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Mind Your Growth
Mind Your Growth is a bold, no-nonsense guide to personal evolution that blends science, philosophy, and some deeply introspective storytelling. The structure is built around five clear phases: understanding yourself, decoding your decisions, defining growth, attracting it, and finally—transcending. It’s not here to pat you on the back. It’s here to shake you awake. Nav Jassi doesn’t hold your hand—he hands you the mirror, points, and says, “Now fix it.”
What got me hooked was how direct and raw Jassi’s writing feels. The preface pulls no punches. It’s basically Jassi saying, “Look, nobody’s coming to save you. Growth? That’s your job.” There’s an unapologetic urgency that runs through every page. I’ve read a ton of growth books, but few have made me stop mid-page and reevaluate my excuses. It’s like the author knows when you’re skimming and slaps your focus back on the text.
Then there’s the section on identity illusion, which I wasn’t expecting to hit as hard as it did. Jassi rips into labels—religion, education, politics—and how we wear them like name tags instead of exploring who we really are. He says, “You are not your title,” and goes on to show how blindly clinging to these labels traps us in other people’s scripts. There’s a moment where he writes, “You must take charge of your own development… not follow someone else’s path.” It reminded me that I’ve been coasting in areas of my life just because it’s what’s expected.
The voice of this book is what really makes it work. It’s not preachy. It’s conversational, weirdly funny, and sometimes poetic. One standout moment? The mind-as-jazz-band analogy, describing thoughts as a chaotic 3 a.m. solo was genius. There’s humor, there’s grit, and there’s soul. I also loved how Jassi connects modern science with ancient wisdom, especially when discussing the spirit as the “quiet engine” that keeps pulling us toward purpose even when life is wrecking us. “Growth by Action” cuts through all the theory and gets real about the one thing most people avoid—doing the actual work. Jassi says that growth isn’t in thinking or planning, it’s in movement, and that resonated with me personally. The chapter’s energy is pure momentum—no fluff, just fire.
I’d say this book is for anyone who’s tired of sugarcoated advice. If you’re in a place where life feels too busy, too noisy, or just kind of stuck—and you want something that pushes you to grow from the inside out—Mind Your Growth is your wake-up call. It’s not just a read. It’s a reset.
Pages: 305 | ISBN : 978-1738347308
Timely Help and Inspiration
Get Your Mind Right is a deep dive into mindset, self-worth, manifestation, and personal growth from someone who has lived it. Why was this an important book for you to write?
This was an important book for me to write because of the aftermath of it. I was actually averse to writing this book because it was difficult at the time to see myself as an author. I endured the writing process because I figured that writing a book could only be a good thing, generally speaking. Now that it is out in the world and has been well received, I am glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and created a body of work that does a good job at amplifying my heart and intentions, with regard to how I exist in the world and get to connect with others.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
The idea of “getting your mind right” was [obviously] important to me. This is a good time to say that this book is not politically charged. People who have read the book haven’t made that correlation to my knowledge, which I am grateful for; but I just wanted to take this opportunity to state that for the record. Get your mind right was an idea that I encountered more than once at a low point in my life. And what I took away from how it was presented to me during those times was that there is you then there is the world around you. How you relate to yourself and how you relate to the people, places, and things around and or connected to you impact your lived experience immensely. The problem you may encounter, however, is that you may not know how to have proper relationships with any of the aforementioned because maybe no one informed you on how to do so, or you were intentionally or unintentionally misinformed on how to do so. I don’t want to belabor this point, which is the value and job of the book, but it was important for me to drive this point home, so much so that “Get Your Mind Right” is the title of the book itself and the first chapter.
Another idea that is core to this book is paying things forward. Besides this book not existing without certain positive influences in my life, there are other aspects of the book that are the byproduct of me receiving timely help and inspiration. It’s difficult for me to describe besides anecdotally, the value in someone in an objectively better place in life helping someone who isn’t. Help is multidimensional and while most people probably value material help, some of the most impactful help I’ve received has been help to gain perspective, help to have a vision for my life, and help to live, exist, and operate, on higher plains of reality. For the purposes of this book, I like the idea of providing a relative truth and allowing a reader to glean personal insight from it. I think that depending on who reads this book one of the paradigm-shifting takeaways will be, “What can I do within reason that can objectively improve the life of someone to some degree, that is in my sphere of influence, and or that I have an affinity towards?”
What is one piece of advice someone gave you that changed your life?
I was talking to my uncle who I don’t get to see often and while I was sharing a work-related story with him, he said to me that people know exactly what they are doing when they treat you a certain way. Prior to that conversation I had never fully thought through the idea that some of what I go through isn’t my fault. That doesn’t mean that I or you or anyone else is absolved of personal responsibility, but it takes two tango, as is often said. Proverbially and metaphorically, they knew they were trying to get you to resign, they knew they were getting on your nerves, and they know they are purposefully making things difficult for you. They want to see how you are going to respond. Inconsiderate actions are actions that resonate with a certain level of disrespect. The point is, however, that however anyone close to you in proximity (family member, significant other, friend, associate, co-worker, etc.) treats you is simply a reflection of how they view themselves through you. Sometimes you are subjugated because whatever person, place, or thing doing the subjugating doesn’t like you because you exemplify some aspect of themselves that they don’t like. Someone else’s insecurities aren’t your problem, that said, you have to choose whether or not you want to put up with them and the repercussions thereof.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your book?
I hope this book has at least a little something specific for everyone who reads it. Depending on where you are in your life when you encounter this book, I want the book to encourage you that you’re not crazy, dramatic, or anything else someone may call you for being you. If that’s not relevant to you, then I want this book to cause you to consider the depth and breadth of your impact, influence, and longevity.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Website | Amazon
Live well but more than that, live period. When you are empowered to generate health and purpose that is what will materialize in your life. Allow yourself to be empowered. Think better, do better, believe better, be better. Some of the nouns in your life are literally either demons or the devil himself. Nefarious forces don’t want you to have a revelation. They want you to be a loser like them. That’s why certain nouns knock you down or undermine you whenever you [try to] accomplish something great with yourself. They don’t want to see you win. They don’t want you to win because they know you can win, and that type of winning will never happen for them in a validating way. The good in you and in your life is more bountiful than the bad, but certain nouns may be amplifying the bad in your life and making it worse. Get your mind right. You only receive what you believe you are worthy of receiving. Believe you are worthy of receiving joy, happiness, promotions, support, love, care, meaning, and purpose. Get and stay around positivity and affirm the good in your life. Go against the people, places, and things that don’t want you to live. Learn how to have and proliferate a meaningful life for yourself.
The Wonder of Our World
SOAR: A Soul’s Quest follows a young eagle on a quest for self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment. What inspired the setup of your story?
Soar’s journey acts as a metaphor for all human existence and builds on the themes of our international award-winning first book: The Legendary Quest: For Professionals Seeking Inner and Outer Excellence and Authentic Fulfilment.
In working together, we envisioned creating a body of work that reflects our views and collective philosophy on life, which we believe is rarely reflected in the prevailing media and cultural messages that people tend to receive.
I truly believe that there’s a Soar in some capacity in all of us. All of us are capable of living the best possible lives we can and becoming the best versions of ourselves. So, the idea of Soar came from the verb soar. We evaluated hundreds of words, but that kind of stuck in the end as we could find none better.
There’s a lot of literature in the modern world about how eagles are really special. They live in communities. They can fly enormous distances without moving a wing and they are among the highest-flying birds. It gave us a great fabric for the story because we practically wanted the reader to soar on the wings of the eagle and experience the wonder of our world.
Is there anything about Soar that came from yourself or your life experiences?
Yes, many parts of Soar were inspired by our journeys. It embeds real life experiences all through the story. So many of our readers have also found the same.
The story of Soar is, we believe, broadly applicable to human experience across the globe, regardless of all demographic and social factors. This story is for everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, or any other identifier. The story is equally applicable for, and to, any preferred pronoun.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Soar highlights several critical issues and conflicts we collectively face! Soar experiences challenges with authority, hierarchy, cognitive rigidity, and lack of growth as well as xenophobia in his community. Soar’s journey highlights many conflicts (within and outside us) that we face and then provides an approach to resolve them. Soar’s journey highlights the importance of growth mindset, openness, willingness to accept alternative perspectives, and seek wide and vivid life experiences to enrich oneself. Further, the journey highlights the importance of grit, resilience, continuous growth, acceptance, gratitude, and forgiveness. The journey challenges the reader to reflect and assess their own cognitive biases and presumptions!
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
We truly hope that readers embark on their own authentic journeys of life and recognize that the journey is at least as important as the destination.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
SOAR: A Soul’s Quest, is the stirring story of a young eagle who sets out in quest of self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment. So come and sail on Soar’s wings! Like most fables, the narrative unfolds as a series of encounters with inspirational creatures who teach Soar critical life lessons. Ultimately Soar learns, as psychologist Dr. Jillian Rigert puts it in her testimonial-“what it means to live a life true to himself and teach others to do the same.” Soar comes to learn the importance of self-discipline, intuition, altruism, trust, and interdependence.
A Growth Mindset Is the Key
I Love How introduces children and their caregivers to the growth mindset praise principle, and how this method benefits and helps children to thrive. Why was this an important topic to write on?
I Love How is the first book in a collection. It was important for this book to be the first as it lays the foundation for a growth mindset, which is a cornerstone for the subsequent books. A growth mindset is the key to unlocking the potential to learn and master the skills presented in the rest of the collection. For benefits from the concepts in my books to be optimized, the parents will also need to be involved and model the behavior. A growth mindset empowers parents and children to embrace the idea that they can continually learn, evolve, and enhance their lives, influencing how they perceive and interact with the world.
How much research did you undertake for this book, and how much time did it take to put it all together?
Well, that depends on what you mean by research and where you draw the starting line. I spent over 6 years conducting a study on the relationships between grit, success, and retention. Part of that was reviewing the existing literature on those three variables. My Ph.D. specialization is in performance psychology, and my M.Ed is in counseling. I have also spent over 15 years as a therapist, behavioral specialist, school counselor, and coach. So I have been studying, researching, and putting these concepts into practice for close to two decades.
I Love How is the first book in a collection that originated from a training/lecture of mine on psychological skills to help adults thrive. These skills are a collection of well-researched concepts that when practiced regularly, have potent benefits. I adapted some of the key concepts of the training into a collection of short baby books. The books are designed to appeal to very young children and to make parents aware of the benefits of incorporating these concepts into their lives.
So the short answer is the research and preparation were done over a long period and synthesized into a lecture. The books themselves were completed pretty quickly because I already had the concepts ironed out in my head.
As for the design and publishing, that was also pretty fast. My wife is very quick and savvy with design software. She was able to help generate the design that I was going for as well as teach me how to navigate the software. I have also been through the very rigorous process of publishing peer-reviewed academic research which made this process seem much less intimidating. Once I put an idea into action I can usually complete the manuscript and cover files in about a week. I have young children myself so I typically work on projects in the evening after everyone goes to bed.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from I Love How?
My hope is for all of my books to be a valuable resource for both parents and children. While the formats of these books are tailored towards babies, the underlying concepts hold significant benefits for adults. In I Love How, I invite readers to recognize that abilities and intelligence are not fixed attributes; rather, they can be cultivated and enhanced over time through dedicated effort, continuous learning, and perseverance. I hope that readers grasp the impact that fostering a growth mindset can have on their child’s learning journey, realizing the compounding effect it can bring to their overall development. On a more simple level, the books are short and contain images of other young children, this was intentional to appeal to both the reader and the baby. I hope this makes my books a favorite go-to at storytime.
What topic will the next book in that series cover, and when will it be published?
Since the release of I Love How, three additional books in the Growing Minds collection have been published. The second book is titled I’m Grateful, which is about establishing a regular practice of gratitude. The third book is titled Another Great Day, which is about the practice of noticing and savoring the positive things in one’s life. The fourth book is called Reframe, and it is about the skill of taking potential negative situations and shifting one’s perspective into a positive and constructive outlook.
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The visuals in this book have been intentionally designed to appeal to very young children but it can be enjoyed by older children as well.
About the Author
Dr. Isaiah Varisano is a highly skilled educator, therapist, coach, athlete, and parent. With over 15 years of experience working with thousands of children and students, as well as hundreds of collegiate and professional athletes, Dr. Varisano brings his expertise in performance psychology to help parents and caregivers establish healthy mindsets and communication styles to support children’s thriving development.
LITERARY TITAN 