Join the Movement
Stop Chasing. Start Creating.
A timeless professional fable that is becoming a movement to help people create more meaningful work and lives.
Order Today!
As Featured In
National Study on Meaningful Work in America
The Research Behind the Movement
Stop Chasing, Start Creating isn’t just a philosophy. It’s also the foundation of a national research study exploring what creates meaning, resilience, and engagement at work.
77%
of workers believe organizations confuse busyness with meaningfulness.
67%
say meaningful work matters more than high pay.
71%
say leaders shape meaningful work more than organizations.
What Are You Chasing?
Many successful people aren’t exhausted because they’re working too hard.
They’re exhausted because they’re chasing things that never fully satisfy.
Stop Chasing, Start Creating invites you to step off that treadmill and begin creating meaning instead.
Recognition
Approval
Busyness
Perfection
Status
Control
The Book in Motion
See the Story Come Alive
From the official trailer to the first unboxings and the keynote stage — watch Stop Chasing, Start Creating make its way into the world.
What Will Change
- Recognize when you're chasing instead of creating.
- Redefine success around meaning instead of external validation.
- Build intentional habits that create momentum.
- Create work that reflects your values.
- Move forward with greater clarity, resilience, and purpose.
You will also learn the Meaning Journey Model in story form.
Not as a framework to memorize.But as a journey you experience.
As described on the book page, this work helps professionals shift from chasing external validation to creating internal meaning and alignment.
The framework
The Meaning Journey Model
A research-backed shift from chasing external rewards to creating work grounded in purpose, contribution, and alignment.
Creating meaning is being intentional about what is significant, aligned with your values, and impactful to others, including yourself.
Mindset
Create a new way of seeing your work, your life, and yourself by choosing meaning over chasing.
Momentum
Turn meaningful intentions into consistent daily actions that build purpose, progress, and lasting momentum.
Mastery
Refine your habits, strengthen your resilience, and create meaning so consistently that it becomes your way of living and leading.
A Timeless Fable
Why Tell This Story as a Fable?
Most business books tell you what to do.
Stories help you discover why it matters.
Through the journey of Tano the tortoise, Stop Chasing, Start Creating helps readers see themselves in the story, challenge long-held assumptions about success, and rethink what it means to build a meaningful life and career.
This isn’t just a book you read.
It’s a story that stays with you.
The Story
The Story Behind Stop Chasing, Start Creating
Before it became a book, it was a journey. Watch the mini-documentary behind Stop Chasing, Start Creating and discover the experiences, questions, and lessons that shaped a story about what happens when we stop chasing what looks meaningful and start creating what actually is.
The Idea
Watch the TEDx Talk
Stop Chasing Meaning. Create It in the Middle of the Mess.
Discover Justin’s second TEDx talk exploring why meaning isn’t something we have to wait to find. It’s something we can intentionally create, even in the middle of life’s uncertainty and challenges.
Testimonials
Praise for Stop Chasing, Start Creating
“This work provides a timely invitation to pause, realign, and do the inner work that fuels purposeful leadership and organizational transformation.”
Mike Campbell
Senior Director, HR, adidas
“Jones-Fosu has the rare gift for taking big, overwhelming concepts and making them resonate in the most practical, human way. This book is a great reminder that purpose and resilience aren’t found in the sprint, but in steady, intentional steps.”
Whitnee Dillard
Executive Director, The National Invest Program
“This is an elegantly written tale that grips the reader from the first line. It is the handbook everyone needs to ‘work, lead, and live from the inside out.'”
Jennifer B. Kahnweiler
Speaker, consultant, and bestselling author of The Introverted Leader
“I know this story because I know the young man who lived it, and know the man he became because of it. My hope is that this short book helps you give yourself the same grace, courage, and meaning I’ve watched him discover.”
Valerie Jones-Williams
Justin’s mom and first believer
Dive deeper
Experience Stop Chasing, Start Creating Live
Experience a snapshot of how Justin and the Work. Meaningful. Team are positively impacting workplaces, communities, and everyday living.
Experience the Keynote
See why organizations around the world invite Justin to help leaders and teams move from burnout and busyness toward greater meaning, engagement, and resilience.
This immersive keynote experience combines storytelling, audience participation, research, and practical tools that people remember long after the event ends.
Giving Forward
Your Purchase Creates Meaning, Too
100% of Justin’s author royalties from Stop Chasing, Start Creating support the Work Meaningful Foundation and help provide clean water, build schools, and create technology labs for students and communities in Ghana.
Available Now
Listen As I Narrate My New Book
Hear the story of Tano in my own voice as I walk you through the journey from chasing to creating. Some stories are meant to be heard.
Wanna take a look inside?
Download Free Chapter
Get a glimpse of my message and writing styke
In Chapter One, you’ll meet Tano before he was steady — back when he was still chasing. It’s the story before the story you know, and the beginning of the shift from chasing to creating. If you’re not ready to dive into the full book yet, this is a great place to start. But be careful…you might actually like it!
the author
About Justin Jones-Fosu
Justin Jones-Fosu is a husband, father, keynote speaker, and founder of Work. Meaningful.
For almost two decades, he has helped organizations around the world create more meaningful work through practical strategies, engaging experiences, and lasting behavior change.
He is the author of Stop Chasing, Start Creating, published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, and the creator of the Creating Meaning framework, helping people move from constantly chasing external success to intentionally creating meaningful impact.
When he isn’t speaking on stages around the world, Justin is investing in education through the Give Meaningful Foundation, where 100% of his book royalties help fund schools and technology labs for students in Ghana.
His mission is simple:
Help people stop chasing what looks meaningful and start creating what actually is.
Join the Movement
Stop Chasing. Start Creating.
- Join thousands of leaders, professionals, and organizations choosing to create more meaning every day.
- Whether you begin with the book, the keynote, or the research, your journey starts here.
- 100% of Justin's author royalties fund schools and technology labs for students in Ghana through the Give Meaningful Foundation.
