“All limits exist only in the mind, and it is only in the mind that they can be overcome.”

― Alan Cohen

Certain groups of people make it a point not to discuss specific topics. If you’re in a Sunday School, you probably aren’t going to discuss sex. If you’re at a German festival, you’re probably not going to discuss Hitler. If you’re in a public building, you probably aren’t going to discuss whether or not you’re vaccinated. With those groups of people in specific gatherings, there are things that simply won’t be discussed.

As I started working on this chapter, I realized that there’s another topic that almost seems too taboo to even discuss on the internet. Much of what I’m writing about in this book, I’m writing about from experience. So, why write about this “taboo” at all?

If you’re going to invest money in this book, then it’s likely you want to get the most out of your preparedness efforts. I decided that I wanted to expand on what I was writing, to go deeper and add more than what limited knowledge I had on my own. So I started digging through the internet to look for information. No one is talking about this topic! All I could find were two small articles that were of absolutely no help—and I went fairly deep in my Google search. It seems like the topic of limitations is now taboo.

Did you know that one in four of all US citizens have some sort of classified physical limitation or disability?

These classifications include mobility, cognitive, independent living (these people have trouble running errands on their own), hearing, vision, and self-care disabilities.Disabilities and limitations go hand in hand. If you’re disabled in some way—even if you can overcome it—you’re limited. If you’re deaf, yes you can speak using your hands and you can watch a movie with subtitles, but listening to a piece of music is, at best, more difficult. At worst, impossible.

The problem is that while we don’t even always recognize it, we all have limitations of some sort. These limitations may be physical disabilities, but there are many other types of limitations. If you’re eighteen, you’re limited by your lack of prepper life experiences. If you’re sixty-eight, you’re probably limited by your physical abilities. Each of us is limited in more ways than we probably realize, and by understanding, knowing, defining, and developing a plan to minimize our limitations, we can learn how to overcome them. I’m going to delve into this topic in enough depth that you, my readers—and hopefully you’re also my friends—should be able to read the rest of the series considering this first book—and therefore you will be better prepared for what life throws at you.

In this chapter, together, we’re going to discuss identifying our limitations and the basic principles that govern limitations. We’re then going to develop a basic knowledge and understanding of our limitations. I’m also going to make suggestions on how to overcome the limitation, work with the limitation, or work around your limitation. Together, we’re also going to define the big areas of limitations that most people find themselves facing. We’ll finish this module by working through the creation of a plan for overcoming our limitations.

Are you ready to jump into this together? Let’s go!

Identifying Areas of Limitations

When we jump into a discussion of limitations, we need to know what our own limitations are.

If you’re reading this book, it’s a fair bet to say that you aspire to be prepared. Everyone’s aspirations are different. Maybe for you, you define preparedness as being able to provide your own food and maintain your shelter if times become difficult. Maybe your aspirations are simply to live as self-sufficiently as possible. Maybe you have no desire to outlive TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It), you just want to be prepared for that winter storm that blows through and leaves you without power for a week. Maybe your goal is to add one thing to each meal from your garden.

What if your goal is to provide your family with 50% of its consumable food from what you produce yourself in your yard? It’s an amazing and noble goal. But if you’re severely limited by mobility, then that can limit how much you can grow in your yard. In chapter three, we’re going to discuss ways you can overcome some of your mobility limitations and specific ways you can go about meeting your goals even with limitations. But for this to work, you need a plan.

The more in tune you really are with your limitations, the more likely you are to develop a comprehensive and realistic plan to overcome them.

Identify your family’s (and preparedness group’s) areas of limitations

Do you have a spouse? How about children? Are there people with whom you’ve agreed to work if times get difficult? Then you need to consider their limitations as well.

The last thing you need is to be surprised when a child, whom you know has asthmatic tendencies, comes to you and says, “Mom, my inhaler is out.” When everything is working as it should be, that’s a simple call to the doctor and a run to the pharmacy when everything is working as it should. In hard times, that could literally be life or death, and it’s something you need to be aware of so you can plan for contingencies.

My mother and my husband’s father will end up with us if things become difficult. We need to take their mobility issues into consideration when creating a preparedness plan. These are things that we need to be aware of now so that as plans are made, we can go into any situation with our eyes wide open. We need to know how to make things easier, to work around any limitations, or even to minimize the limitations of those we love that we or those we love have or are affected by.

Identifying areas of limitations

As I worked on this book, I identified eight main areas of limitations. While we’ll tackle these from a preparedness perspective, they can apply to any area of your life. These include: Physical, Mental/Emotional, Experiential, Money, Space, Time, Energy, and Stress levels. We’ll work through each of these areas to identify the limitations that we find, and how we can overcome them or best work around them.

Understanding Principles of Limitations

Principle #1: Everyone has both skills and limitations. Some skills and some limitations are just more obvious than others.

My nineteen-year-old daughter made an interesting statement to me just yesterday. She told me that it’s easy for her to trust her father because he’s much older than she is, and he has a wealth of knowledge and experience on which to draw. But when she’s working on a project with someone closer to her age, it’s harder to trust their judgment because they haven’t been around as long, and don’t have near the experience.

The other side of the coin is that like my husband, I also have more experience to draw on, but physically, my daughter can work circles around me. Each of us has strengths, each of us has our limitations.

Sometimes limitations are obvious. Looking at a four-year-old child, there isn’t much that they’re capable of doing on a big scale. Yes, they can help with little things around the house. Sure, they can pick up their toys, and they can probably even help in the garden—to a degree, and with a good deal of supervision. But their ability to contribute is quite limited.

The limitations of an older grandparent seem equally obvious. The seventy-year-old grandfather who has arthritis in his joints and has undergone hip replacement surgery isn’t going to have the same physical capabilities as a thirty-year-old. The upside of being older is that there’s a wealth of knowledge you just aren’t going to find in as many younger people.

One of the things I remember about my grandfather is he loved to grow tomatoes. He may not have grown much else, but if you needed to know how to grow those, he was there with knowledge and understanding.

Principle #2: The onset of some limitations is predictable. Be as ready for them as you can.

My mother has RA, also known as Rheumatoid Arthritis. RA is a painful inflammation of the joints—oftentimes beginning with the hands and wrists. For my mom, it’s also settled in her hips. A while ago I had a blood test run, and it came back that I have many of the markers for RA. It’s fair to say that I’ll likely, though not surely, get RA. So as I make plans for how I’ll handle mobility issues in the future, I need to take this potential into account.

While an illness or mobility issue like RA might not be the type of limitation you’re facing, maybe you know that because of your financial position, you’re going to be tight in retirement. You can take proactive steps now to deal with potential financial difficulties. Perhaps you can create a job making crafts that you enjoy, or you could write a book of your own to bring in extra income. There are so many fun possibilities to add an additional stream of income.

Another example of a predictable limitation is one my husband is facing. He has noticed his hearing diminishing. It’s not hard to tell. Working in our office with the door closed, I can hear the TV very clearly in the other room, and he’s the one who has set the volume. It’s become obvious in smaller ways, too. Since he’s anticipating further difficulties with his hearing, he’s already planning on looking into hearing aids.

When you’re facing predictable limitations, you should always take them into consideration when you’re building your preparedness plans.

Principle #3: Limitations aren’t necessarily constant.

Oftentimes we look at limitations as only degenerative, but this isn’t always true. That is so encouraging to me! I hope it’s just as encouraging to you. Physical limitations can be a great example of this. Maybe you struggle to walk any real distance. The wonderful thing is that you can create a plan to improve the distance you can walk. It might be slow. It might take you a while to get there, but with some determination and a plan, you can often improve your physical condition.

Maybe your weight limits you. This has definitely been a factor for me. I’ve been so discouraged with my weight and have tried a bunch of different types of diet, all to no avail. After so much trial and error, I’ve finally found a diet that works for me. I’m at my lowest weight in fifteen years, and I’m still losing. It’s going to be a very slow process, but I’m encouraged by my progress thus far.

You could struggle with your memory. Perhaps you can bolster it by taking specific supplements or by working through various memory exercises.

Now, there are some conditions for which there’s no way around—they’re degenerative. Those we’ll tackle in another way.

Principle #4: We can allow limitations to us or to motivate us.

Louis L’amour said, “Personally, I do not believe that the human mind has any limits but those we impose on ourselves.” Limitations can be so discouraging, and if we allow ourselves to fall into the trap, it would be so easy to believe that changeable limits are not as changeable at all.

I was recently talking with a friend online who had studied and taken a test for a computer certification. He failed the test by one question. Just one! And his response to that was, “Well, I obviously can’t pass that certification,” instead of thinking, “I was so close. If I put in just a little more study, I can easily pass.” His limitation was all in his mind.

Jamie Paolinetti said, “Limitations live only in our minds, but if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” And that really is the key. If we work under the impression that we’ll never change that one thing holding us back, then we never will; however, if instead we allow ourselves to believe that there’s the possibility of change and then, as a consequence, we work toward that change, often we can make that change a reality.

How are we going to use our limitations? To bind and confine us, or to motivate and spur us on to bring about change?

Principle #5: Be realistic about what you can and cannot change.

Now, this might sound like the polar opposite of #4. I’m a firm believer in working your tail off, while at the same time being realistic as to what can change. For example, my nineteen-year-old daughter is a whopping 5’4”. She’s definitely on the petite side. Is it possible for her to decide that she wants to learn how to long jump? Absolutely. Could she become one of the best long jumpers in the state of Illinois? Yes, it’s possible, and she’s a hard worker. That is not something I would ever discourage. Will she ever be 5’6”? No, barring an act of God, my daughter will never grow another fraction of an inch in her life. We need to be realistic as to what can happen versus what can’t happen.

But I want to give you another example of how we mentally limit ourselves. I was diagnosed five years ago with a genetic mutation that predisposes me to early-onset heart disease. Almost all conventional literature that you read will tell you, short of stints and open-heart surgery, there is nothing that you can do to change this.

I had an abnormal stress test when I was diagnosed with another related condition. But I went to a place that knew how to deal with both of these, and through alternative medical options, I have since had two clear stress tests. So something medical science would tell you is impossible, isn’t necessarily.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is give up on the idea that you can actually change your limitations.

Recap and Looking Ahead

Keep these principles of limitations in mind: Everyone has both skills and limitations, some are just more obvious than others. The onset of some limitations is predictable—be as ready for them as you can. Limitations are not necessarily constant, we can allow limitations to stop us or to motivate us. Be realistic about what you can and cannot change.

When we keep these principles in mind, it gives us a basis to positively affect our current and potential future limitations in such a way that we can improve our preparedness efforts.

In the next chapter, we’re going to tackle one of the big three items that limit people’s preparedness efforts: Time. More than anything else, this has been my biggest struggle lately. I have no time to get everything done that needs to be done, and that’s before we talk about preparedness. So I’m going to share some strategies that have helped me free up time in my day – every day. We’ll talk about things that we may want to remove from our day. We’ll talk about what we might be able to adapt during the course of the day so that we have more time for what’s important to us as well. So make sure you turn the page and join us in Chapter Two: Overcoming Time Limitations.

Action Items:

1. Identify what, at first glance, you believe are your top three areas of limitations from this list. Physical, Mental/Emotional, Experiential, Money, Space, Time, Energy, and Stress levels.

2. List out the people in your family. Go through the limitation list and try to identify what you believe are their top three areas of limitations.

3. Identify the people who may be joining you if things get tough. As you read through the rest of this book, make notes on what you will need to discuss with them. Be on the lookout for areas of limitations that will need to be addressed before you agree to work together.