swayed by the circumstances, the
situation, or your emotions.
32. Beware of being spread too thin in your life. Decide on the few things
in life that you must do and do them well. Think focus versus distraction.
Make sure that unimportant, non-essential distractions don't keep you from
achieving your important objectives.
33. Learn to quit wasting things. Be a good steward of all that God
provides.
34. Buy an extra one of everything you use regularly and set the extra one
aside for the time when such items may be difficult or impossible to
obtain.
35. In every situation, train yourself to look for what doesn't fit, for
what's out of place, for what doesn't look right.
36. Teach your children [and yourself] that they are not obligated to give
information to a stranger. You don't have to answer questions [not even to
a government official] that are none of their business.
37. Sell or give away things you do not use or need. Consider giving away
or selling 50% of your 'stuff,' [i.e. the non-essentials.] Simplify and
streamline your life, lifestyle and possessions.
38. Find someone who lived through the Great Depression and learn from
them how they were self-sufficient, how they made do with little, and how
they found joy and contentment in the midst of hard times.
List from Don McAlvany,
Editor, The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor
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