Mindset Coward: Lying Our Way to the Truth
with Vanessa Iceton, Registered Psychologist, Author, and Speaker
Four People. Four Lies. One Pattern.
The lie was so good, it almost became the truth. Have you buried the shame, pain, and hurt beneath the lies you tell yourself? Do you wear a mask of bravery to hide your fear of vulnerability? Have you let deception script how you and the world see you? Mindset Coward: Lying Our Way to the Truth reveals the raw, untold pattern of how we hide and how we heal.
Vanessa’s relentless fight for her calling. Jessica’s survival when no one believed her pain. Joshua’s unmasking when perfection cracked. Asher’s awakening when stillness became his teacher. Four voices. One revelation: C.O.U.R.A.G.E. (Confrontation, Overlooked, Unmasking, Reinvention, Awakening, Generation, Embodiment).
This book isn’t about coping. It’s about confronting the pattern that kept you safe but small, reclaiming the pen, and rewriting the script.
If you’ve ever dimmed your light, hidden your power, or performed strength while breaking inside, these pages are your counter-script. You’ll learn to spot the propaganda of the coward, unmask the truths you’ve been avoiding, and embody the integrated self you were meant to become.
Mindset Coward whispers, “Stay safe”. C.O.U.R.A.G.E. roars, “Come alive.”
Are you ready to stop lying your way through life and start truthing your way to freedom?
About the Author
Sitting in an elevator in Saskatoon, staring at a piece of paper. Vanessa has taken the same exam eleven times. Eleven failures. Each one confirmed what she’d believed since childhood: I’m not smart enough. I’m a failure. Now, on attempt twelve, the paper in her hand says something different. But her hands are shaking because the lie has lived in her longer than any truth ever could.
What's being said about Mindset Coward
Vanessa brings the Mindset Coward
to Audiences Everywhere
Vanessa Iceton is the keynote speaker audiences remember long after the event ends—because she speaks to what people are actually carrying. As a Canadian Registered Psychologist who failed her licensing exam eleven times, Vanessa brings rare credibility, courage, and compassion to conversations about resilience, mental health, and growth. Her signature keynote, Rewriting the Failure Script, blends evidence-based psychology with lived experience to help audiences move past fear, perfectionism, and self-doubt—without clichés or performative motivation. The result is a talk that is honest, practical, and deeply human, equipping people not just to feel inspired in the moment, but to show up differently long after the applause fades.
Vanessa is available for in-person and virtual engagements across Canada, including:
- Corporate and wellness conferences
- Mental health and healthcare events
- Universities and post-secondary institutions
- Leadership and personal development audiences
- Women in business and entrepreneurship
- Psychology and professional organizations
