I’m equal parts excited and nervous.
Below is the brief introduction to a short (<2hr) new book I’ve decided to write called Reinventing Mindset: How to develop psychological flexibility to manage stress, navigate change and perform when it matters most.
And I need your help.
For this book have the impact I want, I’m going to release each chapter as I write it for feedback.
So please, as I share these, let me know:
What do you love? What do you hate? Is there something missing? Is there something to be removed? Do you have any questions?
Thank you in advance! Let’s jump in.
Start Here
As an Olympian, I used to think mindset was about being harder, tougher, stronger.
I used to think it was about eliminating stress and pressure.
I used to think it was about setting goals and chasing them.
It turns out I was way off.
At best, the science says those strategies are only a third of what’s needed.
It was like sitting on a one-legged stool and wondering why it felt wobbly when the stakes were high.
The World Health Organisation-validated science of psychological flexibility says we don’t want to build people into brick walls of harder, tougher, stronger.
Because if you hit a brick wall hard enough with a sledgehammer, what happens?
It cracks.
In contrast, we want to build trampolines. So we can absorb the hits and bounce back.
Absorb. Bounce back.
Absorb. Bounce back.
The science tells us that we need to develop personalised tools to unlock the three foundational pillars of psychological flexibility: Open Up, Be Present and Do What Matters.
Why?
So we can:
- manage stress
- navigate change
- lead ourselves and others
- perform when it matters
And, best of all, so we can be the person that we want to be in the process.
After 8 years of applying the research for myself and others, this book will help you:
- Understand the science of psychological flexibility and its core framework.
- Enhance your self-awareness through reflection.
- Build a toolkit of personalised, evidence-based practices that you can implement immediately.
The practices you’ll build are not one-off events. They are ongoing processes that will help to build and maintain the “trampoline” we all need to deal with the curve balls of life.
And this book is not a flood of new information, tactics and strategies.
It’s 4 extremely specific exercises with 14 questions in total. Alongside these are stories and examples to bring them to life.
They are all designed to help you begin the practices required to develop your own psychological flexibility in less than 2 hours.
They have worked for Olympic gold medallists, global executives, elite soldiers, doctors, startup founders, pro-athletes, investors, teachers, entrepreneurs, parents, managers, frontline-staff and more.
And they just might work for you.
The promise of this book is not more trophies in your cabinet (although it may help you to do that too).
Instead, we’ll set the bar much higher – to a level that will be impossible to accomplish, bring with it the certainty of failure, but, that will be infinitely worth getting back up for.
My hope is that this book will help you to bring all of who you are to everything you do, in as many moments of as many days as possible.
Because the world doesn’t need just the best of you, it needs all of you.
With love,
Toby Jenkins
Brisbane, Australia
16 Apr 2024, 4:11am (because I couldn’t sleep.)
