Customer Reviews

Critical Choices That Change Lives: How Heroes Turn Tragedy Into Triumph

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4 star:		(2)
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I've read a number of self-help books, and this one really takes the cake. At a time when I was in need of inspiration, I'm so glad I found Dan Castro's book. It really uplifted me and helped me see my way through to renewed hope and inspiration. The way Dan interweaves his many examples and heart-felt, useful advice make the book easy to read and powerful. I had my highlighter handy, because there are so many great nuggets here that I wanted to remember. This is one of the top self-help books I've read, and I've read some of the big ones. This definitely ranks up there with the best. If you need some inspiration that will guide you to feel your inner strength and potential, purchase and read this book. I don't keep a lot of books around, but I think this one will be on my shelf to use as a reference in times when I need excellent advice and inspiration. A truly great book!

I've just finished reading this book, and I love it. Original work, clear thinking, well written. I want to share it with everyone I know, truly.

From a very personal perspective, this book manages to capture much of the essence of my philosophy of Blind Spots, while reminding me of many things that I use to guide my clients, friends, and family. And that I sometimes forget for myself.

Beautifully done, clearly written, and a delight to read.

The cover led me to expect that it was going to be something like a collection of stories with some morals/points. It's not that at all. Castro uses real life stories to make points exceptionally well. This exemplifies the quote from Bill Gove: "make a point, tell a story." ( http://www.todayschiropractic.com/archives/sep_oct_02/so2002_speakingup.html )

Bravo!

This book has been reviewed positively by many awesome authors and professional people. (see cover/back of the book) I am humbled to add my words to this variety of reviewers. It is, in my first excursion through the book, a valuable contribution to the process of "thinking success". I have written a series of books - two of which are "I Am Already Successful" and "I Can Manage Life" for school-age youth (see [...]) This author appears to have successfully managed my lessons - and beyond. Dan Castro is showing how-to triumph over challenges by learning how our "heroes" have made critical choices. Excellent book - I highly recommend it! It will be a modern classic. Dennis Hooker

Sports throws plentiful heroes. For me, there isn't a more awe-inspiring image than Anil Kumble, The Muhammad Ali of Cricket, coming out to bowl with bandages wrapped around his head nursing his broken jaw!! So, when I saw my childhood hero ,Rahul Dravid, reading this book as he waited for his turn to bat, I knew I had to buy this book. And boy, I wasn't disappointed.

Everyone loves a hero. Everyone needs a hero --courageous, self-sacrificing people setting examples for all of us. We cheer them, cry for them and then tell tales of how we stood for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught us to hold on a second longer. But who do heroes turn to when they need guidance and motivation ? Where do they find that inner strength to hang on for just a bit longer ? How do they persevere enough to know and attain success just around the bend ? In this book, Daniel Castro tries to find answers to these questions and writes an amazing account of inspirational stories from every walk of like, from every corner of the world. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is on the verge of making a big decision in their lives.

One of the tags for this book on Amazon.com is "self-help". I am not a big fan of this term and I strongly believe this book is so much more. This book can inspire you to greatness within your limited capacity and even take you beyond. With interesting, life-changing anecdotes from leaders and heroes from all walks of life, I promise you'll be a changed person by the time you finish reading it.

I have used the word "inspire" a lot in this review and for good reason. If there is one thought with which you walk away after reading this book is - INSPIRED!

(...)

Critical Choices That Change Lives: How Heroes Turn Tragedy Into Triumph

This was an excellent book, a very fast read and quite uplifting. So much so that I've given about 20 copies of the book to various friends and acquaintances. It gives real-world examples of how ordinary people can choose to do extraordinary things, and it describes the mindset of those who choose to win.

I believe it was Viktor Frankl who said that we may not be able to choose our circumstances - but we can choose how we react to them. The power to make a conscious decision is what separates success from failure -- literally sometimes it separates life from death. (V. Frankl expressed that idea in "Man's Search for Meaning," written about his experiences during his five year internment in a Nazi concentration camp.)

This book takes you through the process of putting thought into action. It can be considered a collection of inspirational stories that are meant to teach a lesson on how to lead a better life.

Another famous person said that it is not how we perform when things are going well -- it is what we do when faced with challenges that define us. In these uncertain times, there are plenty of challenges to go around... and way too few guides to help people face them effectively. This is one of those guides.

Highly recommended for anyone... especially now.

This book is a non-stop argument for successfull thinking. Mr Castro reminds us that we are in charge of our own potential and it is never too late to begin to accomplish your dreams and goals. This no excuses approach is motivating and inspiring.

When craziness breaks loose in your life, how will you handle it? Not that each of us will experiences the type of heartbreak often inevitable in life, but Critical Choices examines how overcoming difficulty is largely a matter of how you choose to focus your mind. What do you think will happen? Now that might sound easy when not faced with difficulty, but the author talks to so many people some famous and some not, and shows us examples on how focus and belief in an outcome will cause us to act accordingly. The examples from Martin Luther King, Walt Disney, James Earl Jones and countless others are inspiring and uplifting. While we may have heard the believe it, achieve it homily before, Castor motivates readers, inherent in the examples that there are ways the average person can achieve a hero's status in life.

Critical Choices by Dan Castro is one of the largest sources of inspiration I have come across in many years. The book is a quick read, and packs an incredible amount of motivation.

Each success story is easy to understand, and all of them are relevant to every day life, and the bulk will likely help you do what needs to be done; make choices to change your life for the better. All the short accounts of the Hero's lives are bound by common themes which led them to success.

Critical Choices will likely change the way you think about many things for the better, and positively change the way you perceive the world.

I learned a great deal from reading Dan's book, and I plan on sharing it with my friends and family. I suggest you do the same.

One day I was in a very cool book store People's Books) in Austin, Texas; you know those lazy, Summer afternoons when you find yourself all blissed out with the very, very rare opportunity of time? Time to think about your place here, your life and the bountiful world we create around us. Well, as soon as I walked into the store, I felt this magnetic pull toward the second floor...as I rounded the corner up the stair case, I came across this handsome gentle, sweet man in a suit, with this impressively large poster sized cover of a book. It was clear he was getting ready to speak, not privy to the topic of this book or if even this bright soul had written it, I checked out the cover and asked if he was going to be speaking soon and if he had written this book? His warm reply cemented my interested in hearing what this intriguing stranger had share with an intimate group, in a funky book store in Central Texas. When the time approached for him to begin, I took my seat quietly at the front of the room. The beautiful little voice inside me said that I was in for delicious surprise! As soon as Dan Castro stood up in front of the room and began to speak, I was captivated! His beautifully woven tale of how this book came to be was like watching an artist recreate with love and compassion. The light in his eyes as he held the room for more than an hour was so incredibly vibrate, that it made you lean forward with the concentration level of a surgeon. I was so taken by the heart, drive and message coming from this man that the hour felt like only seconds had passed. It was such a gift to have stumbled across this book that I bought two copies that day right after he was done and I have bought three more since, for family and friends. In today's busy world, I know we all wish we had more time to read; please let me personally assure you this book is worth the precious spare time you indulge yourself to read a wonderfully good book!

Like many inspiring, self-help books, Castro's contains myriad stories of "success" under fire. But to me, the most important point he makes is that we all face decision points in our lives. We can CHOOSE how we respond. A common thread ties together almost all of those briefly profiled in this book--they chose to act in an "heroic" manner.

I was especially interested in Castro's first chapter where he laid out his thinking about the difference between what he defines as "heroes," and the rest of us. The secret, he asserts, lies with how they answer three questions: 1. What are you focusing on? 2. What do you believe? 3. What are you expecting.

As a life coach, I think these are excellent questions for anyone who wants to achieve anything outside of their comfort zone. In fact the entire first chapter of the book where Castro develops his thesis about why "heroes" make the choices they do, was informative and helpful. His Seven Laws of Critical Focus could be a roadmap for people who are looking for ways to help them meet challenges in their own lives.