Survival skills in the wilderness include starting a fire (and maintaining it), building shelters, finding water and purifying it, treating injuries, signaling, navigating, avoiding poisonous plants and animals, finding and preparing food.
You can train on these independently. That kind of focus is necessary to master the basics. In the real situation, you have the added challenge of putting them together. A fire without a shelter will be of limited value in a cold rainy night. Spending hours on making the shelter ‘just right’ limits how much energy and daylight left find water. Treating injuries is usually first. Water is more critical than food, for at least the first two weeks. But which is more important next – fire or shelter? The answer varies depending on your specific situation.
You can think about leadership skills – analyzing, deciding, communicating, developing relationships – in much the same way. They are all part of the package, but it takes experience and wisdom to know what to do first, and then next.
There are two more parallels. First, preparedness matters. Information, equipment, training, and prior experience matter. In tense situations we rise to the level of our training, not the level of our knowledge.
Second, the moment you realize you’re lost, or facing an unknown situation, you should sit down and think before wandering further. How did you get here? What’s the most critical thing to do next. Breathe deeply and let any panic evaporate. Make a plan – the simpler the better.
