Book Review of Dan Blanchard’s The Storm: How Young Men Become Good Men

Dan Blanchard’s book The Storm: How Young Men Become Good Men is one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life. I’m not using my words lightly here – I mean that.

Dakota, a motivated and dedicated yet somewhat lost 16-year-old teen, mysteriously runs into his 76-year-old Granddaddy. As they take shelter outside in a pavilion during a rainstorm, Granddaddy imparts to Dakota a series of remarkable life lessons through conversation, stories, and questions. Dakota is in-between football and wrestling seasons which is why he had the afternoon free to chat, and he didn’t have to go to work until the evening.

This is a book that needs to be read by all middle school and high school boys around the United States and world, as well as by teachers and administrators. From the bottom of my heart, this is a book I wish I would have read when in school.

The purpose of this book review is to pique your interest in reading Dan’s book The Storm by sharing with you some of the lessons and insights from this wonderful story. I also encourage you to share this book with friends, family members, teachers, administrators, counselors, students, and anyone who is willing to read it. While the target demographic of this book is middle school and high school boys, the lessons in this book can genuinely benefit anyone.

Insights and Lessons From Dan Blanchard’s The Storm

This book has excellent dialogue, well-researched history, realistic thoughts and feelings, and lots of other great stuff. This book has it all – it’s a classic and one for the ages. Here are some of the best insights and lessons that Granddaddy shared with his grandson Dakota in the book, and this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what this powerful book has to offer you. These bullet points are a mixture of lessons from the book and my own notes:

• Savor and cherish the little things. The simple things in life really can be some of the best things in life.
• Create a mission statement for your life.
• Visualize your goals often and keep them clearly in your mind. Break them down into small specific details and then fit them into a timeline.
• “I skate to where the pick is going to be, not to where it has been.” – Wayne Gretzky
• A very wise man, Mohammed the Prophet, said: “He is not strong and powerful who throweth people down, but he is strong who holdeth himself from anger.”
• Taking the time to get to know yourself and understand why you do things is one of the most important things you’ll ever do.
• Program yourself for success.
• Buddha taught people that the root of all unhappiness comes from wanting more and not being happy with what you have. He taught his followers that the true path to enlightenment is finding happiness with what you have. Be grateful for what you have!
• Don’t let your efforts solely be on gaining material possessions.
• Big dreams are good. Our dreams give us a reason to continue reaching and striving beyond the goal we’ve just accomplished.
• If you want to develop a habit of success, then get in the habit of putting your full effort into the things you want to accomplish.
• Strive for greatness, but live an average man’s life. Don’t spend beyond your means.
• Good preparation puts people in a position to be ready when opportunity knocks.
• No one ever accomplishes anything without the aid and assistance of other people along the way.
• “When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways – either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength. Thanks to the teachings of Buddha, I have been able to take this second way.” – Dalai Lama
• The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said, “A man’s greatest tragedies usually lead to a man’s greatest successes.”
• Take the chaos and struggles you’ve experienced in your life and use them as inspiration to do and be more. Design your life for success. Your desire to succeed in life is a part of who you are. It’s etched into your soul.
• Ask yourself: What did I learn from the chaos of my past experience? How can I use my past experience to help me succeed in the future? How can I succeed in a way that makes the world better without falling under the weight of all the chaos around me?
• Every success you experience has its roots in your past. Every good thing you have in your life has its roots in your past. You may not like your past, or the people in your past, but you wouldn’t be here, right now, if it weren’t for your past. Embrace your past!
• Will you settle for what you’ve got? Or will you reach for something better?
• We all make mistakes and fail along the way, but when we do, we can use that information to increase our chances of succeeding when we’re ready to try again.
• When you look back at your life, choose to remember the lessons you learned and all the situations that have provided you with opportunities to be grateful. Let go of the rest.
• The only thing you have control over is what you bring to life.
• Engage in a living, breathing process of never-ending improvement.
• With the American Dream, we’re taught to invest in our long-term future. With Kaizen, it’s about investing in our everyday life.
• Tony Robbins teaches us that the things we can truly feel secure about are the things we carry with us through life.
• Sometimes we’ve become prisoners, only instead of having someone lock us up, we lock ourselves up. This is powerful! It reminds me of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
• Success leaves clues.
• Coaches recognize the potential in you, work with you, and encourage you.
• Even with particular advantages, success is still the result of your decision to show up and do the work – even when it’s not a whole lot of fun.
• It feels good to push yourself to achieve more. Each success can inspire you to push a little harder.
• Socrates believed we already have all the answers inside of us.
• As Socrates taught, don’t ever let anyone stop you from asking questions.
• Sitting around and waiting for the world to give you permission to be more than you are is a waste of time. This is spot-on! Very wise words from Dan Blanchard.
• Good leaders inspire the people around them to believe in themselves and their abilities. They give credit where credit is due, encourage when times are tough, and are happy to celebrate victories regardless of how big or small they are. Excellent definition of leadership here from Dan (in the book, the lesson comes from Granddaddy).
• Bring your best to the plan and face it head-on regardless of the outcome. I love this. Success isn’t always measured in wins and losses. It can also be measured in terms of your effort and if you did your best.
• “It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, what matters is how many times you get back up.” – Vince Lombardi
• There are a lot of ways to win a contest that can’t be measured by the weight of the trophy you hold up at the end.
• You can’t succeed if you start looking at your results and decide they were caused by things you have no control over. This doesn’t just apply to the sports but also to the game of life.
• People give up their own power to succeed simply because they’ve learned it’s easier to blame other people for their failure than it is to step up and take control of their own results.
• It always comes down to the choices we make when we’re deciding how to respond.
• “It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn form them and those around you. All that matters in business is that you get it right once.” – Mark Cuban
• If you want a better life, it’s up to you. If you keep hanging around with the wrong people, they’ll drag you right back to where they are. Step away from the wrong people.
• You get to decide what makes you happy.
• Happiness isn’t the result of what you do. It’s the result of how you do it.
• If you don’t have good reasons for pursuing your goals, it’s very hard to stay motivated long enough to see them through.
• Do something for somebody else.
• Use people’s first names when speaking with them. It will make them feel valued and special.
• Forgiving someone is a lot easier than holding a grudge. In the book, Granddaddy helps Dakota work through the angry feelings Dakota has for his father.
• Reading books is valuable and will teach you a lot.
• “Too many people waste their lives waiting for their lucky break. What they fail to realize is that luck isn’t something you can wait for.” – Dan Blanchard

Amazing lessons, aren’t they? This is an incredible and legendary book, a true masterpiece. As I said above, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Buy the book and learn more from Dan Blanchard today!

Dan Blanchard is an Award-Winning Author, Speaker, Educator, Life Coach, two-time Junior Olympian Wrestler, and two-time Junior Olympian Wrestling Coach. Buy his book The Storm: How Young Men Become Good Men on amazon today!