On June 16th, Youth Day in this turbulent land of South Africa, I was asked to review a book that is being launched today on Amazon. It’s called ‘Personality isn’t Permanent’ by Dr Benjamin Hardy. It is a remarkable book. It’s even more remarkable when I reflect back on my life and the country in which I live.

Today is freezing in Johannesburg, they predicted a mild dusting of snow…yes in the land where elephants roam in the north.

Today is biting. Covid is biting. Youth everywhere are hungry, standing on street corners, masks hanging from their ears, huddling into their thin jackets.

I am in the privilege of living in a warm home with a fireplace and warm food and a hot shower.

What does this have to do with a book review you might ask?

Well I can be cynical or sad or disillusioned or weighed down with the burden of my privileged guilt OR I can choose to wake up tomorrow and make a difference in the world. To align myself with change-makers, with those who want to be different, to dismiss my limiting self-beliefs, to help others believe in themselves despite the harsh realities that surround us in this cold biting day.

You see I am not the same person I used to be. I HAVE changed my personality. It was NOT permanent. I used to live in unconscious victim mode, a cloak of sadness hanging around my shoulders, a learnt pattern, a lived experience.

Now I wake up each day knowing I can make a difference in some shape and form. Every day. It’s a powerful way to live. It shifts guilt into the joy of action, of knowing you were born for a reason in this fractured land.

So to Dr Benjamin Hardy, thank you for writing a profound book that is going to re-frame and shape our thinking globally. Thank you for writing a book that truly reflects my life’s journey. Thank you for putting the neuroscience behind un-labelling and un-boxing our self-beliefs.

I dedicate June 16th 2020 to continue to work with young entrepreneurs, to allow them to believe in themselves and find their voices. To tell their stories so that others can understand, to tell their stories so that we can heal layers of our past and rebuild our economy. That takes me from powerless to powerful.

That is how we change the world. Personality isn’t permanent. Neither are our limited, patterned, programmed, ritualised self-beliefs.

Please read this book. It is a game-changer for our youth and those with influence and responsibility. Written with science, humility and humanity.

We can all change our world. Even if it seems you cannot change THE world. But your world is a small corner of the world. When you change your personality you change YOUR world. And then it all seems limitless….