Book Review: The Courage Map: 13 Principles for Living Boldly

In April, TCKPublishing.com asked me if I was willing to review The Courage Map: 13 Principles for Living Boldly. I did not know anything more about the book other than the title but the title was interesting and certainly a type of book that I would read. Naturally, I said, yes. I am glad that I had an opportunity to read The Courage Map.

As one can imagine, this book is about courage as well as principles and strategies for being more courageous. The Courage Map is 139 pages long. The author arranged the book into an introduction, thirteen chapters, and a conclusion called “The Beginning.”

Franziska Iseli, an author and successful entrepreneur, authored The Courage Map. She has harnessed her courage to achieve many successful adventures. One of these endeavors was to motorcycle across Asia on the Silk Road. She speaks at length about this adventure and uses it to illustrate different principles throughout the book. Speaking of principles, to fully discuss the concept of courage, Iseli dedicated individual chapters to these principles:

• Stories
• Truth
• Intentions
• Trust
• Intuition
• Love
• Kindness
• Imperfection
• Non-attachment
• Flow
• Playfulness
• Evolution
• Commitment

Some of these principles resonated with me more than others. However, I felt the introduction effectively set the stage for the rest of the book. Iseli introduced the topic of courage. As Iseli stated, “Courage is not about being fearless; it’s about making decisions despite fear” (p. 4). She also stressed the importance of “being your true self and living without regrets” (p. 5).

I believe her point about living without regrets is key. Far too many people go to their grave with regrets and items still on their bucket lists. Pursuing the principles that Iseli lays out will help you have fewer regrets because you will have the courage to seize the moment. I have certainly been more intentional about seizing opportunities when they come along. This also means stop doing some activities that are no longer fulfilling to provide capacity for new activities.

Personally, I am not sold on the metaphor that Iseli uses for The Courage Map. For me, some things did not fit neatly into the metaphor of a journey or creating a map. I could not see it. For others, it may work. However, the principles did resonate with me.

In each chapter, Iseli uses stories and sound research to explain each concept. Each of the chapters is quite actionable. She shared different activities to try. They took the form of travel tunes, pit stops, and a travel journal.

• The travel tunes “are sets of positive beliefs or affirmations that you can repeat to yourself to make each principle a habit” (p. 13).
• The pit stops are practical exercises.
• The travel journal is a series of questions to reflect upon.

Iseli has pulled these actionable items into a Courage Map Journal PDF document to make it easier to create the map.

I enjoyed reading The Courage Map. I believe the lessons shared in the book are important. It was nice to see many familiar topics as well as new ideas to try out. I would recommend this book for others to read.

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