Why the MindShifting Books Still Aren’t Enough

I fought against writing a book about MindShifting. Yes, I do want to make these concepts easily accessible, but I couldn’t see how a book could really transform people’s mindsets and behavior.

While someone can understand the concepts from reading about them, MindShifting is about fluently using the skills to remain in resourceful mode. And for any skill to become fluent, it has to be used.

I, for one, almost never do the suggested exercises in books. Does anybody?

A book can explain the difference between the survival brain and the resourceful brain. It can describe how stress, fear, habit, certainty, and old patterns can sabotage happiness and success. It can even help readers recognize those patterns in themselves and others.

But can you master new mental models and techniques solely by reading about them?

I don’t think so.

Still, people kept arguing that I should write a book.

One argument was that having a book would be useful for sales and marketing. Just being able to say, “I wrote the book,” would be a legitimacy booster. The book could have been a 30-page teaser about MindShifting. I could hand it out, people would read it, and they would learn just enough to want to dive deeper, maybe by taking a course.

That argument did not move me very much.

The second argument was stronger.

At the time, I was talking to states, districts, and large organizations about encouraging their people to take MindShifting courses. That audience might accept someone affiliated with a university. They might accept someone with a million followers. But they were not necessarily going to accept that Mitch Weisburgh was an expert unless I had some compelling proof element.

People kept telling me that a book could provide that proof. So I followed my own advice, listened to what everyone else was saying, and re-evaluated my position.

But if I was going to write a book, I was not going to write a teaser. I wanted to write something that actually taught the concepts and techniques in a way that could engage readers and help them use the ideas.

Eight months later, MindShifting: Stop Your Brain from Sabotaging Your Happiness and Success was published.

And then something happened that I had not expected.

Within a month, I heard from five people who had all read the book at least twice. They had filled the book with Post-It notes. They had practiced the techniques. They had found themselves in situations that would have thrown them before, but this time they were able to navigate around obstacles and blind spots more resourcefully.

That was really encouraging.

And so I wrote the second book, MindShifting: Conflict and Collaboration. That book focused on moving forward with others despite people disagreeing, competing, fighting, arguing, resisting, or just being difficult.

I heard the same kind of direct feedback. A few people really took the time to read the book multiple times, take notes, and practice the techniques. Conflicts, or potential conflicts, that used to halt progress just seemed to vanish.

But most people don’t read that way.

Most people read a book, find a few useful ideas, and then move on. That is not a criticism. It is probably what most of us do most of the time.

The MindShifting courses have a deep impact because they combine ideas with conversation, reflection, application, and practice. People hear the concepts, talk about how those concepts show up in real situations, and then begin applying them to their own lives and work.

But the courses are limited. They are only available to about 100 people per course, five times a year.

So I started wondering:

What if we could combine the social learning and practical application aspects of a course with the easy access of a book?

That is the experiment for June.

Starting June 3, we are offering our first free MindShifting Practice Lab:

From Reaction to Resourcefulness
A MindShifting Practice Lab
Four Weeks to Explore Stop Your Brain from Sabotaging Your Happiness and Success

Over four sessions, we will explore key ideas from the book, discuss how they show up in real life, and look at how we can begin practicing the techniques that help us move from automatic reaction to greater resourcefulness.

Why call it a MindShifting Practice Lab?

Because this is meant to be more experiential and more engaging than a traditional book study group. The book provides the foundation, but the real value comes from discussing the ideas, reflecting on how they show up in our own lives, and beginning to practice the techniques together.

The goal is not just to understand MindShifting. The goal is to begin using it.

How might you benefit?

If you are interested in joining the MindShifting Practice Lab, you can find out more and register here.