Customer Reviews

Be the Hero: Three Powerful Ways to Overcome Challenges in Work and Life

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm surprised. While the ideas may be familiar to those acquainted with the psychology of personal change, the book reads like a fast-paced summer novel. And I need its reminders daily.

Best dialogue from the book:
Jeff said, "So I think I get what you are saying, but this guy was a jerk. He didn't have a reservation. There was a forty-five minute wait and he wanted to be seated immediately in one of the premier seats in the restaurant. That's a jerk."
"No," said Martin. "That's a story. You are telling yourself a story about this person that's making you angry even now."

Best insight:
Whatever the problem (or opportunity), I have options about how I frame the situation to myself. Hard to implement at times, but incredibly powerful. And confirmed by dozens of classic studies (McAdams, Sheehy, Levinson, among others)--most of which don't read as entertainingly.

New Yorker cartoon that most relates: A man walks in on his wife in bed with another man. His wife says, "Allow me to offer a competing narrative."

Healthy parody from The Onion: "I Guess Now Would be As Good a Time as Any To Triumph Over Adversity." Includes observations like " I'm just not up for a moment of unprecedented human achievement right now. Maybe after I finish watching the rest of this Seinfeld episode, I'll be in the mood to discover my previously untapped wells of courage and power. But maybe I'll take a nap first."

Far Side cartoon that most relates: Two devils watch a guy pushing a wheelbarrel of coal through the fires of hell, and he's whistling. One devil says to the other, "You know, we're just not reaching that guy." Whether at work or home, I must beware what I tell myself others should do, and what hell my own story puts them through.

Sure such books don't change external reality. But I can change how I relate to that reality, how I respond, and what I do. And that can change what then happens in reality.

[...]

Length:: 2:40 Mins

Here's a video the author made to promote his book. Check it out.

Noah has written an excellent parable that is readily applicable the moment you pick it up. All of us experience "change moments" when the way we view the world colors the way we live those moments. The true value of Be The Hero is that it helps us to recognize the way we are seeing things and to consider that as the basis for behavior change.

You can use Be The Hero to improve your communications and your relationships immediately -- but it will have even more value as you practice Noah's techniques at home and at work. Thanks for a great read!

Noah Blumenthal has done it again. This book is a how to manual for all of us. Regardless of your job or personal life "Be the Hero" can help you be more successful, satisfied and reaching your full potential.

If you read one book this year, make it this one.

What an amazing book! Noah Blumethal has done it again! Noah has a gift for being able to simplify ones ability to make changes in ones life. This a quick and easy read. I believe before you get through the first 30 pages you will be able to apply the ideas that Noah shares.

Noah Blumenthal explains the difference between those people who seem to always fall victim and struggle to get by each day with those who have the same challenges yet seem to find peace no matter what. He shares with us the secret of how we can live this same life in a simple way that we can put into practice immediately!

This book also makes an excellent gift and is perfect for a book club. It inspires a real sense of community. I will also go out on a limb and say that this book has the potential to improve entire families and communities. It inspires one to "Be The Hero" and to help others "Be The Hero". If we live in a community of people living these principles we will all be much happier and successful!

Thank You Noah for this gem!

Fondly,
Rosemary Gandolfo ACC
[..]

Promoting books about life success is my business and this one hits the mark for so many reasons: 1) The main character is a man experiencing life and showing a willingness to learn new ways of being. 2) The book is on the shorter side making it easy and quick to digest and eliminating the usual hurtle of "I don't have time to read." 3) It tells a story and then gives the reader specific questions to enable actions that could change how the reader reacts to life and potentially shift the results they are currently experiencing. Highly recommend.

I'm not sure how or why but the lessons covered in this book have stuck with me and in fact come up everyday and quite often several times a day. The differences between victim mentality and hero mentality now pop up whenever I hear how others tell their stories and more importantly how I tell mine. You really are either a victim or a hero and there just isn't anything positive that can come out of being a victim. The book doesn't tell you how to solve problem but how to deal with them in a positive and healthy way. My experiences are very similar to the main character in the book so maybe that is why the message has managed to remain in my head when all other self help books (if I can call it that) have not with the exception of Dale Carnegie. I still catch myself thinking like a victim but thanks to the tips from this book it doesn't take much to turn my attitude around which has a positive return for me in addition to my family, friends, and business partners. I think the author does a brilliant job of explaining it all. I passed this book on to my wife and her sister and they both got a lot of out it as well. This is a very important book and in these crazy stressful days if very timely.

I love this book! I am an educator, coach and psychology practitioner and cannot remember the last time that I read a book that is as applicable to the work of helping people uncover their best lives.

This is a deceptively simple book. Noah takes the best tenets of positive psychology; empathy, gratitude and hope and through the fine use of allegory makes them easy to digest and practice. In addition, the level of humility with which this book is written helps the reader really appreciate that this is a powerful work of love and not just a quickly created "just add water" book on wellbeing.

Once I finished my first read through I immediately bought copies and sent them to family and friends. We have only begun to ponder the uses of this work. It is applicable to adults, children, the workplace and schools.

An essential read.

"Be the Hero" is simply a superb book. It took me a long time to get to it (I needed to wait until the end of the semester), but once I did, I could not stop enjoying following Jeff`s story and his meetings with the hero coach, Martin. More importantly, I have been studying and implementing the philosophy for slightly more than a week, but it has already helped me be more positive about the people I am fortunate to have in my life. Specifically, I have an aunt, who has been negative and critical of me. It was so frustrating for me. But while I was reading about how the hero sees other people`s struggles and challenges, and feels empathy, I realized that, sadly, she had a demoralizing relationship with her former husband, which in turn made her feeling negative towards men in general. So now, rather than feeling upset when I recall my aunt, I will empathetic towards her. And this is only the beginning, because this book offers simple, but yet deep and life-altering insights into our daily lives.
I sincerely recommend this book to everyone who seeks to become a better, more poised, effective, and successful individual!!!

I purchased this book after speaking with the author and it is a wonderful book to make you realize how changing your thinking about events in your life can lead to less stress and more happiness. My wife and I have personally gone through some big medical challenges and this book has helped me to look at this situation differently as well as everyday occurrences. Easy to read and apply to your life to improve the quality of your life.