When I was in 4th grade, I got a D in math. I felt like a failure. To me, math knowledge equated with smarts. And, naturally smarts equated with success. At 9 years old, I was doomed to a life without success.

Three years later my seventh grade English teacher read one of my essays to the class. She cried a little at one part. At 12 years old, I knew I was destined to write a book.

I spent my life thinking about this yet unwritten book until three decades later when I figured something out;...