Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Simon Hammond, New Holland Publishers, $29.99.
Success, in whatever shape you see it, is dependent on how people perceive you and how you perceive yourself.
One of Australia’s most sought after keynote speakers and commentators on branding and consumer behaviour, Hammond unleashes the Brutal Truths about the way society has changed globally. Beyond COVID-19, it’s facing a much bigger threat in 2021, accentuated by the pandemic, but evolving through 20 years of ‘borrowed beliefs’.
He examines why things don’t make sense any more and amid this craziness there is only one thing we can do: go back to the simple notion of knowing where you stand as the world goes by.
Sub-titled ‘Surviving in a world of Lies, Taboos & Bullsh#t’, this book explains much of what happened to us all and continues to happen, as we now face a completely different way of life.
“Coronavirus wasn’t a health crisis — it was a wake-up call for humanity at a time when every other call was going unanswered, it hit at the heart of our schizonphrenic micro-macro existence, playing to our big-picture fears and hitting at our little everyday lives.”
We need to start being truthful, not just wishful because it ensures you walk with a sense of grounded confidence and self-assuredness that is both infectious and demands respect.
The pandemic has seen a rise in predictable platitudes. For some there were business resets, reconnection, simple pleasures, more time with kids, self-reflection, new passion for cooking, product sources, awareness of waste and unnecessary consumerism and newfound fitness.
For others, there was stress and fear and the reality of juggling new responsibilities and burdens. There was fury, self-interest and an unsurprising exploitation for the haves to outdo the have-nots. It was a reaffirmation of human nature.
Advantage will go to those who embrace the brutal truths and evolve beyond others. It will be a race of awareness.
Hammond has unique social insights that will lead you to question what you hold true. Then you will reset forever the importance of truth on self-respect, belonging and personal success.
