In order to survive any type of situation you will need mental flexibility, and you must be able to adapt to changing situations and circumstances. If you can not do this then you will perish fairly soon after society collapses.

There will be different situations that must be handled in different ways, with a range of new and complex problems popping up that will need to be addressed and solved in order to stay alive.

When you have mental flexibility you are like a willow compared to a large old oak tree in a strong wind. The oak may break from the strength of the wind but the willow will just bend and will not break.

Mental flexibility allows you to bend so that you do not break, to adapt so that you do not become extinct. When you are mentally flexible you will be able to:

• See your current situation from a variety of different perspectives.
• Adapt to change when your first plan is no longer possible or the situation and circumstances change.
• Learn from your mistakes and do better in the future.
• Use creative and innovative ways to solve problems when traditional solutions             do not apply.
• Willingly take risks when this is necessary.
• Tolerate the uncertainty that comes with any chaotic situation.

Attitude Raises You Up and Breaks You Down to Pieces

The will to survive and a degree of stubbornness is just one part of the survival attitude that will get you through almost anything.  You need to be realistic about your situation while still maintaining some hope for the future, something that can be difficult to do in this type of setting and circumstances.

Mental toughness allows you to keep going even when it seems like all is lost, and looking at the positive aspects of any situation will help you avoid dwelling on the negatives,

Recognize negative emotions and thought patterns when these occur, and address them immediately before they can take hold and grow.

Replace each negative thought or emotion with one that is more positive.  If you think        “I can’t do this” then flip the script and tell yourself “I can do this, I am strong, and I will be   a survivor.”

Don’t let guilt or anger get the best of you. It is easy to blame yourself or to get angry   when the world seems to turn upside down or it seems like everything has gone haywire, but these negative emotions have no place in your mental toolbox  and they need to be banished as soon as they start.

Keep telling yourself that you are not to blame,  and that getting angry will not help you  but it could work against you and keep you from surviving. Remember that things happen, and we all have a bad day or experience unpleasant situations.

Keep a positive mental outlook on any situation and you are more likely to stay alive.    One way you can do this is to imagine a bad situation, and then try to find a silver lining.

Even the worst catastrophic events will have something positive that can be associated with them, and you need to look for the bright ray of light in even the darkest situations and most dire circumstances.

A survival mindset is key if you want to stay alive in any life or death situation, whether this is a zombie apocalypse, a natural disaster, or government gone wrong.

Work on yourself to get yours!

• Practice dissociation when you perform long sets of exercises that involve monotonous repetition, such as sit ups, push, ups, and other simple exercises that can be grueling over the long haul. Try to do 100 sit ups in a single setting, and when you start to get uncomfortable use dissociation to focus your mind elsewhere while your body continues to push on. This will help you train for dealing with fear and panic when these negative responses occur.
• Try sitting in cold water for as long as possible. Cold water is uncomfortable and it can cause your mind to try and cave if you let it. After a few minutes all you want to do is get out and get warm. Instead of giving in to this impulse stay in the water as long as possible and try to refocus or distance your mind from the physical cold sensations. Over time you should notice that your time keeps increasing as your dissociation skills improve.
• When you experience fear or panic try to focus on people who depend on you instead  of these emotions, whether this is your family, your team, or your co-workers. These people are relying on you to keep going and not give up,  and this can be the mental focus that you need to push fear and panic responses into the background or keep fighting to overcome any obstacles in the way of survival.
• Find your happy place. This is a place in your mind which causes you to experience positive emotions and releases pent up stress that we all carry around. Your own happy place could be a beach, your childhood home, a favorite event, or even Buckingham Palace if that is a place or event that makes you feel happy and at peace.
• Step outside of your comfort zone and set goals that challenge you in new ways. When you put yourself in uncomfortable or unfamiliar situations you will experience some of the stress reactions that survival will entail. This gives you an opportunity to learn how to deal with these reactions in a positive way before your life depends on it, and experience first hand what fear, panic, and other stress responses feel like.
• Counter negative thoughts with positive ones. Fear, panic, and other negative emotions can lead to negative thoughts, and these can become contagious. When you have a negative thought immediately replace it with something positive instead.
• Use visualization and guided imagery in order to practice for a real life survival scenario. If you go over situations in your mind in full detail then you will be better prepared when they play out in real life and less likely to react out of fear and panic. Your brain defines reality, and research studies have shown that there was little
  

  Psychology of Survival – How Your Mind Affects Your Ability to Survive.

  Robert Richardson Survival Skills 21

  Survival, really being prepared to survive; means being able to control your fears, manage your emotions, and put your ego in check. To truly be ready to survive, you need to cultivate a mindset that goes far beyond just having the skills to survive.

  Now I’m not suggesting that knowledge isn’t a powerful ally, I’ve said many times in the past that “knowledge is the key to survival.” But if knowledge alone is enough to survive, why is it that so many people, with little to no actual survival training, have managed to survive some of the most horrific survival scenarios imaginable?

  For instance, take the Uruguayan rugby team that crash-landed in the rugged snow swept Andes. You may have seen the movie Alive, which is based on the real story.

  Here is a group of guys that had little if any actual survival training, no gear, and what most experts would say was no real chance of survival. The team had little food, no source of heat and lacked the proper clothing and shelter for the environment. Despite the odds being stacked against them, many of them survived and were rescued after enduring over two months of unspeakable conditions.

  What is it that drove these people to survive?

  In my opinion, the key ingredient was their mental attitude. They refused to accept the thought that their situation was helpless. They refused to accept the fact that they might die. Instead, the survivors had an unwavering will to survive, and they were not going to let their situation dictate their outcome. They chose to survive.

  On the flip side of the coin, you can take someone with all the training in the world and give them every piece of survival gear every made, but without the will to survive that person is as good as dead. Having the knowledge of how to survive is important; having the will to survive is unquestionably the most significant factor in actual survival.

  There is a mindset that will ensure survival.

  Anyone forced into a survival situation, is going to experience unimaginable stressors that will ultimately influence their thinking. The overwhelming amount of stress that a survival situation will produce, and how you ultimately respond to that stress, will be the determining factor in your ability to survive that situation.

  How Fear Affects Your Survival.

In a survival situation,  fear usually affects  a person in one of two ways.  The  first example is those that let  fear take over to the point that they are unable to act. These people literally become debilitated by fear; so much so that they are literally unable to make any decisive decisions until ultimately their indecisiveness becomes their downfall.

The second example is people who let fear drive their actions. These people give into their body’s natural chemical reaction, and allow adrenaline take over. They are often quick to make decisions, usually at the expense of thinking, and they ultimately fail because they get themselves into trouble that should have been easily avoided.

In both cases, the root cause of the problem is fear, and how the person lets that fear dictate what happens to them.

Developing a Survival Mindset.

The key to your survival, in any stressful situation, is your ability to manage your thoughts, your anxiety, and your fears. Your ability to take control of your mind is paramount to your ability to survive. The reactions that your body will experience in a survival situation when used in a healthy way can actually propel you into doing things you never dreamed possible.

There are a couple of things that you can do to ensure your ability to handle stressful situations.

Check your Ego at the Door

Don’t give in to, “it will never happen to me” thinking. People often fool themselves into thinking that they have no fears, especially men. Most men consider fear to be a weakness; so much so, that a lot of them never admit, or analyze their own fears.

Even the strongest man in the world can’t escape their body’s reaction to a stressful situation. It’s wired into our DNA and is a natural part of the human condition.

 Don’t pretend that you have no  fears.  Instead,  truthfully analyze  what things would cause the most anxiety should you be forced into a survival situation. By analyzing your fears, you can begin to train yourself in those areas of concern and build confidence that can help you through those fearful situations.

Cultivate a positive mental attitude

The ability to maintain a positive mental attitude during a survival situation is something that needs to be taken seriously. It’s also something that you need to start working on now. Being able to maintain a positive attitude in a stressful situation takes practice. It’s not an easy thing to master, but once you do, it will be well worth the effort.

Train, Train & Keep on Training

Those who prepare themselves, through rigorous training, are less likely to submit to fear. In fact, the more you train yourself – in real world situations – the more likely it is that you’ll be able to manage your feelings during a real situation.

Most survival situations can be can be overcome by practicing the basics of survival.   The more you train, the better you will be able to respond both physically and mentally to a stressful situation.

Accept that life is going to be tough. Envision what a long-term urban survival situation might be like in your area. There could be sick and hungry people, rioters and looters, pain and suffering. Your life could be turned upside down, and you will have to face that. However, there’s a difference between accepting this and dwelling on it. You must also…