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Disaster can strike at any moment, oftentimes without any warning. Being prepared for the worst is absolutely vital. But what if your spouse or somebody else close to you does not agree?
You want them to be safe and ready for disaster, but some people can still be resistant. They may have a million reasons why they do not want to prep. You still want to make them see your perspective.
You want to convince them that they need to start prepping for disaster without sounding like a crazy person. Here are ten tips to help you convince your spouse to start prepping with you.
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1. Understand Where They are Coming From
With the way that survivalists are often portrayed, it is no wonder that your spouse thinks you are acting irrationally. On television, survivalists are often stereotyped as crazy and paranoid nut jobs. You know this is not true, but your spouse may believe it to a certain degree.
They probably are not as informed as you are on the subject of survival. Put yourself in their shoes and try to see things from their perspective. If you felt the way they did, how would you try to convince yourself?
2. Communicate Honestly
As is with any communication, honesty is the key. Let your husband or wife know how important this is, not just for you but for the whole family. Share your reasons why you believe survival prepping is vital.
Explain the realities of not being prepared in times of crisis. Eventually, they will see your perspective.
3. Focus on Safety
When convincing your spouse, focus on safety. Stay away from the conspiracy theory motivation, especially if they are not a believer. Survival prepping does not need a conspiracy theory in order to be valid. Talk about keeping your family safe in times of crisis.
Start out with natural disasters like tornados, hurricanes, and fires as the motivation for getting prepared. Every person, including your spouse, knows that a natural disaster can happen anywhere. This is a safe bet when trying to convince someone to prepare.
Related: 10 Ways to Stay Safe This Winter During a Blizzard
4. Tone it Down
You may be coming on a little too strong. Enthusiasm is always good. You have read up on the subject and you are excited to get started.
However, what you feel as excitement to begin a new chapter in your life may be perceived as an alarmist overreaction. When discussing, try to stay away from the end of the world theories and focus more on the practicality of being prepared.
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5. Watch the News Together
You can illustrate the need for survival prepping by using events you see on the news. If you watch the news every day, you will surely see a story validates the need to prep.
This offers an opportunity to segway into talking out prepping in a casual way. Discuss the news story and then bring up how important it is to be ready for crises.
6. Worthwhile Investment
Your spouse may not be onboard with survival prepping because of finances. Buying supplies and maintaining them can be costly. Tell your spouse that it is an investment in your future. Start with small purchases. As your spouse comes around, move on to the bigger things.
Kindly point out that buying food in bulk is actually a great way to save money. For example, if canned vegetables go on sale at the grocery store, it makes more sense to buy extra when they are cheaper than to buy just what you need on sale and pay the regular price for the same thing next week.
This way you can stock up your kitchen and your bunker.
7. Don’t Lecture, Educate
Nobody wants to sit and be lectured at or feel like they are being forced into doing something. If this really is important to you, then you need to show your spouse why. Show your significant other the things that made you want to start prepping.
Books, articles, blog posts, videos, share it all. Let them figure out on their own how important survival prepping is. Don’t tell them, show them.
Related: 15 Simple Self Defense Techniques Everyone Needs to Learn
8. Turn Prepping into a Hobby
Gain an interest in gardening or hiking. This is a way of survival prepping without calling it survival prepping. Buy your supplies for your new hobby. Maybe even convince your spouse to join in.
Calling it a hobby can help camouflage prepping and may make your spouse feel better about it.
Make it fun for the whole family. Go camping for a weekend so they can experience what it is like to rough it. This will also give the whole family the chance to prepare for survival and learn some valuable lessons about always being ready for everything.
9. Be Willing to Compromise
With every disagreement, usually the only way to move forward is to compromise. Every relationship is about give and take; nobody gets exactly what they want all the time.
If your spouse agrees to help you prep, agree to do something that they want to do. That way everybody will be happy.
10. Be Patient
Patience is always important when trying to prove something to another person. It takes more time for some people to accept things than others. People process things at their own rates.
Be persistent, but not overbearing. If prepping is important to you, convincing your spouse is worth the time. Though it may take a while, your spouse will come around.
Can You Convince Your Spouse to Prep?
In order to be a successful survival prepper, you need your whole family to be involved. It is a lot easier this way, as your first and only concern is your family’s safety. If your spouse is not interested in survival prepping, be understanding, communicate openly and honestly, and show them concrete evidence.
It may take a lot of time, effort, and energy, but it will be worth it. Take the tips on this list into consideration and sooner or later your spouse will be on your side.