If you’ve ever been involved in any sort of outdoor activities, the chances are that you’ve had some form of survival training. You may, however, never have thought about whether wilderness survival training can help you in your professional life. In actual fact, it can be very useful indeed. Here are four business lessons from survival training.

Emphasizing Attitude

The first lesson in survival training is the importance of keeping a positive attitude. You need to think in terms of analyzing risks and finding solutions not getting swamped by problems. This is exactly the same in business. What’s more, both in the wilderness and in business, the people around you can be a huge influence on your success.

Recognizing Urgent Problems

In survival training, as in business, you generally work to a recommended list of priorities. At the same time, however, you need to recognize when a problem is urgent enough to merit being pushed up the queue.

In the wilderness, these problems are likely to be medical issues. That’s why people who spend a lot of time in the wilderness tend to study wilderness first aid. In business, they’re more likely to be cash-flow issues. Perhaps that proves the truth of the saying that cash flow is the lifeblood of any business.

Understand Your Priorities

When you’re out in the wilderness, you typically need between two and four resources to survive. These are shelter, water, fire, and food. You generally need them in that order of importance. It’s entirely possible that you will be rescued before you need to think about building a fire or getting food. Even if you’re not, shelter and water are usually by far your higher priorities.

The situation in business is less clear-cut. This means that you often need to spend time figuring out what your priorities are. It’s best to go through this process right at the start of your business journey. Then repeat it regularly as you progress. Your priorities could well change as you go along and you need to be aware of this.

When you’re looking at your goals, remember to check if certain outcomes depend on others. Also, consider whether you would be prepared to sacrifice certain outcomes to achieve others. These two questions can go a long way towards helping you to determine your own order or priorities.

Appreciating the Importance of Tools and Training

When experienced people go out into the wilderness, they are always prepared not just for the expected but for the unexpected. They have the right equipment and tools. What’s more, just as importantly, they know how to use them. Anyone experienced in wilderness survival knows that it’s impossible to overstate the importance of training and practice.

This is a hugely important lesson for business. Even long-established sectors are now being forced to move at a faster pace than ever before. Traditional businesses (like artisanal crafts) definitely have a place in the modern world but they have to adapt. Modern businesses (like technology companies) are setting new standards for everyone.

The only way to adapt to this is to keep on top of new tools (physical or digital) and make sure that you know how to use them. This is perfectly possible, even on a small budget. It just takes commitment and willpower.