text: The Gray Zone Roadmap should focus your "Second Layer" preparedness efforts.First Layer preparedness is all about sustainment. Do you have enough stored water, food, and supplies, and the ability to produce or procure more?Second Layer preparedness is about developing strategic advantages:- mental strength- physical strength- personal authority and the ability to lead- a local team/tribe- a local intelligence network- political, social, and economic power- your ability to influence local conditions and eventsGRAY ZONE ROADMAP pngMy bone to pick with individual sustainment -- what we call "preparedness" -- is that it's a tactical solution to a strategic problem. Tactical solutions don't solve strategic problems.Here's a hard truth for the prepper community: that year's worth of freeze dried food in the basement, those bug out bags, and the rest of your prepper "stuff" isn't going to win a low intensity conflict. It doesn't reduce threats, nor does it make you stronger. It does little more than keep you fed into the next day, which is a vital first step, but it solves very few problems beyond that.The man who wins in the gray zone isn't the one with the most food, guns, or ammo, but the one who can bring the most people to the fight.This is why as soon as you've achieved a basic level of household sustainment, you need to transition to developing strategic power.Mental Strength & Fortitude: We start here. Your metal strength determines just about everything else for your survival and ability to "thrive" in the gray zone. This includes literacy -- you should be reading and expanding your frame of reference. Improve your sociability and knowledge of basic psychology. Finally, improve your mental resilience and fortitude by doing difficult things. The more hard things you force yourself to do, the mentally stronger you will become. GO FURTHER: Extreme Ownership by Jocko Wilink is the best starting point.Physical Fitness: Your ability to think improves with physical activity. Physical fitness is not only part of the solution for physical health problems, but mental ones, too. Physical fitness includes speed, strength, and endurance. And being physically fit improves your ability to lead because it shows others that you're willing to do difficult things. To be frank, no one wants to follow a fat ass. And I need to hear this as much as anyone else. GO FURTHER: If you're just starting out, I've found Couch to 5K is a great resource for cardiovascular improvement. Getting in the gym and lifting weights with a knowledgeable friend or personal trainer is the next step, and there are thousands of people/guides who can help you become stronger.Skills, Knowledge, and Personal Authority: As you're gaining mental and physical strength, the next step is to build your skills inventory, knowledge bank, and personal authority. There are hard skills, such as shooting, tactical medicine and trauma care, mechanical work, etc., and soft skills, which mainly deal with how you work with others. Both skills are crucial in the gray zone. If your next goal is to build a tribe, then it doesn't matter how good a shooter or how much of a survival expert you are if you can't attract and lead other people. If you're not what they call a "people person" and you can't build those soft skills, then find someone who can. Otherwise, having mental and physical strength, an array of useful skills, and knowledge of conflict and security concepts will help you achieve the personal authority required to lead a tribe. GO FURTHER: Pastor Joe Fox from Viking Preparedness and T.J. "Bear" Morris from Bear Independent are two great resources for general and advanced preparedness concepts.