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

by Ash Buchanan

A new science approach to living a mindset-aware life.

In this breakthrough book, renowned researcher Ash Buchanan reveals how you can live a mindset-aware life: an essential 21st century skill that enables you to work with your mindset in the present. Packed with evidence-based insights and practical strategies, Mindset Aware will help you come to know your mindset directly, and make small shifts that can create big changes in what is possible in your life and the world.

What makes Mindset Aware unique is its new science approach. After discovering a surprising gap in the mindset the absence of a theory grounded in all the evidence, Buchanan embarked on one of the most extensive studies ever undertaken in the field. What emerged was a collection of 16 new science principles that are helping to support a paradigm shift in how we understand and work with mindset. These principles also integrate cutting-edge insights from neuroscience, mindfulness, embodiment practice, regenerative development, systems change, transformative learning, trauma-informed care, power-literacy, and more. You may not find a more comprehensive guide to the new science of mindset, and you may never see mindset in the same way again.

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.

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 25, 2025

About the author

Ash Buchanan is a researcher and author who is helping to revolutionise our understanding of mindset. His interdisciplinary mindset research is widely recognised for being grounded in applied experience and for integrating evidence-based insights. He is the author of two books, The Nature of Mindset, and Handbook of Mindset Research. He leads a participatory action research initiative called benefit mindset, which is a compassionate and transformative evolution of fixed and growth mindset.

Ash is also the founder of cohere, a consultancy that helps people and groups shift their mindset, and build their capacity for collective healing, wellbeing for all, and transformative change. He works with individuals, organisations, and schools around the world, leading a range of mindset workshops and training programs, and offering consulting services and mentoring support.

You can follow Ash via his newsletter called mindset psychology.

Reviews

[David Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. It illuminates the whole field of mindset, challenges common assumptions, and brings mindset science principles to life. With practical guidance that reaches into every aspect of our lives, it helps you assess where you stand today, recognise the signs of a fixed or frozen mindset, and follow clear pathways to grow and free your mindset. This is the definitive guide for leaders, educators, and communities ready to become mindset aware, and to thrive and flourish together in an ever-changing world.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

This book will be super helpful for those of working in and with support services, particularly as there is discussion of how trauma can impact mindset. 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!

[Monika Szijjarto · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many books on mindset, but most stay theoretical or simplify the process of change. What I’ve always valued in Ash’s work is that it gives real depth and structure without taking over the reader’s thinking. This new book takes that even further.
The exercises make a remarkable difference. They help you slow down, notice your own patterns, and work with them in a way that feels personal and accurate. Instead of directing your mindset, they create the space where your own insights can take shape — and that is what makes the learning genuine.
In my professional work, I need tools that can adapt to different people and different learning paths. These practices do exactly that. They enrich experiential learning, and they strengthen how I design sessions for teachers, professionals, and young learners.
This book is easy to recommend because it is not only meaningful to read — it is genuinely useful. The combination of clarity, reflection, and practical exercises makes it stand out, and leaves you with insights you can actually work with.

[Natalie Jurcec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mindset Aware so much more than a mindset book, it’s this beautiful integration of psychology, presence, compassion and the inner shifts that help you move through life more awake and intentional. The research is so thoughtfully woven through the chapters, grounding the ideas without ever feeling heavy. What I loved most is how deeply Ash explores the mind–body connection: mindset not just as thoughts, but as something you feel in your body, see in your environment and sense in your whole being, which mirrored what I have learnt through my yoga and coaching training. The reflective exercises at the end of each chapter are impactful, simple, powerful prompts that help you turn the learning into real action. If you’re someone seeking clarity, self-leadership or a more grounded way of moving through life, this book will land deeply. Insightful, compassionate and quietly transformational, a must-read for anyone ready to wake up to their own power.