The Books
Skills for the game of growing up.
The books are short — 50 to 70 pages, designed to read in a single sitting. Each one installs one capacity. Together they build a system.
Available now
Stay Engaged. Don't Disappear.
For when everything feels flat and disconnected. Builds the steadiness to stay engaged instead of disappearing into autopilot.
"I can stay."
Available on Amazon ↗
Stop Feeling Hijacked. Get Choice Back.
Interrupts stress, overwhelm, and overthinking loops before reactions take over. Builds the ability to settle the system and choose a response.
"I can calm my system."
Available on Amazon ↗
Stop Shrinking. Stand Behind Yourself.
Builds the ability to handle doubt, pressure, and comparison without shrinking. Trains standing behind your own read instead of outsourcing it.
"I can stand behind myself."
Available on Amazon ↗
Stop Waiting. Move Forward.
Helps young people act before they feel fully ready — interrupting avoidance, delay, and hesitation. Movement before certainty.
"I can move forward."
Available on Amazon ↗
In development
Stop Second-Guessing. Trust Your Judgement.
Interrupts hesitation and the habit of outsourcing decisions before testing your own read. Builds the ability to act on internal signal rather than external approval.
"I trust my judgement."
Coming soon
Hold Steady When It Gets Loud.
Builds psychological stability when other people or group dynamics are the destabilising force. Helps young people hold their ground without aggression or collapse.
"I hold under pressure."
Coming soon
What You Repeat Becomes Who You Are.
Consolidates identity work through deliberate daily choices — recognising which version of yourself is being built by what you repeatedly do.
"I choose who I reinforce."
Coming soon
The System Is Yours. Run It Deliberately.
The earlier books built individual capacities. This one runs them together. For the moment when you step back and ask: is the overall picture actually what I'd choose?
"I run my system deliberately."
Coming soon
The Arc
Stay in the Game — Foundation
"I can stay."
Calm Reset — Book 1
"I can calm my system."
Confidence Stand — Book 2
"I can stand behind myself."
Courage Move — Book 3
"I can move forward."
Self-Trust Shift — Book 4
"I trust my judgement."
Inner Authority — Book 5
"I hold under pressure."
Reinforce — Book 6
"I choose who I reinforce."
The Deliberate Life — Book 7
"I run my system deliberately."
Stay engaged → Calm the system → Stand behind yourself → Move forward → Trust your judgement → Hold under pressure → Choose who you reinforce → Run it deliberately
Why it works
Not knowledge. Capacity.
What's missing for most young people isn't information. It's the structured repetition that takes something they've heard of and installs it as something they can actually do under pressure, in the moment, when it counts. That's what each book in this series builds. Not knowledge. Capacity.
"Practical, unfussy, and mercifully free of the kind of earnest over-explaining that makes most books aimed at teenagers unappealing to actual teenagers."
— Linda Miller, Registered Psychologist & Mindset Coach
For educators, counsellors & youth workers
Designed to work without facilitation — but sits naturally alongside it.
The series is self-directed by design. Young people stay in charge of the process. It works without a facilitator — but it sits naturally alongside pastoral care, school counselling, and youth work. If you're interested in using Player Mode with a group, class, or caseload, get in touch.
Early reader access
If you're a teacher, counsellor, youth worker, or parent — email
arc@deliberatepress.com with the subject line
ARC list and we'll send you future Player Mode books before they launch. No obligation. Just early access.
About the author
Wendy Baunton — author & publisher
I built the Player Mode series because I kept watching young people get stuck in patterns they didn't choose and didn't know how to interrupt. Drift. Reactivity. Avoidance. Self-doubt. These aren't character flaws — they're autopilot running unchecked. There's enough shame attached to these patterns already. This series doesn't add to it. It interrupts it.
Each book builds one core skill at a time. The books are designed for independent use, without requiring formal facilitation. The reader stays in charge of the process.
A decades-long immersion in behavioural science, coaching, and human performance research made one thing clear: the tools exist. Most young people just don't have access to them in a form they can actually use. That's what this series is.