Planning.
Plan out what you are doing, why, and what you will need to protect against. You dont always need to be kitted out for hulk, but you should always carry a gun or two around. You should always carry a melee weapon, or something that can substituite for one (a bayonetted rifle or martial arts), and you should always consider carrying a grenade of some kind or some manhacks or something to distract an enemy.
Smoke grenades work really well, and an incendiary grenade will kill most things who arent immune. A car with active turrets covering you helps, and taking some basic stimulants and medications will help a lot too.
Its important to know what you have on you, what you have in your car, how quickly you can escape if things go wrong, and most importantly recognizing when something could go wrong and fleeing before it does. There is no pressure to kill everything, and if you run back to your motorbike to get a shotgun or back to your base to get that heavy power armor the monsters will be waiting for you still.
-Fourth, how well did you prepare yourself? Did you do the best job you could have? This step is the learning step.
Preparation is as always key; you need to balance out safety and task orientation. Every volume of space dedicated to your protection is a volume not used for whatever task you’re doing. Whether you are collecting rocks for a fireplace or looting a grocery store, you need to find the compromise between security and task. You need to also decide between storage, mobility, and protection. Before going out it’s always a good idea to consider all the possibilities and the likelihood or inevitability of their occurrence. And you need to take proper precautions for them.
Sometimes an item isn’t going to be needed immediately in the field. So it’s safe to leave it at your base, stash-spot, or in the back of the car. Some items should be carried in the front seat of the car or even in the driver’s seat for easy access. They need to be available and easily found if needed, but take up too much space if always carried on you. And some items deserve a permanent spot in your inventory. Items such as a knife, a means of fire, a weapon of your choice skill, and a ‘hulkbuster’ need to always be present. Alcoholics should prepare alcohol for regular use; and other addicts need to prepare rations of their vice. Carrying healing supplies and choice stimulants should also take a priority.
Your Mother only exists in your dreams; you need to take matter into your own hands.