5th Way to Refine Your Disaster Personality

Here's tip number 5:

5.  Training:  By far, the best way to improve performance is to PRACTICE.

Make a list of your biggest risks (try to use data to do this, not just emotion).  Then think creatively about how to give yourself or your family a dress rehearsal.  The brain loves body memory.  It is much better, for example, to stop, drop, and roll than to talk about stopping, dropping and rolling.

For example, we know that fires generally kill more people than all other disasters combines.  (If you are poor or African American, you chances of being in a fire are particularly high.)  So give your brain something to work with.  Make surprise drills an annual tradition in your office or home.  Take the stairs down to the ground--don't just stare at the stairwell door.  Create incentives so that people want to do this. 

For example, have the boss tell everyone they have to go.  Have them explain why it matters (because your brain turns to mush in a real fire, and you often lose your eyesight because of the smoke).  Have them announce that the official meeting spot will be the coffee shop two blocks away, where he or she wil buy everyone coffee and donuts.  That way, you boost office morale at the same time, so you get something out of the experience even if nothing goes wrong.

So, this is the end of the tips.  Again, take the time to read The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley.  It's a great study in human behavior in response to disaster.  It sounds daunting, but it's an easy read, I promise!