Knowledge is the essence of being self-reliant. Self-reliance requires confidence and knowledge builds that confidence. You need to become, not an info-junky, but someone who has an active curiosity and constantly strives to enhance their knowledge base. You have to learn to value the little tidbits of data that float your way and to do so while swimming in an information stream. You may find it difficult to understand what it is you need to know and be tempted to try and collect everything. You may drown while doing so. You avoid drowning by having a clear vision of where you are going. If you live within a community you do not need to know how to do everything yourself, you merely need to know who can assist and have something to trade. Even where the required skills are beyond those possessed by the individual, a more direct involvement with the production process or service, can result in greater self-reliance, because the individual has enhanced his or her knowledge base and reduced his or her dependence upon someone else to achieve the desired goal. This increases confidence. Self-reliance paves the path towards self-sufficiency.
A major goal of self-sufficiency is to enable the individual to directly produce. If you are a homesteader living far beyond the sidewalks then this may need to be your goal. Communities may be self-sufficient unto themselves as they can produce all they need. A community, even though self-sufficient, may still want to engage in social exchange with other communities, just as individuals, often seek the company of other like-minded people.
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