The Future of Mindset

Mindset-Aware Living

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 01:01:16 GMT

Photo by Alex Hudson on Unsplash

Summary
Many of us go through the day without noticing our mindset, even though it plays a significant role in how we see, feel, and act.
Mindset-Aware Living is a new life practice that focuses on knowing beliefs, values, paradigms, and worldviews directly, in real-time.
You cannot change what you cannot see. Mindset-aware living enables you to make the unconscious conscious, so you can shift your mindset when you need to, and support changes in the larger systems you are a part of.

How often do you pay attention to your mindset? All the time? Every so often? Hardly ever?

For many of us, the answer may be closer to almost never. We spend our days focused on what we need to do, where we need to go, and what problem we need to solve next. All the while, our mindset is quietly running the show in the background, shaping what we see, how we think and feel, and how we relate to the people and world around us.

The irony here is that mindset is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. Yet, it often remains unexamined.

Mindset-aware living is a new life practice for changing that. It’s a way of turning on a light, and bringing the hidden dimensions of your mindset into conscious awareness so you can see the deeper patterns that shape how you show up and participate in the world. When you can see your mindset clearly, you can choose to shift it and actualise new ways of living that align with your highest potential.

What is Mindset-Aware Living?

Mindset work can sometimes feel like you are being guided to fit your mindset within a box. You’re told what idealised mindset you should adopt: maybe it’s a “growth mindset” or an “agile mindset”, and then success will follow. Essentially, it’s a prescriptive approach that presumes the right mindsets can be known in advance.

Mindset-aware living takes a different approach. Instead of focusing on idealised mindsets, you start by noticing the mindset you’re actually embodying in the present: such as in a meeting, a conversation, or a challenging moment. You can increasingly see the beliefs guiding you, the values shaping your choices, the assumptions you take for granted, and your worldview of how life works. With this awareness comes choice. You now have greater choice to take responsibility for your mindset, and are more able to shift it when you need to.

If you like, you can give this life practice a try by considering: What mindset am I living from right now? Which beliefs, values, paradigms, and worldviews are quietly guiding me? How is my mindset influencing what is possible in my life and the world? The power of mindset-aware living lies in this active noticing: staying attentive to your mindset and how it might want to shapeshift into new possibilities in the present.

Mindset-aware living is also an impactful relational practice. Within every community, organisation, and social group lives an ecology of mindsets that shape what we see and how we behave. Practicing mindset-aware living helps us become more conscious of the role mindsets play in our shared lives. It’s like being able to see the hidden operating system that shapes how our societies function. With this awareness, you can engage this inner landscape of mindsets more consciously, rather than being swept along by them or reacting blindly.

The practice of mindset-aware living was developed by mindset researcher and practitioner Ash Buchanan during the early 2020s. It emerged from one of the most extensive research projects ever undertaken to study the collective wisdom of the mindset sciences. Unlike prescriptive approaches, this new practice has been specially developed for responding to the messy, complex realities we’re all navigating today.

Mindset-Aware Living in Practice

Let’s walk through a few examples together. Consider this: you’re in a tense conversation with a close friend. You can feel the walls going up. But in this particular moment, you pause and pay attention. You don’t just feel the tension; you begin to focus on some of the beliefs and assumptions that are active in this situation in real time. As you do, you have a sudden realisation: “I’m operating from a “need to be right” mindset here.” In this instant of seeing, you give yourself the possibility of a choice. You are now able to choose, what mindset would serve this relationship better right now? You sense it is to take a breath, let go of the need to be right, and shift to a mindset of understanding, even if you don’t agree.

Or let’s say you are at the supermarket buying fresh fruit in plastic yet again, and you suddenly stop for a moment, and think, “Gee, this is not very good for the environment”. In this moment, you gain a glimpse of your values of sustainability clashing with the worldview of convenience that has become normalised in your culture. This moment of awareness gives you a choice. With this choice, it may be you keep shopping at the supermarket, or you start shopping somewhere else such as a farmers’ market that embodies your values of sustainability more fully.

As a final example, suppose you’re in a business meeting reviewing quarterly results, and the conversation keeps circling back to strategies for scaling growth and profit. Suddenly, you pause and notice the mindset in the room. “We’re operating from a belief that ‘growth is good’, within a paradigm of capitalism”. This insight opens a new strategic door. You can now ask a more powerful question: “What might be possible if we shifted this mindset to something else, such as ‘thriving within a paradigm of regeneration’”. Exploring this question doesn’t mean abandoning business viability, but it does mean consciously choosing what kind of impact your business will make.

In essence, mindset awareness lives in those small pauses, those small moments of noticing, where you can find the space to choose how you respond to the mindsets you meet. You’ll know your practice of mindset-aware living is working when you feel less overtaken by unconscious patterns, and can respond to situations with greater mindset awareness. You’ll be able to navigate challenges and opportunities with greater flexibility and creativity. You’ll also find the impacts of your practice expanding outwards, transforming how you engage with everyone around you.

Let’s also be honest: this isn’t always comfortable work. It can be unsettling when you first see beliefs and worldviews that have been unconscious, especially if they don’t align with who you think you are or want to be. This discomfort is actually a sign your practice of mindset-aware living is working. It means you’re seeing mindset material that was previously hidden, and with this seeing comes the possibility of choice and change.

What are The Principles of Mindset-Aware Living?

Mindset-aware living draws on 16 new and ancient science principles that emerged from a study of the collective wisdom of the mindset field. Together, these principles move beyond common assumptions and invite you to re-examine what mindset truly is. You may find some of these principles surprising, and you may never see mindset in the same way again. This includes principles such as:

Mindset is a pattern that is stable and malleable.
Mindset is embodied and relational, existing within and between.
Mindset is an individual, collective, and intergenerational quality.
Holistic mindset work involves a state-sensitive, stage-sensitive, and context-sensitive approach.

We won’t unpack these principles here. For an introduction, refer to A New and Ancient Science of Mindset by Ash Buchanan.

Why does Mindset-Aware Living Matter?

Very simply: you cannot shift or be responsible for a mindset you’re not aware of. The hidden dimensions of your mindset will unconsciously shape your life without you being aware that they are. Whereas when you are mindset aware, you are essentially making the unconscious, conscious. It’s like turning on a light. You are bringing your beliefs, paradigms, and worldviews out of the shadows and turning them into qualities that can be seen, understood, and transformed.

There is also the liberating perspective offered by environmental scientist Donella Meadows: that no mindset is “true”. Every mindset, including the one that sweetly shapes your own worldview, offers a tremendously limited view of an immense and amazing universe. While this perspective might sound a little destabilising at first, it can be incredibly freeing once you let it land. That’s because, if no mindset is true, then you are free to shift and change to whatever mindset and way serves best in the present moment.

Having this kind of flexibility matters now more than ever. We live at a time when artificial intelligence, ecological instability, and cost-of-living crises are changing the conditions of life on the planet. In such times of rapid change, the ability to see and shift your mindset is essential for being able to navigate this complexity with skill and care.

Widening the lens even further, it could be suggested that many of the big, most entangled problems we face in the world today, are the unintended consequences of mindsets we sometimes don’t even know we share. When many of us practice mindset-aware living alongside one another, something remarkable becomes possible. We are now more able to be collectively responsible for our shared mindsets, and can contribute to a powerful process called mindset-aware systems change. This is when mindset shifts in many people ripple outward, changing how we relate to each other and the big systems we all belong to. If we want to co-shape new economies, new approaches to education, new ways of working, new types of governance, and new forms of social and environmental justice, engaging in shared practices of mindset awareness is vital.

An Essential 21^st Century Skill

In summary, living a mindset-aware life isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s an essential 21st century skill. It’s how all of us can bring more of the hidden dimensions of our mindsets into conscious awareness, and see the underlying patterns that shape the ways we think and feel, and how we perceive, develop, and behave. This awareness can help to support a conscious process of change and transformation in ourselves and in the patterns we collectively share. It is also a kind of superpower for navigating and thriving in a complex, disruptive, and volatile world.

To close, you are invited to give this practice a try: as you engage in a daily activity, such as going for a walk, speaking with a friend, or working on a new project, ask yourself: What mindset am I embodying right now? How does my mindset want to shift so I can express more of my highest potential? These simple questions are a first step toward living a more mindset-aware life.

Would you like to learn how to live a mindset-aware life? Check out Mindset Aware by Ash Buchanan for more details.

Download a pdf copy of Mindset-Aware Living.

References

Buchanan, A. (2025). Mindset Aware.

Meadows, D. (1999). Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System.

Future of Mindset: New Opportunities to Work Together

Ash Buchanan — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 01:01:49 GMT

Hello mindset friends,

Over the past few years, I’ve had meaningful conversations with many of you about how we might co-shape the future of mindset at work, in education, and beyond. What started as exploratory chats has evolved into something I find to be heartening: a growing readiness to move into more intentional collaborations.

In this time of significant transition, where old approaches are being questioned and new ways of working and learning are emerging, I’m convinced how we approach mindset matters more than ever. We have a shared opportunity to embrace new practices that are more grounded, relational, and transformative.

To support next steps, I’ve created two short downloadable guides that explore how a new generation of mindset work is emerging:

The Future Of Mindset At Work

503KB ∙ PDF file

A New Generation of Mindset Services for Teams and Organisations

The Future Of Mindset In Education

535KB ∙ PDF file

Capacity Building Programs for Teachers and Learners

If any of this resonates, and you would like to work together, I’d love to have a conversation. If you know a business or school leader who might be interested, please feel free to share this newsletter with them to help us grow.

And if you’re working on a systems change project, a wellbeing initiative, or a global development program and would like to explore how we might collaborate, I would genuinely love to hear from you.

Warmly,

Ash

Handbook of Mindset Research

Ash Buchanan — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:00:49 GMT

This handbook was created to help the field of mindset see and know itself from multiple perspectives, and to help readers gain a sense of the collective wisdom that exists across the mindset field as a whole. It includes a series of research papers that review the history of mindset, and that review mindsets many different definitions, theories, typologies, and education opportunities.

This series of papers include (PDF download links included):

You are invited to deepen your understanding of mindset from multiple perspectives, and consider how you can be the change and be the transformation as an engaged participant in the mindset field.

Introducing: A New and Ancient Science of Mindset

Ash Buchanan — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 20:58:25 GMT

Hello mindset friends

This week, I’m sharing a new book called A New and Ancient Science of Mindset.

This new book is free to access and provides an overview of the 16 new and ancient science mindset principles that are at the heart of Mindset Aware.

These principles are ancient because they are based on the collective wisdom of the mindset field. They’re new because they are the beginnings of an integrated approach to mindset that is never set, but always evolving based on what is possible now.

Download here:

A New And Ancient Science Of Mindset

5.78MB ∙ PDF file

You can also download A New and Ancient Science of Mindset via ResearchGate, or buy a paperback copy of A New and Ancient Science of Mindset from Amazon >

What you’ll discover

Mindset is more than beliefs: It’s a “set” of beliefs, values, paradigms, and worldviews, that shape how you think and feel, and how you perceive, develop, and behave.
Mindset lives in your body, not just your brain: It’s embodied, relational, and also ecological in nature.
Mindset is more than predefined types: It’s like an intricate tapestry that’s alive and ever-changing.

Why these principles matter

Very simply: you cannot shift or take responsibility for a mindset you’re not aware of. A group of people also cannot shift or take responsibility for a mindset they unconsciously share.

These principles can help you raise your awareness of your own mindset, so you can shift and take greater responsibility for it. They can also help you relate to the mindsets you meet in the people and world around you in an increasingly skillful way.

Ready to refine your understanding of mindset? Get your copy of A New and Ancient Science of Mindset now.

What aspects of mindset are you most curious to explore through this new and ancient science lens? Leave a comment below.

Warmly

Ash

A New and Ancient Science of Mindset

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 23:13:00 GMT

Thank you for your interest in A New and Ancient Science of Mindset.

This short book distils the findings of one of the most extensive studies ever undertaken in the mindset field into 16 actionable principles.

Download PDF here:

A New And Ancient Science Of Mindset

5.78MB ∙ PDF file

If you would like to stay in the loop of this body of work, you may like to subscribe to the mindset psychology newsletter.

Mindset-Aware Leadership

Ash Buchanan — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 01:01:20 GMT

Photo by Ardian Lumi on Unsplash

Summary

In an era of rapid change and escalating complexity, traditional leadership methods may no longer be sufficient.
Instead, new ways of leading are increasingly required that are sensitive to the mindsets involved in a situation.
Mindset-aware leadership is a new approach to leading that works with mindsets in a state-sensitive, context-sensitive, and stage-sensitive manner.

Have you ever noticed your team genuinely wanting to lead in a new way, yet no matter what you try, you keep defaulting to the same old leadership scripts?

Here’s what can happen: invisible mindsets: the unspoken beliefs, the unquestioned assumptions, the worldviews no one’s named out loud, are running the show. When mindsets stay hidden, they unconsciously limit what is possible, causing us to reenact the patterns of the past.

The thing is, today’s leadership challenges are calling for something new. Old ways of leading, even the good ones, may not be sufficient now. As rates of change and complexity intensify, we need the capacity to work with the mindsets that shape what we see, what we consider possible, and how we ultimately lead.

Enter mindset-aware leadership: a practical capacity for working consciously with the beliefs, values, paradigms, and worldviews that shape what’s possible. When you can see these invisible forces clearly, you’re no longer unconsciously limited by them. You can work with them consciously, shift them when you need to, and embody new forms of leadership that are truly evolutionary.

What Is Mindset-Aware Leadership?

Mindset-aware leadership is the capacity to lead with an awareness of the beliefs, values, paradigms, and worldviews involved in a situation, rather than interacting with them unconsciously. It’s the ability to pause in the midst of complexity and ask: What mindsets am I embodying here? What mindset are the people around me enacting? And what shifts would help everyone express their highest potential right now?

To help this capacity land, consider this metaphor from the practice of adaptive leadership. Imagine you’re on a crowded dance floor, in the thick of the action. The practice of mindset-aware leadership involves moving from the dance floor to the balcony and observing all of the patterns at play. From this vantage point, you can see more of the mindsets active in the situation: the beliefs shaping decisions, the values influencing priorities, the paradigms determining everyone’s behaviour.

Why bother taking a balcony perspective? Well, when you can actually see the mindsets at play, they are no longer hidden forces, they are qualities you can interact with consciously. It’s the difference between reacting without mindset awareness versus consciously choosing your next move.

This matters profoundly given our workplaces and communities currently face many challenges that require a mindset shift to navigate them, such as AI disruption, political polarization, and economic uncertainty. Mindset awareness enables groups of people to respond to these challenges with new ways of leading that align with what is truly needed in the present.

Our workplaces and communities are also remarkably diverse, where people have developed vastly different mindsets based on their lived experiences, professional backgrounds, and cultural conditioning. These differences can lead to fundamentally different ways of seeing and acting in the world that can be tricky to navigate if you’re not aware of them. Mindset awareness enables people to relate to this diversity with skill and care, so they can tap into the collective capacities that can emerge from diverse mindsets.

Let’s also be honest: this isn’t always comfortable work. Facing your own mindset can be confronting. Inviting people to examine their assumptions can trigger defensiveness. And when you’re the one raising that a conversation may be stuck in a particular paradigm or worldview, you might not be everyone’s favourite person in that moment.

But here’s the thing: staying unconscious is costlier. When invisible mindsets are left unexamined, teams keep hitting the same walls, organisations resist necessary change, and leaders burn out trying to solve problems using old strategies.

How This Practice Emerged

The practice of mindset-aware leadership was developed by mindset researcher and practitioner Ash Buchanan during the early 2020s. It emerged from one of the most extensive research projects ever undertaken to study the collective wisdom of the mindset sciences. It also sits alongside a family of adjacent leadership practices, including adaptive leadership, vertical (transformative) leadership, and awareness-based systems change.

Mindset-aware leadership is also being offered as an alternative to approaches that presume to predict what the right mindsets are for success, such as an “agile mindset” or a “stage 3 leadership logic”. Instead, it’s a pragmatic approach that is based on understanding the mindsets that actually exist in the present, and supports new ways of leading that respond to the messy, unpredictable realities we’re all navigating today.

Mindset-Aware Leadership in Action

Photo by Antenna on Unsplash

Let’s consider a practical example. You’re at a town hall meeting focused on community wellbeing. Person after person propose strategies for self-care and personal responsibility. You pause, take a balcony perspective, and pay attention to the mindsets active in the room. Suddenly it hits you, wow, the entire conversation seems to be swept up in a worldview of individualism. So, when it’s your turn to speak, you “yes and” everyone by saying something like, “Self-care is absolutely vital. And what if we also talked about community care, and planetary care and our responsibility to future generations? And what if we approached wellbeing with a systems paradigm or a regenerative worldview that aligns with how life naturally thrives?” And with that one comment, the entire scope of what’s possible for that community just got bigger. That’s mindset awareness in action.

Or let’s say you’re in a strategic planning session where everyone is supposed to be innovating, yet the conversation keeps circling back to the same thing: a need for competitive advantage. Every proposal seems to be framed by zero-sum thinking. Instead of getting caught up in this pattern, you pause and pay attention to the mindsets in the room. Suddenly, you have an insight and say “Hey everyone, hold on a second. We seem to be operating from a paradigm of competition. What other paradigms might be possible? For instance, what if we looked at our strategy through a lens of collaborative advantage or something else?” All of a sudden, the conversation cracks wide open. This moment of mindset awareness has helped make the invisible visible, and new options for strategic planning become possible.

What are the Principles of Mindset-Aware Leadership?

Mindset-aware leadership involves engaging mindsets in a skillful way through four interconnected practice principles:

Mindset literacy: The ability to see and describe the mindsets at play in your own words. It’s also a shared practice of co-creating shared language and understanding. Mindset-aware leaders take the role of a facilitator to support this process on both and individual and collective level.
State-sensitive: This principle recognises that a person’s mindset can be in various states. For instance, is it in a conscious and creative state, or is it stuck, defensive. Being state-sensitive means recognising which state a mindset is in, and engaging those states appropriately.
Context-sensitive: Like a gardener tending to the soil, mindset-aware leaders focus on what conditions are present, and how they can support shifts to unfold naturally. In complex life spaces, the most appropriate interventions are always context specific, emerging out of an intimate awareness of context.
Stage-sensitive: Mindsets have a capacity that can expand through a series of stages, a developmental process that is sometimes called “vertical transformation”. Being stage-sensitive means calibrating your approach to meet people at their current capacity, and help them expand it to host the complexity they meet in their lives.

These practice principles are supported by a range of additional new and ancient science principles which we won’t unpack here. For more details, refer to Mindset Aware.

Accessing Collective Leadership

What makes mindset-aware leadership powerful is its collective dimension. When many people within an organisation or community practice this awareness together, something remarkable happens. Groups of people are more able to more consciously navigate defence mechanisms and opposing points of view, and tap into the collective capacities of diverse ways of leading in situations. This, in effect, is the essence of how a group of people can come together to respond to complexities that may be too overwhelming to face as separate individuals.

What’s more, when a group of people engage in mindset-aware leadership alongside one another, it supports the possibility of mindset-aware systems change. This is when mindset shifts in many people ripple outward and combine, transforming how teams relate, how organisations operate, and ultimately how they show up in the world. Instead of being governed by old unconscious patterns, organisations and communities are freer to lead in new ways through conscious choice. If we want to co-shape new economies, new approaches to education, new ways of working, new types of governance, and new forms of social and environmental justice, engaging in shared practices of mindset-aware leadership is vital.

An Essential Leadership Capacity

In summary, mindset-aware leadership is not a fleeting management trend, it’s a practical and essential capacity for navigating complexity. It’s about helping our teams, our communities, even our societies, move from being silently controlled by old, unconscious mindsets to a place where we can make conscious choices about the kind of future we want to create together. It’s about deliberately choosing our way of leading, instead of being unconsciously led by the patterns of the past.

To close, think about the biggest challenge you’re facing right now, either at work or in your life. Just ask yourself this: what unspoken mindsets are shaping how everyone, including you, are approaching the challenge? Becoming aware of those mindsets and seeing them clearly, that’s a useful step for supporting change and transformation.

Would you like to learn how to engage in mindset-aware leadership? Check out Mindset Aware for more details.

References

Buchanan, A. (2025). Mindset Aware.

Heifetz, R. A., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). The Practice of Adaptive Leadership.

New book clubs, stories of transformation, and more.

Ash Buchanan — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 23:31:16 GMT

Hello Mindset Friends

As this year comes to an end and a new one is on the horizon, the time feels right for this newsletter to evolve. Over the past two years, we’ve focused on publications that explore the collective wisdom of the mindset field. Now, with nearly 500 subscribers, it feels like the right moment to make this space more participatory, and focus on our potential for peer-learning, as well as on how we can support each other with our mindset-related challenges and opportunities. In doing so, I hope this newsletter can help everyone play a more active role in co-shaping the future of mindset work in the world.

To begin, I would love to hear from you: What participatory opportunities would you like to be part of? Please leave a comment below.

To get the ball rolling, here are three ways you can get involved and collaborate with the community more intentionally (with more opportunities to come):

1) Book clubs

Many of you have shared that you’d love to learn in community and connect with others who are interested in mindset and its application in the world. To support this, I’ve hosted several book clubs already, which have been wonderful peer-learning experiences. Going forward, I’m excited to continue building on this momentum.

Early next year, I’ll be hosting book clubs for Mindset Aware. To accommodate different time zones, there will be groups for Australasia, Europe, and the Americas. The basic process is: Read the book over December and January. Then, let’s meet up in February for the book clubs. More information and sign up is available here >

You’re also welcome to host your own self-organised Mindset Aware book club with your community. If you do, reach out, I can help with access to discounted copies of the book.

Finally, if you live or work in Melbourne and would like support hosting a book club at your organisation or school (for example, during a lunchtime session), let’s explore possibilities >

2) Share your story of transformation

I’ve also heard from many of you that the more you learn about mindset science, the more your understanding and approach to mindset is changing and evolving. Hearing your experiences has been incredibly inspiring, and I’d love to help elevate your stories so that you can learn from and co-inspire one another.

Introducing the Stories of Transformation spotlight! Tell us about a transformation you’re currently experiencing in how you understand and approach mindset. Selected stories will be featured in our newsletter to help inspire and spark new connections in our community.

If you’d like to contribute, send me an email. Let’s celebrate these shifts together and grow as a community.

3) Working together

Next year, I have capacity to lead a number of pilot programs that explore how a comprehensive approach to mindset could be applied in diverse contexts. Some examples include a mindset-aware leadership program, mindset literacy workshop, and much more.

I’m also excited to create case studies showcasing the future of mindset work in practice. If this is something you’d like to explore, reach out here >

In summary, these are three ways for us to connect, collaborate, and strengthen our community around mindset work in the world.

I would also love to hear from you: What additional opportunities would you like to be part of? Please leave a comment below.

Alongside these collaborative and peer-learning opportunities, I’ll continue to share practice-oriented articles on Mindset-Aware Leadership, Mindset-Aware Living, and Mindset Literacy. Early next year, I’ll also share a new guide called A New Science of Mindset.

Warmly

Ash Buchanan

🌻 Join the Mindset Aware Book Club 🌻

Ash Buchanan — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:53:33 GMT

Photo by Tegan Mierle on Unsplash

Hello mindset friends.

I’m excited to be launching a new online book club for Mindset Aware.

The purpose of the book club is threefold:

to create a space where people with an interest in mindset can connect and learn together in community.
to explore the 16 new science principles and 26 micro practices offered in Mindset Aware.
to support each other with moving through a mindset shift in our very way of understanding and approaching mindset.

To accommodate different time zones, groups will be on offer in Australasia, Europe, and the Americas.

Here’s how it works:

Read Mindset Aware over December–January
Meet online in February for a shared conversation

In terms of the overall feel of the book club, it will be facilitated like a cosy campfire conversation, where everyone will have the opportunity to share their learnings and experiences. The sessions will also be grounded in the principles of deep listening, mutual care, and shared inquiry.

Groups are limited to 10 people to support meaningful dialogue. Online calls will be 90 mins at a time TBC depending on the availability of attendees

Sign up here by sending a short expression of interest via email or via messages below.

You can buy a copy of Mindset Aware via the following links:

Want to stay in the loop of this newsletter? Consider subscribing here:

Curious what’s inside Mindset Aware? Here’s a little peek 🌺

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 00:01:11 GMT

Mindset Aware

The response to Mindset Aware has been incredible! Thank you to everyone who supported the book launch. 🫶

Some of you have asked for a glimpse of what’s inside before diving in. Here are a few highlights:

A new science definition of mindset that unfolds and expands as you read.
16 new science principles distilled from the collective wisdom of the field.
26 micro-practices to help you know, love, grow, and free your mindset.
Images and metaphors: like viewing mindset as an intricate tapestry or diverse landscape.
Real-world applications in life, parenting, education, business, sport, and more.

As an independent scholar and author, I’m deeply grateful to have the support of an engaged community. Nearly 40 people read advance copies, and a wave of reviews are starting to roll in. Here are two that recently arrived:

“I have been privileged to have had an advanced reader copy of ‘Mindset Aware’ by Ash Buchanan, and it has completely transformed my own view of mindset and also how we as an educational community perceive it.

I have been a fan of Ash’s work since reading about Benefit Mindset, but this book definitely appealed to my Love of Learning as it has challenged and changed my perspective yet again. It is full of short micro-practices that are easy to put into practice. It is definitely not a book I have read and put aside, but one that I have open and refer back to often.” - Nerida Kiprotich, Wellbeing teacher, Strengths based Leader and Learner

“Huge privilege to be an advanced reader of Mindset Aware: A Practical Guide to Know, Love, Grow, and Free Your Mindset by Ash Buchanan!

I thought I was quite familiar with the idea of mindset, but actually it turns out that there is so much more to it than whether or not you have a growth mindset or not. And thank goodness for that, as the growth vs stuck mindset always felt a little uncompassionate to me.

There was so much to love and to learn from this book. I was particularly struck by how this new understanding of mindset almost necessitates a more compassionate approach to the understanding and evolution of our own, and others’, mindsets. For me, the compassion resides in the move away from individualism, towards an approach to mindset that acknowledges that our experiences are by nature both embodied and relational. With this approach, understanding mindset becomes an endeavour fuelled by curiosity rather than judgement.

… It’s one of those books that I know I’m going to go back to, and I’m sure I’ll take more from it each time I do. Definitely recommend!” - Dr Karen Bodger, Implementation Specialist for Outcomes Star

Here are some ways you can support the launch and be part of the journey:

Read a copy of Mindset Aware for yourself, or host a book club with your team.
Use the 16 new science principles to reexamine your understanding of mindset.
Try some of the 26 micro-practices to cultivate a more mindset-aware way of living.
Start a mindset-aware community of practice at your organisation or school.
Share your learnings in a review on Amazon or Goodreads (it really helps!).

Begin your journey here:

Mindset Aware: A Practical Guide to Know, Love, Grow, and Free Your Mindset

If you decide to host a book club, please reach out. I’d love to support you and hear how your learning experience unfolds.

Already reading? What’s been most insightful so far?👇

With gratitude,

Ash 🌱

New Book: Mindset Aware

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 04:45:22 GMT

For a long time, I’ve been inspired by the question of what a new paradigm approach to mindset might look like.

Today, I’m excited to publish a new book that explores this possibility. It’s called Mindset Aware.

This is more than a book for me. It’s my life’s work distilled into a practical guide. 🌺

Get your copy now

Mindset Aware: A Practical Guide to Know, Love, Grow, and Free Your Mindset

What makes this book special?

It’s immediately practical
Written in the style of a self-coaching guide, Mindset Aware can help you know your mindset directly, and live what I call a mindset-aware life. The book is full of relatable examples, reflective questions, and micro-practices so that you can implement your learnings right away.

It’s built on expansive research
After discovering a surprising gap in the mindset sciences: the absence of a theory grounded in all the evidence, I embarked on one of the most extensive studies ever undertaken in the field. This includes studying 40+ theories, 100+ definitions, and 1,800+ mindset types, across 100+ years of scattered mindset research

It’s intentionally integrative
The new science view of mindset presented here weaves together insights from neuroscience, mindfulness, embodiment practice, regenerative development, systems change, transformative learning, power-literacy, and more.

In short: Mindset Aware isn’t just another mindset book. It’s an attempt at distilling the collective wisdom of the mindset sciences into a practical guide that you can actually use in your life. It also serves as an urgent call for new paradigm approaches to mindset that respond to the complex realities we currently face.

Whether you’re navigating a major life transition, seeking greater flexibility in how you face life’s challenges, wanting to unlock more of your innate potential, or feeling called to transform how you participate in society, Mindset Aware is a must-read that will help you actualise new ways of seeing, being, and acting in yourself and the communities and organisations you belong to.

What people are saying:

“There are so many books on mindset, but most either stay theoretical or simplify things into easy steps that don’t really capture how change happens. Your books are different. They don’t just explain mindset, they make it something to engage with, explore, and apply.” – Szijjártó Monika

“Mindset Aware is essential for anyone navigating life’s constant change, whether you’re an educator, coach, practitioner, change-maker, or on your own journey of self-discovery.” – David L Wright

“The most comprehensive, in depth, well researched literature in the field of mindset.” – Veronika Bond

Here are some ways you can support the book launch:

Buy a copy of Mindset Aware for yourself.
Make a bulk order for your workplace and host a book club.
Leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads.

Get Mindset Aware now >

Thank you for being part of this journey. I’d love to hear how Mindset Aware lands for you.

With gratitude and excitement,
Ash

Mythbusting Mindset

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 05:15:39 GMT

Have you heard any of the following mindset ideas before?

Mindset is a concept from the 1980s.
Mindset is a cognitive-only quality located in the head and brain.
Mindset comes in two basic types.
Mindset is just beliefs, or just mental models.
Mindset is problematic because the mind can’t be “set”.
There is one agreed upon “mindset theory” that is based on all the evidence.

If you’ve encountered any of these ideas in books, training programs, or conversations about mindset, you're not alone. They appear to be quite common. However, what if the evidence from the mindset field suggests something different?

Introducing: Mythbusting Mindset

This new paper invites you to examine six popular ideas about mindset alongside the available evidence and decide if any of these ideas are myths or not. Such an examination is important so that the mindset field can move toward more evidence-based views and approaches.

Read Mythbusting Mindset here >

Now it's your turn:

Have you encountered any of these ideas before?

Which ones do you think are myths?

Foundations of Mindset Psychology

Ash Buchanan — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 00:31:37 GMT

Hello mindset friends!

Last year, while completing a dissertation in the psychology of mindset, I noticed something that didn't sit right. All of the most significant findings of my research were hidden within a 350-page book that few people would ever read. This made these findings difficult for people to find and apply in their lives and their research. So, I decided to do something about it.

Today, I'm thrilled to announce a new series of 20 (yes 20!) research papers called the Foundations of Mindset Psychology.

Essentially, each paper in this series takes one key idea from my research and gives it space to breathe. The purpose was also to create a concrete example of what a comprehensive approach to mindset psychology might look like. As far as I am aware, this is the first time such a series of scholarly papers has ever been published on the topic of mindset, which is kind of exciting. 🎉

The series is the result of a decade’s worth of research using a regenerative methodology. It includes studying 40+ theories, 100+ definitions, 1800+ types, and 40+ supporting traditions, across 100+ years of mindset research. It also emerged as a result of leading real-world projects in schools and organisations, and engaging in collaborative inquiry with friends and colleagues.

I've also decided to make this series freely available (i.e., open science) because I believe research is most valuable when everyone can access and use it.

The series includes the following papers (click on the link to access the paper):

1. A New Era Of Mindset Psychology

2. Third Wave Of Mindset Theory, Research, and Intervention

3. The Fundamental Nature Of Mindset

4. Where Is Your Mindset? Beyond The Head And Brain, Understanding Mindset As An Embodied And Relational Pattern

5. Mindsetgenesis: A Theory Of How Mindset Comes Into Being

6. An Ecology Of Mindset

7. The Dance Of Mind, Mindset, Mindfulness, And Presencing

8. Mindset Literacy: A Vital 21st Century Skill

9. Do You Have A Mindset, Or Does A Mindset Have You? The Subject-Object Relationship

10. Trauma-Informed Approaches To Mindset Theory: New Directions In Research

11. The Difference Between A “Fixed Mindset” And A “Frozen Mindset”: A Trauma-Informed Theory

12. Mindset And States Of Perception, Development, and Behaviour

13. Mindset, Development, and Stage Theory

14. Mindset-Aware Practice

15. Mindset Shift Theory: Steps To A Comprehensive Science

16. Post-Traumatic Mindset Shifts And Paradigm Shifts

17. What Is A Healthy Mindset?

18. Mythbusting Mindset: Examining 6 Popular Ideas

19. Guided Mindset Journaling Practice

20. The Future Of Mindset: How Can You Make A Transformative Contribution?

A paperback copy of Foundations of Mindset Psychology is available here.

This series of papers has primarily been prepared for researchers and scholars. However, the series has also been written in such a way that it is accessible to wider audiences who are genuinely interested in mindset science.

You are invited to check out some or all of these papers, and go on a journey of exploration, to see if this research can help you develop a more holistic and nuanced understanding of the ways mindset can shape your life and the life of society.

A new wave of mindset publications

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 03:07:53 GMT

Hello mindset friends!

It's been a little while since my last newsletter. So, I thought it might be nice to do an update. After completing a dissertation in the psychology of mindset, I took a well-deserved break to recharge and reflect. I also used this time to focus on something I'm deeply passionate about: making more holistic approaches to mindset accessible to everyone.

On this note, I have some exciting news to share! I'm thrilled to announce a new wave of mindset publications. 🎉

What's coming?

📖 Mindset Aware: A Practical Guide to Know, Love, Grow, and Free Your Mindset

This concise book takes the thousands of hours of research in The Nature of Mindset and distils its most essential insights into 16 new science principles. It's packed with evidence-based insights, reflective exercises, and micro-practices you can implement immediately. Written in the style of a self-coaching guide, this book is designed to help you know your mindset directly and live what I call a mindset-aware life. (Note this book was originally called Mindset Psychology, but thanks to the generous support of members of this community, it has evolved into something more).

I have 50 advance reader copies (ARCs) in kindle format to give away to anyone who would like to support the launch of the book, provide an honest and kind review, and contribute to its final polishing and refinement. If you're interested in participating, please reach out >

📄 A New Science of Mindset

A short guide that introduces a new science of mindset via 16 principles. Each principle comes with a relatable example, reflective questions, and a practical exercise. Plus, there's a guided journaling practice at the end of the paper to help you integrate these insights into your daily life.

📚 Foundations of Mindset Psychology

A 20-part research series that takes some of the most significant ideas from The Nature of Mindset and gives each of them their own scholarly paper. Some of the papers in this series include: “The Fundamental Nature Of Mindset”, “Mindset Literacy: A Vital 21st Century Skill”, and “Mindset Shift Theory: Steps To A Comprehensive Science”.

In short, there is lots to come! Make sure you're subscribed to this newsletter to stay updated on all these releases. If you know others who might be interested in learning more about the new science of mindset, feel free to forward this newsletter.

Ash 🌱

You can access a short guide on mindset shifts here >

3 Types of Mindset Shifts

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 01:46:41 GMT

Have you ever experienced a mindset shift that changed what was possible in your life?

Do you tend to plan out your mindset shifts like goals, or do you allow shifts to unfold naturally?

Are there mindset shifts you would genuinely like to embrace, but no matter how much you try, something is holding you back?

In this week’s newsletter, we’ll examine the three basic types of mindset shifts that can occur. These three types of mindset shifts are 1) Organic shifts, 2) Controlled shifts, and 3) Postponed shifts.

How are you currently approaching mindset shifts in your life? How would you like to be approaching them?

Leave a comment below or join the conversation on LinkedIn.

🌻 New Book Club 🌻

This is a final call for anyone who would like to participate in the upcoming book club for Mindset Psychology. This book is a simpler and more concise version of The Nature of Mindset. It is currently in a draft format, and I am hoping to use the book club process to help refine and ready the book for publication.

In terms of the book club process, I will share a copy of the draft in December, and you will have 6-7 weeks to read, before we come together for a two-hour call in February. The book is 140 pages long, so it is relatively short to read.

The book club will be facilitated like a cosy campfire conversation, where everyone will have the opportunity to share their learnings and experiences. The session will also be grounded in the principles of deep listening, mutual care, and shared inquiry.

Book club spaces are limited. If you would like to join, please send an email expressing your interest by 15^th December ->

Or you can send me a message via the substack app.

Mindset literacy

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 01:30:54 GMT

How fluent are you in the language of mindset?

How well can you describe the mindset you currently embody in your own words?

This week’s newsletter provides an introductory guide to the practice of mindset literacy.

Mindset literacy is a practice developed by Ash Buchanan. It is the capacity to see and read the diversity of beliefs, attitudes, values, paradigms, and worldviews that are part of your life and the life of society in your own words, and learn to be articulate around what you notice. It’s also the skill of understanding someone else’s mindset on their own terms, even when it’s different from yours, so you can build shared language together.

Mindset literacy is important, because such self-awareness and social awareness is essential for opening up to a conscious process of change and transformation. Sometimes, what holds us back from embracing new possibilities and potentials is a lack of awareness of the mindsets we currently embody.

A short guide on mindset literacy >

Read the foundational paper on Mindset Literacy >

Download the Mindset Literacy foundational paper >

Support for learning mindset literacy >

How do you practise mindset literacy in your life?

Leave a comment below and/or consider subscribing to the mindset psychology newsletter. 👇

You can access a short guide on the ecology of mindset here >

🌻 New Book Club 🌻

During the review process for The Nature of Mindset, one piece of feedback I received was that this book was very detailed, and I should consider writing a simpler and more concise version that could reach a wider audience. I’m happy to share I have drafted a third book, called Mindset Psychology, and I am looking for a group of people who would like to read a draft copy and participate in a book club review process.

In terms of the book club process, I will share a copy of the draft in December, and you will have 6-8 weeks to read, before we come together for a two-hour book club call in early February. The book is 140 pages long, so it is relatively short and should take a few hours to read.

Book club spaces are limited. If you would like to join, please send an email expressing your interest by 15^th December ->

An ecology of mindset

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 05:00:51 GMT

Is your mindset solely your own?

At first glance, it may appear as though your mindset is uniquely yours, arising and developing as a result of your unique life experiences.

Yet, the more you examine the origins of your mindset, the more you uncover a fascinating paradox: your mindset is developing within a context of collective and intergenerational transmission, where a lot of mindset material is being passed on from person to person and from generation to generation. In this respect, your mindset is shaped by the diverse ecology of beliefs and paradigms that exist in the cultures you belong.

In this week’s newsletter, I want to introduce the idea of an ecology of mindset. This insight builds upon and is complementary to Anthropologist Gregory Bateson’s idea of an ecology of mind.

Here are some questions for you to reflect upon this week:

What are some of the major mindset patterns that you have noticed that exist as part of the larger ecology of mindset?
How has your mindset been shaped by the larger ecology of mindset that exists in human society?
What is one mindset that you inherited from the larger ecology that you are currently committed to changing and transforming in your life?

Leave a comment below or join the conversation on LinkedIn.

You can access a short guide on the dance of mind, mindset, and mindfulness here >

The Dance of Mind, Mindset, and Mindfulness

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 01:30:08 GMT

Hello mindset friends.

One of the most fundamental relationships in mindset psychology is the relationship between mind, mindset, and mindfulness.

The TLDR of this insight is that:

mind is an embodied and relational process.
mindset is an embodied and relational pattern.
mindfulness is an embodied and relational presence.

This insight matters because when you are mindful of mind processes and mindset patterns in the present moment, you can choose to be responsible for them. Your mind and mindset also begin to change and transform naturally on their own, just like how a flower bud naturally opens under the light of the sun. Whereas, if you’re not mindful of your mind and mindset for any reason, you lose your choice to be responsible, and your mind and mindset lose their ability to change naturally.

How do you understand the relationship of mind, mindset, and mindfulness?
How can you put this insight into action in your life and work?

Leave a comment below or join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Mindset psychology insights: Mindsetgenesis

Ash Buchanan — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 01:30:49 GMT

In this week’s newsletter, I’d like to introduce a new theory to you that I developed as part of my dissertation. The theory is called mindsetgenesis. The name comes from the combination of the English word mindset and the Greek word genesis, which means origin or creation.

The essence of this theory is that as the process of mind flows in a persons life, this process creates and shapes the patterns of mindset they develop into. It’s kind of like how the flow of water across a landscape creates and shapes a riverbed as the water flows.

More broadly, there are many types of experiences a person can have that can influence how their process of mind emerges, and their patterns of mindset develop. This includes Self-experiences, social experiences, intersectional experiences, living world experiences, and more.

You can access a short guide on mindsetgenesis here >

Reflective questions

How do you understand the process of mindsetgenesis?
What is the origin story of your mindset?
How is your experience of yourself, groups, society, and the living world shaping your process of mindset creation right now?
US election bonus question: What political experiences have shaped the mindset you currently embody?

Leave a comment below or join the conversation on LinkedIn.

You can access a guide on the embodied and relational nature of mindset here >

Mindset psychology insights: Mindset is embodied and relational

Ash Buchanan — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 01:01:47 GMT

Welcome to the second newsletter exploring the essential insights at the heart of mindset psychology. In this newsletter, we will explore how mindset is an embodied and relational pattern.

The TLDR of this insight is that while many people associate mindset with the head and brain 🧠, it can more completely be understood as an embodied and relational pattern that has a mental 👤, emotion❤️, body 🧘, and relational/social dimension 🌍.

You might be wondering, how is this even possible? Isn’t mindset just a mental or cognitive quality? Well, this embodied and relational view of mindset aligns with some of the latest scientific views of the mind. In these views, the mind isn’t confined to the head and the brain, it is distributed throughout the whole body, and it is also interpersonal, extending far beyond. If this is where the mind is located, then this is exactly where its processes are going to create and shape mindset patterns.

This insight matters because it suggests if you want to locate and move towards shifting a mindset that is part of your life, yes, you can tune into the mental-thinking aspects. However, it is also important you tune into the emotional, body, and relational parts of that mindset. The more aspects of mindset you are aware of and have access to, the easier it becomes to shift your mindset as a whole.

How do you currently approach locating and working on mindset patterns in your life and work? 🤔

Leave a comment below or join the conversation on linked in.