Blank Canvas isn’t a prison book.
It’s a study in unconscious authorship and what it takes to reclaim authorship of your life when inherited definitions of success fall away.
Recognized by James Altucher as one of the most impactful hybrid books he has ever recommended, Blank Canvas explores identity, self-leadership, and the hidden cost of success built without alignment.
It’s written for people who have done everything “right,” yet sense that something essential is missing.
The book serves as the intellectual foundation behind my keynote work, examining how fear, scarcity, and borrowed definitions of success quietly shape decisions, integrity, and long-term performance.
My story provides the context.
The work is the transformation.
Today, Blank Canvas supports the keynotes I deliver for organizations, associations, and leadership audiences seeking clarity, engagement, and sustainable performance rooted in self-trust rather than fear.
What You’ll Walk Away With
By the end of Blank Canvas, you won’t just understand what happened. You’ll understand how it can happen so quickly, and how to stop it before it costs you everything.
You’ll walk away with:
• A grounded blueprint for reinvention, rooted in self-trust, ownership, and the willingness to face what’s true
• A deeper understanding of unconscious authorship—how fear, approval-seeking, and self-protection quietly shape decisions over time
• A new lens on identity and self-leadership, especially what happens when external success collapses, and the real work begins
Praise for Blank Canvas
Craig has lived a story nobody would ever want to live. I was riveted to each page because I kept asking myself, ‘How would I handle this?’ And I didn’t know the answers. Craig takes us into hell and then we ride with him on the journey back. Great story, great writing, and great human being.
James Altucher, best-selling author of Skip the Line, Choose Yourself, and Reinvent Yourself
I cannot put down your book. Best book I’ve read since Tuesdays With Morrie. Jaw dropping.
T.S.
I am so grateful for this book. Craig Stanland has written such a truthful and personal tale, one of hope and strength. Blank Canvas has truly helped me to sort through my own story and find some peace.
Bobbie
Blank Canvas is a harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of a life brought low only to be reclaimed and redeemed in a stunning and startling fashion. Craig Stanland recounts in compelling, episodic chapters the events and choices that led to his arrest on fraud charges and his subsequent guilty plea, conviction and incarceration. Set adrift and having lost everything, Craig tells the story of finding the courage to accept the circumstance of his confinement and how it becomes the foundation for his reawakening, learning to live life on the terms upon which it is offered. This accessible and enjoyable read belies the frank honesty and the depth of reflection imbued within the pages. While a gem of a memoir, Blank Canvas lives more comfortably within the company of the inspirational classics Jonathan Livingston Seagull and The Alchemist.
Jeff K., New York City
Verified Reviews of Blank Canvas
