Assertive Humility: Emerging from the ego trap

You’re living the life of your dreams.

You have a highly challenging job at the sharp end of town, with a pay packet and benefits to match; a loving family who understand the need for travel and are grateful for what time they do have with you.

Then you get sick. Very sick. Brain cancer sick.

As it turns out, you’re one of the fortunate ones. You come out the other side after a protracted fight with your disease. But you emerge as a different person – a better person. You’re more compassionate; much less self-centred. You’re much more grateful, much more conscious.

Quite simply, you emerge as a much happier person.

Wondering how the ‘old you’ was able to maintain the pace, you realise that the satisfaction you got from your previous life was a mirage. You were never going to be able to sustain it.

And then it strikes you. What if you hadn’t got sick? Did it really need a near-fatal disease to reveal this better, happier side of yourself?

This was the situation facing Stuart Taylor as he sat down to write Assertive Humility. This is not a cancer survival story, although it is in part. Nor is it a critique of the corporate lifestyle, though it is that too, in part. Mostly this book is a wake up call – an opportunity to reflect on where you are now, where you’re going and whether you are happy with that trajectory. It raises some of the same questions Stuart faced – without the trauma – and provides a framework for exploring the journey ahead.

“A book to read, to savour, to contemplate and to put into action. When you do, going to work will become even more of a joy, and coming home a satisfying delight! Read it yourself, share it with your colleagues. They will thank you for it.” Dr Ian Gawler, OAM, Founder – Gawler Foundation

“Sometimes we need to be rudely awakened. Stuart's story is a call to wake up and discover the deep and meaningful reality that sits quietly waiting in each of us.” Dr Sven Hansen, Founder, Global CEO and Chairperson – The Resilience Institute

“I highly recommend this book to anyone who is either struggling with challenges in life – either professional or personal – or who simply is open to a better way of living one's life.” Bob Santamaria, Chief Counsel ANZ Banking Corporation

“An incredibly valuable ‘heads up’ on what may signal an unsustainable lifestyle, and a personal guide on how to intervene and head things off at the pass... It makes it all so possible and real.” Dean Salter, Senior Executive, BP Australia