After some thought, I also wanted to ask if you have ever considered whether you might have an anxiety disorder. I have an anxiety disorder, and I find it a common misconception that those with anxiety worry “excessively” or that our concerns are irrational. However, that is not really what an anxiety disorder is about. There are huge existential threats out there. It is helpful to worry about them enough to plan for them and work to mitigate risks. None of that is excessive or irrational. BUT, when concern for the future interferes with enjoying the present, it could be a cause for concern. In modern day America, far more men die of stress-related conditions like heart disease than of starvation or freezing to death. Stress and overwork is a clear and fatal threat far more than food security, and perhaps more than warmth. It makes little sense to prepare for SHTF if that means facing it alone because you failed to learn sustainable relationship skills or how to balance the present with the future. I’m getting to the point where I’m realistically assessing my ability to provide for my family if SHTF. And I’ve gotten the chip off my shoulder and realized that those “soft skills” I thought wouldn’t matter when we have “bigger problems” have actually been prioritized by most societies which succeeded at lower levels of tech. Many Native American tribes run by consensus managed to live for millennia and have enjoyable lives with time for the average person to pursue crafts like quillwork or to fulfill spiritual needs through elaborate ceremony. By contrast, authoritarian societies in the Near East obsessed with physical security (having massive granaries and armies) degraded their land leaving the average person’s life short and impoverished, with a continual Red Queen problem going on between petty warlords each attempting to establish their family for all time. The pursuit of security at the expense of the here and now can result in less security. It has even been argued that our current social, political, and economic problems have their roots in the unbalancing of the need for physical security from the need for human connection and community. On a personal level, researching into these trends has led me to realize that the #1 thing I need to make my family sustainable is to make being sustainable fun for us all- even when doing not fun stuff. And that’s hard for me, because I prefer to work alone and get shit done, not to play into games where the kid’s imaginary dinosaur friends are helping them stack wood (shoot me now…). But having a 9 yo and. 2 yo I find myself taking more time to get my tot involved even though it means nothing gets done. Her learning the skills and to enjoy work and creating a family culture where we work together and make things fun is worth so much more than the tasks. And I know that is hard when working full-time and building things up. But there comes a point where it is unrealistic to expect to build up a homestead faster than allows for doing so in a feelings-friendly way. Your homestead is unsustainable if your family hates you. It is unsustainable if it is a source of stress. You have mentioned your wife watching friend’s vacations- but you are hear hearing about all these cool permies ideas you probably want to implement. I know I can get quite stressed feeling behind the curve if I spend too much time reading about what others are doing- even if I tell myself these are plans for five years from today, not for tomorrow. With all that is is going on in the world, all the skills that have been lost, it is so easy to develop rational worries that nevertheless have a detrimental impact on life, happiness, and relationships. It might be worth considering whether your dedication to ensuring a secure future is serving you and your family or running the show. It might be helpful to set a schedule of what self-sufficiency tasks you want to accomplish with a timeframe and discuss it with your wife, so that if all the boxes get checked, then it isn’t on to the next project but time to rest, relax, and enjoy the good things in life.