Top 10 Tips to Develop A Survival Mindset



Since time began, a person’s survival has been mainly up to themselves. 

Yes, people have grouped together for stability and safety, but throughout history,  each individual still needed to know how to take care of themselves.

The same is true today. Living in a very modernized world and it is easy to forget that you should know some basic survival techniques and have a survival mindset.

We are not talking about building a bunker and barricading yourself from society, just essential "everyone should know" survival skills.

We will expand on them later in this article, but we have compiled our top ten tips for developing a survival mindset.

10 Tips To Develop A Survival Mindset

#1 Attitude

#2 Practice Situational Awareness

#3 Take Responsibility

#4 Be Decisive

#5 Be Adaptable

#6 Find Water

#7 Know How To Build A Fire

#8 Know How To Find Your Way Around

#9 Know How To Tie Knots

#10 Be Resilient 

Survival Multi-Tools

It is always handy to have a basic multi-tool with you just in case. 

Something easy to slip on, but will be a help if you need it. Something that looks as stylish as it is useful. 

That something is the Everest Paracord Emergency Bracelets


Emergency Bracelets

A set of two bracelets, one in blue and one in black that are made of paracords, these tactical survival bracelets will be handy in case of emergency. 

A Compass And Whistle

The blue bracelet holds a compass that will help you find your way if you get lost on a trail. It can also help you get around an unfamiliar town. 

The bracelet includes a built-in emergency whistle. Invaluable as a signal for others to find you, the whistle will alert others that you need help. 

It is a very high pitched whistle sure to get someone's attention and direct them your way. 

Scraper and Ferro Rod

One of the main features of this bracelet is the fire scraper and Ferro rod. If you need to start a fire, just unbuckle the bracelet and use the scraper to run along the Ferro rod. 

That will create sparks and set fire to whatever fuel you have in place. A Ferro rod has a spark temperature about twice as hot as a regular match. 

The scraper is sharp enough to cut through a thin string or twine. Just strap the bracelets on and go.

Easy To Take Along 

Having them conveniently on your wrist means that you won't lose the items falling out of your pocket. 

If you prefer, clip them to your backpack, where they will be handy if you need them. 

Handy Knife

The black bracelet holds a knife that will have numerous uses when you are in the great outdoors. 

Knives can be used to cut things, but they also have other purposes. They can carve, drill, dig, and use it as a utensil in a pinch.


Perhaps the handiest feature about both bracelets is that they are made out of paracord. In an emergency, you can unravel the bracelets and use the paracord for tying up a shelter. 

You can use the inner core of the paracord as a fishing line or mending fabric. The paracord can be used to tie up gear or (hopefully not!) used as a tourniquet.

Everest Paracord Emergency Bracelets contain many of the items that will help you survive in an emergency, and they look good on your wrist at the same time! 

Strap them on when you will be in unfamiliar territory and definitely when you are out in nature.

It Is Good To Have Skills

It is good to have skills that will help if you get lost on a hiking trail. The kind of skills that everyone knew 100 years ago but have been forgotten in our electronic age. 

It is a good feeling to be able to know that, if you needed to, you could survive in the great outdoors for a night or two. 

While it is not something you would want to do on purpose, it would be great to have the confidence that you could. 

You just never know what the future might bring. You could get lost if your car breaks down. 

If you are camping in a group or on a trip and get separated, you need to know how to take care of yourself. 

How do you go from your usual desk job and four comfortable walls of your home to survivalism? 

Again, we are talking about having the mindset that will get you through a tough situation. And that starts with a survival mindset. 

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10 Tips To Develop A Survival Mindset

Expanding on the 10 tips we mentioned earlier, if you can learn to apply these tips, they will help give you a survival mindset that you can fall back on.

#1 Attitude:

It may seem that an attitude might not be top on the list for a survival mindset, but it is one of the more essential aspects. 

Maintaining a positive, proactive approach is critical in any situation, especially in an emergency.

When you are in a sticky situation, that is not the time to panic. You are more likely to do better in any situation that you maintain a positive, proactive attitude. 

#2 Practice Situational Awareness:

Know your surroundings. Whether it be an office building or deep in the woods, be aware of what is around you. 

If you are going into an unfamiliar city, building or wilderness areas, be cognitive of how you got in. Remember, landmarks to help get yourself out again.

#3 Take responsibility: 

You are in charge of your situation. Like it or not, the buck stops with you. 

Don't stop to moan about how you got where you are, work to get yourself out again. 

There will be no Bat Phone or Commissioner Gordon; you are it. And you are enough.

#4 Be Decisive:

Commit to action. Not making a decision is a decision in itself. 

As the saying goes, “he who hesitates is lost.” Time may be of the essence. 

If you get in a sticky situation, take these steps first:

  • Develop a plan

  • Inventory the resources that you have

  • Identify critical tasks required for survival

  • Determination and grit will separate survivors from non-survivors

  • Recognize feeling are not facts and keep thoughts focused on tasks that need to be accomplished

#5 Be Adaptable:

Look for alternative solutions. If you are in an unfamiliar building or city and trouble is brewing, what are your choices for getting yourself to safety? 

Those are the time for alternative solutions and not to stand on everyday conventions. Go out the “in” door. 

Take the service elevator. Think of ways to get yourself out of harm's way. 

Use your GPS to find the fastest way out of Dodge. 

Whatever you do, open your mind to ideas that make common sense, not the path of least resistance. That path will have everybody and their brother on it. 

#6 Find Water:

Having access to clean water is the holy grail of survival. And the best time to find water is before you need it. 

If you are going on a camping trip, hiking with friends, or even if you are heading to work, have water with you. 

It is easy to throw some bottled water in the car just in case. If you are out in the great outdoors, water will be of the essence. 

No one who got lost had that on their "to-do" list when they set out that day. 

It may seem far fetched when you are seldom less than a few feet away from a faucet at home, but there may come a time when you don't have that luxury. 

You will need clean, uncontaminated water. Collect rain, snow, dig for water, or collect it from vegetation by soaking up dew from plants. 

Rock outcroppings can be places where water gathers. Purchase a life straw. 

Water found in puddles or streams needs boiling before drinking, which brings us to our next survival mindset tip.

#7 Know How To Build A Fire:

Few of us in our lifetimes will ever NEED to build a fire. 

You might throw together a campfire or be proficient with a barbecue grill, but few of us will have our lives depend upon knowing how to build a fire. 

If you catch yourself in a situation that calls for a fire, it is a bit late to acquire the skill. 

Practice beforehand so that you have the basic idea of how to go about doing so. 

You might need a fire to boil water, stay warm, or send a signal as to your whereabouts. Here are the very basics:

  • Gather tinder. Dry Pine needles, dry leaves, or dry grass

  • Gather small, dry sticks to use for kindling

  • Find larger, fry pieces of wood for longer burning

  • Create a sort of nest out of the tinder. 

  • Create a TeePee (tipi) out of the kindling on top of the tinder

  • Ignite the tinder and use long, steady breaths to spread the flame

  • As the smaller pieces catch on fire, add larger pieces

#8 Know How To Find Your Way Around:

Remember Pokemon Go? Try it with a compass, not your phone. 

There are few people today who can navigate using coordinates. 

The phrase “north by northwest” is a direction, not a movie. 

Most people give, and take, directions by telling you to go to the gas station, turn right, and take it to the big yellow house where you make a left. 

All well and good unless you are in unfamiliar territory, be it city or forest. We go back to practicing situational awareness. 

Know where you are. Are you north of the main road? Are you south of the river? What direction is the entrance to the state forest in which you are hiking?

Have a compass, and know how to use it. It can save you time, effort, and possibly your life. 

Time and again, you hear of people who "got turned around" and could not find their way back to civilization. 

Develop a survival mindset and don't let that be you.

#9 Know How To Tie Knots

There are two knots that you should know how to tie: a bowline and a double half hitch. 

A bowline is useful when you need to attach something to a rope via a loop. The tighter you pull, the tighter the knot gets. 

The double half hitch connects one end of a rope around an object. This knot is particularly helpful when you are building a shelter.

#10 Be Resilient:

When you are in a sticky situation, refuse to give up. When the going gets tough, the tough get going! Keep on keeping on! 

You know all the motivational sayings, and they may seem trite, but they are true. 

Survivors are the ones who keep going, who look for the next thing, the next possibility.

Aron Ralston was a 27-year old mountaineer and outdoorsman who took a walk into Blue John Canyon as a break from a winter of solo climbing Colorado's highest and toughest peaks. 

This is a guy who knows how to handle himself, right? A guy who is prepared, right? 

Eight miles away from his truck, in a deep and narrow canyon, Aron was climbing down an 800-pound boulder when it came loose, trapping his right hand and wrist between the boulder and the canyon wall. 

The next 127 hours were a testament to the resilience of one young man and his survivalist mindset. 

Only when he had exhausted all other options, did Aron use his last option for gaining his freedom and giving himself a chance to continue living. 

Aron did the unthinkable and used a two-inch knife on his multi-tool to free his arm from between the bolder and canyon wall.  

No one on the face of the earth would ever want to find themselves between a rock and a hard place like Aron did.

But he had the survival mindset and he lived to tell the tale and write a book about his experience. 

In Conclusion

Most every emergency survival situation that you might find yourself in is unexpected, and not brought on by your actions. 

So even though you might not have had a hand in the proceedings, it will be up to you to get out of it. 

Developing a survival mindset will hold you in good stead and enable you to come out on the other side.

Last but not least, Benjamin Franklin said it so well. What was true back in the 1700s is still true today.



Benjamin Franklin

(Last Updated On: September 20, 2020)