Most of us don't walk away from the
things that matter because we stop
caring about them. Usually something
else just needs us first. Maybe it's a
bill that comes in higher than we
expected. So, what do we do? We just
work more hours. Someone gets sick, so
everything gets pushed aside. And we do
what responsible people do. We just
handle what has to be handled. But the
things that matter most are often
quieter, so we just tell ourselves that
we're going to return to them when life
settles down. And the danger is that
life it really settles down on its own.
And I've recently realized that some
version of this has happened to me with
City Prepping. Lately on the channel,
I've been trying to make these more
personal videos like this one a regular
part of our content as I want to be
transparent about what's working in my
own preparedness journey and what's not.
And let's just be honest, it's easy to
edit videos and make everything look
perfect, but that's just not reality. I
will continue to make these videos a
part of the channel to hopefully
encourage you as I share my own
victories and defeats. But as this
channel has grown, so has everything
else surrounding it. Growth has brought
more responsibility, more complexity,
and more decisions that have to be made
to keep everything moving. And none of
that was inherently bad. It was really a
natural result of building something
that has reached more people and could
do more good. It allowed us to build a
team to help more people on their
preparedness journey, but over time
I have become increasingly responsible
for maintaining everything around the
work while unfortunately I've been not
really spending as much time doing the
work itself. And I haven't really been
spending as much time as I have really
wanted to to teach, test, build, solve
practical problems, and create
information that people could actually
use. And I suspect many of you
understand that feeling because it
doesn't only happen when you try to grow
something. Work can unfortunately
sometimes become administration.
And so instead of building and progress,
what happens? You feel like life has you
maintaining and just holding on.
And family life, it can also become an
endless series of schedules and
logistics. Taking care of your health,
it can start feeling like one more
unfinished obligation. A goal that once
excited you can become so complicated
that you just stop moving toward it. And
even preparedness, it can become an
endless stream of headlines, warnings,
things you have to buy, and projects
that you have not finished. And before
long, you can feel as though you are
failing simply because you're not
progressing as quickly as you thought
you would.
And if that is where you are right now,
I want you to hear this clearly. Slower
progress, it doesn't mean failure.
Sometimes life requires us to set
something down for a while because
another responsibility has to come
first.
And my own personal life has changed
significantly in the last few months as
a very close in-law has become very ill
and the family has rallied around
helping that person.
And shifting gears has eaten up a lot of
my personal schedule lately, but there's
no shame in that. I'm glad I've had the
ability to help and I have no regrets.
And I know many of you have gone through
similar circumstances, but there may
come a point when we have to look
honestly at what has filled that space,
that time we dedicated to the business
of preparedness, and decide when and how
we're going to get back to it. And we
may not need a larger plan, another
list, uh another reason to feel behind.
We may just simply need to remove some
of the complexity, really try to
reconnect with why we started and take
the next useful step. And that's the
course correction I'm making here on
this channel. For the past year and a
half, our Friday videos have focused
heavily on analyzing each week's events,
and that has helped us stay informed and
gave us really a way to work through
important developments together.
But, it also kept us in a constant cycle
of chasing new headlines. A story would
develop, and we would explain it, and
then another story would take its place.
And sometimes it was just the same
story, but slightly more intense than
the week before.
And unfortunately, videos became
outdated quickly because similar
concerns returned week after week, and
immediate developments sometimes left
too little room to step back and
understand the larger forces underneath
them.
And I don't want this channel to simply
give you another list of things to worry
about every week. That's never what
we've been about, and that's never been
our motivation or mission.
There's already more than enough
information competing for your
attention. But, let's be honest. We live
in an era of overwhelm. We live in a
historical period where feeling
overwhelmed is not the exception, but
the norm. And I don't even want to
accidentally contribute to that. And
knowing that another problem exists is
not always the same as understanding it,
and understanding a problem is not the
same as being prepared for it.
If we're going to spend time together
looking at the challenges ahead,
I want that time to leave you with
greater clarity, better judgment, and
something useful that you can carry into
your own life. I don't want you leaving
with more concern, but no more capable.
And that is why you may have noticed the
Friday videos in the last few weeks have
changed, and we're going to continue to
do so.
We're going to spend more time examining
the larger patterns beneath the events.
We're going to look at why something is
happening, what is changing over time,
where the pressure may be heading, and
how it could eventually reach ordinary
households.
And most importantly, we're going to
keep bringing the story back to what you
can realistically do about it. And the
goal here is not simply to make you more
aware, it's to help you become more
capable.
And there's another part of this
directional change that really matters
deeply to me.
Behind the scenes, I'm restructuring the
business so that more administrative
responsibility can be taken off my plate
and I can return more of my attention to
the work I care about the most. I want
to spend more time documenting building
preparedness systems, testing equipment
in real conditions, working through
problems on the property, showing you
what succeed and what fails, and
creating practical how-to content that
helps you take action in your own home.
And I'm not making these changes to
withdraw from the channel, quite the
contrary. I'm making them so I can
return more fully to the role where I
believe I can provide the most value and
get closer to our core mission,
equipping you with practical solutions.
I mean, sure, knowing what may be coming
is important, but it is not enough. You
also need practical information that
helps you decide what to do next. And
that means understanding how a system
works, where it can fail, what your
options are, and what a realistic
solution looks like for your household
and your budget. And that's the kind of
work that I want to spend more of my
time creating for you. And this does not
mean we're walking away from the larger
issues affecting the world. Those issues
matter because they eventually reach our
homes through higher costs, reduced
access, unreliable systems, safety
concerns, and fewer options. So, it's
still important to understand them.
Also, those larger issues, they're not
going to go away anytime soon. We're
going to continue paying attention to
those pressures, but I want us to do
more than just react to each new
development. I want us to understand the
larger story and then to turn that
understanding into practical capability.
Sure, awareness has value, but awareness
without action can really become another
source of stress. And for me, this
course correction, it just means
simplifying what has become too
complicated and really returning my
attention to the work that gives this
channel its purpose.
And you you might need a deep breath and
a course correction as well. Your course
correction, it may look completely
different than mine. And maybe there's a
preparedness project that you kept
postponing because it just became too
large. Maybe there was a health goal, a
family priority, or a personal plan that
has been buried under responsibilities
that genuinely needed your attention.
And maybe you have spent so much time
reading,
researching, and worrying about what
could happen that you haven't taken the
first practical step toward addressing
it.
You don't have to overhaul your entire
life today. And preparedness, it's not
about doing everything at once. It's
about continuing taking useful steps in
the right direction.
You don't have to finish every project,
purchase everything on your list, or
solve every vulnerability in your
household. Just choose one thing that
still matters to you. Strip away the
parts that have made it feel impossible,
and then identify the next useful step.
And I would encourage you to dedicate
specific time to that one thing, whether
it's a person, thing, or task. And that
may mean checking the water that you
already have stored, finally creating a
simple emergency budget, testing a piece
of equipment, clearing space for a
project, or having a conversation that
you've been postponing.
The step does not have to be dramatic.
It just has to move you toward something
that matters. And sometimes starting
again, it does not mean returning to
zero. It just means returning to the
reason that you started. And you're not
starting from nothing because you are
bringing everything that you have
already learned, you've built, and
experienced with you.
And look, simplifying
and what we're talking about here, it's
not about quitting, changing course,
it's not about abandoning the
destination.
And moving slowly in the right
direction, it still matters. And that's
why I choose to do what I'm doing here
at City Prepping.
I want this channel to continue helping
you understand the challenges that may
be coming, show, but more importantly,
show you practical ways to prepare for
them, and to move you forward with
confidence rather than fear.
And I hope the changes ahead that we're
making make that mission clearer, more
useful, and more practical for you.
We're not abandoning the mission,
instead, we're getting closer to it. And
wherever you may need to make a similar
course correction in your own life, I
hope you give yourself some grace,
remember what you were trying to build,
and take the next useful step toward it.
Share what you're working on, what
you're working toward in the comments
below. I'd love to hear your feedback
and thoughts. And as always, stay safe
out there.