The First Things Many People Think Of When It is Time To Prepare, Which Are Wrong

Most people start to prepare when the time for preparation is over. When the floodwaters are lapping at their doorstep, or when they see the storm bearing down on them. 

That is when they head to the store to battle it out over the last case of bottled water and loaf of bread.

When there is a call to evacuate they all head straight to the Interstate turning it into a parking lot.

It isn't that the first idea that pops into your head is bad by itself, it is just that almost everyone else has the exact same idea and there is no system in place that will handle 80% of the people all doing the same thing at the same time.
These ideas also tend not be be in the top ten most important things to do to prepare before the disaster happens.
Sure, they are usually something that needs doing or having at some point but there are usually far more important things to do first.

Gold is a big one. Unprepared people will go into debt to buy gold, which is insanity. It is far, far more important to get out of debt then it is to buy gold. Having gold and being in debt is much worse then having no gold and being debt free. Once you retire all your debt you can start investing in gold and other commodities.
A garden and food storage is far more important then owning gold, you can eat food, you can't eat gold.

Survival skills is another major subject where people jump to wilderness survival first thing.  They say they'll pack everyone up and go into the wilderness and survive of the land, like a real man. Some even say they'll leave they families to go it alone shooting game and somehow surviving by themselves. That tends to fail in the long term.
The next disaster to strike will probably not be the bringing down of  civilization kind. Are your ready to survive the most likely disasters in your city? Which may be as simple as a blackout or blizzard.

Another thing people jump to on the subject of survival is guns. On the one hand you have some people who think that if they have their EBR and plenty of ammunition they can steal whatever they need. They'll even announce this is their only plan if the topic comes up in conversation. These are coworkers, neighbors, friends and even family. They seem to be under the delusion that a gun makes them all-powerful. On the other hand they don't seem to realize that about half of the households in the country are also armed. Guns are a useful tool but they are not the be all end all some people think they are.

In conclusion, it isn't that these are bad things to have to prepare with, but they are not on the top ten list of essential items. Cover the basics first: food, water, shelter, medical supplies, financial, communications, transportation, heat, light and fire. Then you can worry about adding these other things.