This next week, we’re diving deep into the heartbeat of the book—its title, subtitle, and cover art. These are the first things readers meet, the handshake across the bookshelf. They’re the quick spark that either draws someone in or lets them drift past. And while that sounds like pure marketing, the goal of Week Minded has never been to “sell books.”
- The real goal is bigger
- It’s to help people rediscover their strengths.
- To offer hope in the hard seasons.
- To show how relationships are the oil for life’s engine.
- To remind people that legacy isn’t a someday aspiration—it’s a daily practice.
If we get the book into more hands, more lives get lifted. That’s the point.
I could have built this book like a textbook—full of elegant models, statistical curves, and academic precision. I do love that world. It’s where I’ve spent my professional life as a social scientist: studying patterns, analyzing behaviors, running the numbers. I once believed that was the clearest way to teach people anything.
But here’s the truth: no one curls up at night asking you to read them a research paper. Gair Maxwell, my friend and bestselling author of Big Little Legends, put it perfectly:
“Kids don’t ask for white papers at bedtime—they ask for stories.”
And he’s right. The turning point for me came during a recent talk where I unveiled a leadership model I’d spent months refining. I walked the group through data, frameworks, formulas—the good, intellectual stuff. Then, almost as an afterthought, I told a short story about the power of caring as a leader. Guess which part they remembered? Not the model. Not the metrics. The story. Because the relatable story is where meaning sticks.
The story bypasses logic and goes straight to the heart.
The story makes the lesson unforgettable.
So here I am—embracing storytelling not as a soft skill but as the strongest teaching tool we have. As we step into editing, I’m leaning on people who know the structure, flow, and narrative craft far better than I do. Pride in authorship is real, but so is humility. This is my first book. I’m still learning. And I’m okay with that.
Stay close. The story behind Week Minded is just getting good—and I can’t wait to share what comes next.