Preface to the Korean Edition: The First Step to True Growth
Recommended Reading: Courage: A Tool to Transform Fear into Love

Opening remarks: To you who need courage like Hercules at a crossroads

Part 1: Things That Create Fear Within Me

People who choose fear
The potential hidden in fear
Be wary of other people's gaze
It always looks more before you count it
Imagine the worst-case scenario
The process is bound to be difficult
self-destructive behavior
When you feel like blaming others
cowardly cynicism
The desire to compromise for small gains
The opposite of 'courage' is 'depression'

Part 2: The Moment When Fear Turns to Courage

Dissect your fears one by one
When you overcome self-doubt, you grow.
Worrying is easy, deciding is hard.
Something worse than death
If you hear the voice of fear, do the opposite.
Courage to be different from others
Put on your tights and get on stage.
What a warrior's DNA does
If you don't say it, you won't get it.
The power to rise again

Part 3: Things that change when you grow a vessel of courage

The one thing to remember when fighting the enemy
How to create change yourself
Repeat the moment of crisis
Success works like dominoes
Jump into the darkness
Socrates and the Naked Emperor
Decide now
Be a picky person
Just a few seconds of courage
The habit of doing things you're afraid of
The Spartan army does not ask about the number of enemy troops.
The moment you speak, it is already accomplished.
One is enough
The courage to take responsibility
Fortune belongs to the brave
Only losers stop fighting before the match is over.

How to Choose Your Own Answer at the Crossroads in Part 4

6 seconds of courage
Make the path I walk the right way
If you want to be loved, love first.
Be moderate like Aristotle
There is no such thing as free success.
Sometimes cross the line
Take a new path that others have not taken.
If you delay, a bill will come, with interest added.
The Miracle of the Incheon Landing Operation
Bring the courage of a hero before you
The more difficult the task, the more you should face it head on.
When you surpass yourself

Part 5: The Power of "Act Now" to Transcend Limitations

The opposite of 'fear' is 'love'
Distinguish between vain courage and empty courage
Why You Should Choose Caution Over Reckless Courage
Time spent crossing the wasteland makes us stronger.
Where does the courage to overcome limitations come from?
Acting for others
Opportunities don't come by chance.
Can you bear the price of doing the right thing?
Courage to risk everything
Go right where you need to be
Remember the conscience that acts
Why we can survive 634 days of shipwreck
How to Live as Master of Your Life Like Epictetus
There are a thousand opportunities in a lifetime.

Concluding Remarks: Make Your Own Choices and Move Forward

“He who hesitates makes excuses,
“The courageous find the way!”

· Why can't I move forward at this turning point in my life?
· How can I overcome self-doubt and anxiety and become the master of my life?
· How can we overcome the crisis before our eyes?
· How do we turn thoughts into actions?

We all hesitate at crossroads in life.
"Is this the right path? That path looks good too?" "What if it doesn't work out?" "Should I start now?" While I was wasting time worrying like this, I was weighing the better options and rationalizing that this process was absolutely necessary.
But trying to figure out all the options leaves me feeling stuck.
Because we are paralyzed by ‘fear’.
How many times have we made a decision after much deliberation that ended up being the same as our initial decision!

"Brave" turns our common sense upside down, explaining that it only takes a few seconds to muster the courage to overcome fear.
In 2008, in Ramadi, Iraq, a truck loaded with about 900 kilograms of explosives was speeding towards 50 people.
The two soldiers who saw this did not run away, but started firing so that the truck exploded in front of them.
It took only six seconds to make the decision and take action that would save many lives.
The moment to decide whether to confront or flee, whether to leap or retreat, is less than ten seconds.

When you truly understand the nature of your fears and learn how to muster the courage to overcome them, you can transform into the person you truly want to be.
The author points out the illusion of fear one by one (Beware of other people's gaze/It always looks more before you count/The desire to compromise in front of small gains) and clearly suggests ways to break free from the illusion and find courage (If you hear the voice of fear, do the opposite/Distinguish courage from vain courage/Imagine the worst-case scenario).
Through this book, readers will gain a clear understanding of the fears that prevent us from taking the leap and gain the wisdom to take immediate action.


“The size of your courage determines your limits!”
The Laws of Behavior Revealed by Leaders Who Changed the World

There are thousands of opportunities in life.
And those who seize that opportunity and move forward always control their fears and choose their own path without making grand preparations or plans.
They will continue to do bigger and greater things with their next choice, and the one after that.
This is the simple yet powerful power of 'bravery'.
The difference between a life where you boldly walk your own path and achieve great things and an ordinary life is whether you did what you had to do or hesitated and couldn't make a choice.
If Netflix founder Reed Hastings had not abandoned his multi-billion dollar business of delivering DVDs by mail to try a new service that streamed them over the internet; if Jeff Bezos had listened to his bosses who were critical of his Amazon vision back when he was working on Wall Street; if Ernest Shackleton and his 27 men had so easily given up hope of surviving after being shipwrecked for 634 days; if General MacArthur had not launched the Incheon Landing Operation after listening to his advisors who said that landing at Incheon, surrounded by mudflats and rocks, was impossible, they would have accomplished nothing.


Peter Drucker said, "It is dangerous to create a new future, but it is more dangerous not to even try.
Because it's something that's going to happen eventually,' he said.
This book vividly demonstrates practical methods for harnessing the power of courage to achieve success.
Courage reveals its true form in our daily lives: confidence, fortitude, taking a step forward despite fear, and the boldness to listen only when absolutely necessary.
Through the examples of historical leaders who changed the world introduced in this book, you will come to realize the "power of courage" that helps you achieve true growth.


“Are you still hesitating at the crossroads of life?”
A philosophy class to choose your own answer

Ryan Holiday, author of Brave, is also a person who changed his life by practicing courage.
While working as a marketing director at American Apparel, he did not yield to Dov Charney, who used his authority as CEO to verbally and physically abuse employees, and did his best to protect the remaining employees and ensure a soft landing for the company that was on the verge of collapse.
He says that during the period when his company was collapsing, he read the writings of Stoic philosophers such as Socrates, Aristotle, and Seneca, which gave him the courage to choose his own actions and grow.
Although he was unable to prevent American Apparel from filing for bankruptcy and causing over 10,000 people to lose their jobs on his own, the author's experience of refusing to yield to external pressures led him to embark on a career as a writer.
Armed with a powerful philosophy that has persisted for thousands of years and cannot be found anywhere else in the world, he has gone his own way.


This book, written based on the author's experiences, has received praise from intellectuals around the world.
“Courage is contagious.
As the recommendations say, “This book will give you strong courage.” (Choi Jae-cheon, Professor Emeritus, Department of Eco-Science, Ewha Womans University), and “This book contains the laws of life that will help you move forward at countless crossroads.” (Robert Greene, author of the best-selling book “The Laws of Human Nature”), after reading the book, we too will gain courage and the strength to move forward on our own path.