Stop Chasing, Start Creating: A Timeless Fable on Mindset, Resilience, and Meaningful Work - Softcover

Jones-Fosu, Justin

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798890572141

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2026

Synopsis

Stop running toward someone else’s definition of success, and start intentionally shaping your own. This prequel to Aesop’s famous tortoise and hare fable shows exhausted professionals how to shift from chasing external validation to creating internal meaning and alignment.

Stop chasing visibility. Start creating meaning.

In today’s high-pressure workplace, professionals are depleted from constantly proving themselves to others—yet struggling to find genuine satisfaction in their work. What if the breakthrough isn’t working harder within the system but instead reimagining what success means to you?

Stop Chasing, Start Creating reveals the untold story of Tano the tortoise before his famous race with the hare. In this prequel to the beloved Aesop’s fable, we discover that Tano wasn’t always the steady, purposeful creature we know. He once chased visibility, approval, and validation just like the rest of us—until a moment of awakening changed everything.

Through Tano’s journey from external pressure to internal clarity, readers discover the crucial difference between chasing meaning and creating it. Grounded in motivation science, this framework shifts professionals from extrinsic motivation (external rewards, recognition, and belonging) to intrinsic motivation (purpose, contribution, and alignment).

Perfect for burned-out professionals in healthcare, education, nonprofit management, and other purpose-driven fields, this story-first approach offers the metaphor-rich reflection modern workers crave without feeling like another productivity manual.

About this title

About the Author

Justin Jones-Fosu is CEO of Work.Meaningful., which is a firm focused on workplace engagement and diversity and inclusion that he founded 18 years ago. He is a full-time speaker and trainer who speaks and trains 10,000 to 20,000 people per year. He is a former radio host and former workplace contributor to NPR's "The Takeaway" and is known for his ability to connect to a broad range of people in a down-to-earth, humorous way. His recent Berrett-Koehler book, I Respectfully Disagree, and his previous self-published books, The Inclusive Mindset and Your WHY Matters Now, have sold a total of more than 20,000 copies.

Edition details

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798890572141
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144