Review: The Survival Template

 When The Survival Template first arrived on my desk, I was a little put off by what looked like nothing more than a pamphlet. How can a survival book of any worth be so slim? With little faith I began to read and was quickly astonished.

The second thing that struck me about The Survival Templatewas the lack of dramatic imagery on the cover. Instead, a serene photograph of a wooded landscape graces the cover. This in many ways sets the tone for the book.

Elegant in its simplicity, The Survival Template ($9.99 paper back, $2.99 digital) is a 51 page book (60 total) that gives you the 9 key concepts you need, whether surviving extreme circumstances or an average day. Published by CreateSpace in April of 2011 and authored by John A. Heatherly, it has tremendous heft for such a short book.

Don’t be fooled by the title. This book is just as relevant in daily life as it is in survival scenarios.

It’s practical and mindset driven, not 4 Survival Items from a Soda Can kind of stuff. Concept is an important distinction between The Survival Template and the sea of other survival books on the market. Where survival books typically focus on skills for dealing with individual situations or discussing “what if scenarios”, this book looks at the bigger picture and mindset to get you through any survival issue using time sensitive goals and mindsets. Survival books of any worth always mention the importance of mindset, but none spend more than a couple of pages on the subject.

The author does not go on at endless length for an unnecessary additional 200 pages of fluff. Author John Heatherly gets to the point and does not waste the reader’s time with self-flagellation or repeating things five times in as many different ways.

In the end, author Heatherly boils down success into goal setting. It’s a common tactic used by most survivors and highly successful individuals. However, in keeping with the simplicity The Survival Template starts off with, the method of goal setting is simple. Readers are encouraged to break things down into 10 year, 5 year, 2 year, 1 year, 6 month, 1 month, and 1 day chunks.

When I was finished with The Survival Template I was left feeling like I really wanted more. But, the truth was all that should be said was said. Instead of consuming additional information, it was time to sit back, ponder the concepts I had just consumed, and perhaps work some more on my goals.