"Self-reliance is the ability, commitment and effort to provide the necessities of life for self and reliant"

Essentials: Food and Rest.
1.) Food for nourishing the body.
2.) Shelter for preserving life when at Rest.

These are the quintessentials for a common man. When someone can provide these two for the self and reliant, they can be termed as self-reliant. This is at the very basic level. An animal, like a buffalo, seems content with these two. We don't know if it is really content, but it at-least seems so. As humans, we are driven to evolve and hence we need more.

3.) Medicine - We are naturally vulnerable to getting hurt and as long as it is within the threshold, we heal without any intervention. When it crosses the threshold or when the environment is unsuitable for recovery, treatment helps. The treatment can be with herbs, needles, chemicals, minerals, touch, chanting, placebo, intention, etc. All these are classified as medicines. The deeper the knowledge of a person in these, more reliant the person is in this aspect. Often, this aspect is what made someone respected beyond their life term.

4.) Art, Sport and Research - This is the food for our ever burning desire to evolve. When a curiosity sets in, there are two ways to tackle it. An intelligent evolved mind, can simulate it, experience it and get the curiosity quenched. An innocent mind, can only indulge in the object of curiosity to experience and realize. Art, Sport and Research provide the necessary opportunities for the same.

5.) Solitude - Irrespective of the social stature, solitude is forced upon every person from time to time. It is a boon or a curse, depending on how the person tackles the solitude. No form of any art, sport or research can provide the opportunities to evolve as much as the solitude. Every person who walked this earth and attained god-like stature in the society were those who leveraged the solitude to evolve beyond earthly limitations.

One can assess self and the reliant (often children) on these five aspects. With my limited knowledge, i've created 7 levels in each category. 1 being at bare minimum and 7 is an expert.
Food
1.) Can self-serve and eat from table or a buffet
2.) Can reheat cooked or preserved food
3.) Can cook basics like ready-to-cook, coffee, rice, flat-breads
4.) Can cook using different spices
5.) Can shop grocieries and cook
6.) Can grow basic vegetables, fruits, livestock, hunt, fish
7.) Can grow and harvest grains like rice, wheat
Rest (Shelter)
1.) Can fetch water and make contained fire in camps
2.) Can make a safe sleep zones in camping sites; install tents
3.) Can make safe sleep zones in core nature; forest, hills, plains, beaches
4.) Can build a dwelling units with wood, sticks, mud, stones, caves
5.) Can plan and build a basic home with kitchen
6.) Can build home and device basic defense mechanism like locks, hideouts, escape-routes
7.) Can plan and build a community with supplies, shared duties, maintain order
Medicine
1.) Can clean and medicate minor cuts and wounds
2.) Can preserve self during cold, fever and recover on their own
3.) Can make basic soups, teas to withstand cold/ache/fatigue symptoms
4.) Can relieve sprains and aches with self-physiotheraphy
5.) Can inject medicine, morphine, anesthetics
6.) Can stitch torn muscles and adminster blood transfusion
7.) Can operate on and fix organs
Art, Sport & Research (ASR)
1.) Admires any ASR
2.) Learning or learnt at-least one ASR with dedication
3.) Can perform an ASR better than an amateur
4.) Expert at an ASR
5.) Proven ASR expert in their region (school, community, street, county, state, country)
6.) One-of-a-kind; best amongst known in ASR
7.) Can Invent a new admirable form of ASR
Solitude
1.) Can sit quiet for 10 mins
2.) Can attempt sit quiet and just watch breath flow for an hour
3.) Can attempt no-speak and watch the mind-chatter for 24 hrs
4.) Strength to practice a controlled lent routine for an extended time like 11/2 moon cycle (45 days)
5.) Can learn time-proven art/sport/research/literature in-depth to perfection in total solitude
6.) Practices refined principles in the way of living; exhibits wisdom
7.) Exhibit spontaneous creativity; can device ideologies beneficial to present and future generations
Do not misunderstand this as, pursuance to quit the luxuries and adopt a minimalist living. No. As long as one realizes what is essential and what is dispensable, the madness of exchanging an essential for a dispensable will stop. This in itself is a revolutionary u-turn.

Where we stand in these 5 categories depend on the environment we grew in. Our guardians may not have realized the importance of self-reliance. We are in fortunate times where we can realize and act upon it. One of the most common regrets of people in the final days is, "what will our dependents do?".

Realizing this and empowering ourselves and dependents to be self-reliant is a commendable stance.