I Thought Writing the Book Was the Hard Part.

Some mindset reflections from the book tour.

Apr 23, 2024

19 Interviews

15 Book events

7 OpEds

3 Television appearances

I thought that writing Cultures of Growth would be the biggest challenge, but as my literary agent, Jim Levine, told me after I’d turned in the manuscript, writing the book is just 30% of the work! WHAT?! Turns out, the other 70% is sharing about it.

And what a ride it’s been so far. With Cultures of Growth out for just one month now, I have found myself noticing when I’m drifting towards my fixed mindset and finding novel ways to shift myself toward growth.

Probably the biggest challenge I’ve had so far was my first live TV interview for Cultures of Growth. I was going live with David Westin at Bloomberg Wall Street Week and I had no idea what he’d ask me—there were no notes and no prep! I arrived for hair and makeup, met David, and then 2 minutes later we were sitting on the soundstage under blinding lights with cameras rolling!

Could I do this? What would I say? What if I made a mistake or blanked out--it was live, after all? There was no “redo.” What could I share with the Bloomberg audience that they would find most useful and interesting about fixed and growth mindset cultures?

I decided to just stay present. I know the material in and out—after all, my students and I did many of the studies that form the basis for these ideas. I told myself that I had to just trust the process—stay present for the conversation and share what would be most helpful in the moment. It was the fastest 8 minutes of my life! And I really enjoyed the conversation!

Afterward, my phone was blowing up with texts and calls from family and friends who’d tuned in. My husband, Victor, had recorded it and he couldn’t wait for me to watch. I refused! No way! I wanted to enjoy the feeling I had of just being present and the experience of flow when I was able to connect with David in the moment. Later, I went over the clip with my coach to see what I did well and what I could improve, but immediately after, I wanted to just enjoy the feeling of connection and success I’d had in the moment.

Because the truth is we all have the fixed and growth mindset within us. And, different situations and moments call forward one or the other.

In this Substack, I’m going to share personal stories and anecdotes from my life (which right now includes lots of experiences on the book tour). I have been deep in learning mode—discovering how to share ideas so everyone can use them in their own lives. Translating science and academic studies in a way that they can provide guidance and useful knowledge can be difficult. But, I’m getting better at it and I’m discovering what helps (stories) and what doesn’t (complex descriptions of academic studies—though sometimes, I’ll share those too—I am an academic, after all!). I’m learning how to share the evidence base without the jargon that maximizes usefulness, but with the appropriate caveats and limitations that the science demands.

Most of all, I will share stories and new insights about how the mindset cultures that surround us shape us.

And I hope this will be a conversation! Let me know what you’d like to hear about. Do you prefer more personal stories and anecdotes, more of the mindset evidence base, and/or how our environments affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?

I look forward to being in touch. We’ll start with a biweekly cadence and see how things go from there. Drop me a line and say hello! Let me know what you’d like to see going forward.

In the meantime, I wanted to share that we will be doing a book giveaway over the next couple of weeks between now and the next newsletter. More details can be found on my instagram page, so follow me there to be updated.

Until soon, my friends!

Your partner in growth,

Mary

PS- if you want to see me and David in action, you can watch our segment here: