The Be More P.U.N.K. manifesto
Get comfortable being wrong – it’s how you grow teeth
Stop hiding from mistakes like they’re a crime scene. Own them, learn fast, rewire your reactions, and use every f*ck-up as proof you’re actually doing something, not just playing safe.
Build cultures that reward courage, not perfection
Progress comes from experiments, missteps, and people brave enough to admit they screwed up. Leaders go first. Kill the fear, ditch the blame, and watch trust, creativity, and results explode.
Be unapologetically you
Use your past as fuel, not a f*cking prison. Stop chasing fixes, stop copying gurus, back yourself, call your doubts out loud, and crack on anyway. You’re not broken, you’re unfinished.
Refuse to sell your soul for a payslip
Work should never hollow you out. Hold your values, tolerate idiots only when you must, and if a job is slowly murdering your spirit, don’t “resilience” your way through it, get out and take your life back.
Stop waiting and start swinging that hammer
Nobody’s coming to save you. “Not ready” is fear in drag, excuses are a comfort blanket, and ownership is the only way out. Decide, move, and get your hands dirty.
Build it with guts, not permission
Plan with intent, act with authority, and wear failure like a f*cking badge of honour. Learn fast, adapt harder, and keep going, that’s how real sh!t gets done.
F*ck settling for ‘OK’
Question everything, challenge the norm, and push your life past “meh” into something that actually matters. Spot the cracks, own your risks, and never confuse comfort with contentment.
Take control, disrupt, and demand more
Apply your Anti-OK attitude everywhere – work, health, relationships – and if the place or people around you won’t rise to it, leave them behind. Your life, your rules, your impact.
Stop sh@gging the past and start moving on
The “good old days” are a dodgy highlight reel, fear is a compulsive liar, and comfort is where ambition goes to die. Growth is awkward, noisy, and uncomfortable – good! That’s the sound of progress happening.
Grab the wheel and fvcking decide
Change isn’t asking for your permission. Drive it or get dragged by it. Pick a direction, learn on the move, stop sitting on the fence, and surround yourself with people who push you forward, not ones who cling to excuses like life rafts.
Torch the bullsh!t that’s bleeding you dry
Call out the habits, relationships, and situations you keep “putting up with” and make a ruthless decision: fix what’s fixable, walk away from what isn’t, and stop trying to rescue people who like the water too much to swim.
Choose healthier chaos over familiar poison
Not every relationship deserves a lifetime contract – at home or at work. Set brutal boundaries, change the game, build allies, and if something’s become toxic, forced, or soul-sapping, cut it loose and move forward lighter, stronger, and clearer.
The book
This book is the antithesis to most of the self-help, leadership and culture books that play it safe – hollow slogans, shallow fixes, endless frameworks. Straight-talking, real, relatable, this book is for the brave.
It fuses Simon’s personal life and decades of frontline experience across organisations, a razor-sharp coaching instinct, and a fiercely human voice that cuts through jargon like a switchblade, he doesn’t just “challenge the status quo”, he lives in opposition to it.
Armed with common sense, punk ethics, and strategic clarity, this isn’t another book about kindness, it’s about truth, and the radical, messy, brilliant progress that happens when we start living and telling it.
About Simon
Simon doesn’t do “playing nice.” He does impact. For over two decades he’s been prying open the skulls of organisations and individuals to expose what’s inside – motives, fears, blind spots, brilliance, all of it. While the rest of the corporate world drapes itself in empty slogans and pastel-coloured positivity, Simon charges in with a crowbar, a grin, and a refusal to tolerate mediocrity.
Through Punk Incorporated, he’s helped individuals, teams, and organisations strip away their tired habits and become sharper, braver, and more human. Through Punk Ink, he twists society’s mirror, using art to challenge perceptions and provoke conversations.
Simon’s mission is brutally simple: shake people awake. Remind them that “OK” is the enemy. Drag them kicking, swearing, or laughing into the version of themselves that actually matters. If you’ve read the book, you’ve already agreed to the first step: dropping the polite mask and stepping into something real.
Welcome to being more P.U.N.K.
Book reviews
I loved it. It’s easy to read, explains the thinking simply and plainly, and contains steps that feel achievable and effective. It’s also very definitely in Simon’s voice, which is a good thing, as the genuineness and cutting through the bullsh!t comes across clearly and makes it easy to engage with.
The first thing you notice is the authenticity, I was struck by the raw honesty and vulnerability, yet Simon also shows his ability to confront and challenge you. It’s also full of pop culture references and humour which brings a lightness to some of the heavier subjects discussed.
This is real, relatable and well-balanced, whether you’re experienced with the ‘self-help’ genre or new to it, this acts a great prompt to embrace being more punk, stop worrying about what others think and do shit for you! (Like read this book…).
Simon has made the reader open their eyes and feelings, encouraging take the approach to all aspects of life to be about doing better for oneself; not just being OK. EVERY moment of life has brought us to the ‘right now’; for better or worse we are here because of all those positive and negative moments throughout life. What you can become is directly driven by us changing what needs changing and not sitting back and being ‘OK’.
In short, an honest, refreshing, unfiltered take on self-help.
As a person who is not afraid to challenge the status quo, I found Simon’s book refreshing… Many topics he covered resonated with me and I love the fact that just being OK is not OK… (well, it could be; it really depends on your views in life)
Thanks Simon for such a straight talk book.
Appreciated it.
This book doesn’t motivate. It confronts.
Be More P.U.N.K. stands in direct opposition to most self-help. No platitudes, no hype, no soft edges. Just common sense, personal responsibility, and punk ethics. Question authority. Think for yourself. Act with intent.
It challenges the status quo by rejecting comfort disguised as progress. The message is simple and uncomfortable. You already know what to do. The issue is whether you will do it.
I’ll be recommending this to colleagues who want real development, not another framework to hide behind.Less self-help. More backbone.
This book doesn’t motivate. It confronts.
Feels like I just read a book written by a human. One that’s actually lived a life, both corporate and family. And nice to see that you can be motivated and driven without being a dick. Strong recommend.
Some cracking ideas on how to survive and thrive in the modern world. Simon shoots from the hip in a narrative that we can all understand and relate to – no bullshit and no convoluted jargon. Well worth the read, especially if the true punk ethos resonates with you.
What a great read! Simon Payne’s fabulous ‘Be More P.U.N.K.’ Clever and funny.
It cuts through the bullsh** to deliver a great mix of ethics, common sense and strategy on how to survive through the highs and lows, and plain madness of a working life. Great entertainment and a lot of wise counsel from someone who’s learned the hard way.
Conversation Starter Pack
P.U.N.K. might work for you, your team, or your business.
The Conversation Starter pack is a way to explore this further with the author. There are two packages available:
Motivation, Behaviour Change, Transformation, and Talent Acceleration
Simon has got 20+ years experience in personal and team development and has supported hundreds of people and teams globally
As a certified practitioner in Learning & Development and Agile HR/ People, each of the 6 Punk Values are built around solid methodologies and subjects that are designed to bring about real change.
All of the main categories (e.g. Be Yourself) will work for individuals, groups, and teams. You are able to create a programme that works for you by simply selecting what categories (e.g. Be Anti-OK) and specific elements (e.g. Psychological Safety) you want to include. If you are unsure where to start, contact Simon for a chat.
Training and Coaching can be a very personal journey, so if you are feeling stuck and don’t know if any of the 6 Punk Values are relevant to you, it’s worth taking advantage of a free 30 minute call to explore this.
All programmes include a free copy of the Be More P.U.N.K. book.
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Be Yourself
- Grow People
- Tell Why and What and Leave the How to the People
- Trust
- Authenticity
- Focus
- Know People Deeply
- Give and Receive Feedback
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Boot Out Bullsh!t
- Transparency
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Peer Pressure
- Empowerment
- Make Mistakes and Learn From Them
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Be Anti-OK
- Increase Happiness
- Purpose and Meaning
- Psychological Safety
- Stable Teams
- Individuals and Interactions OVER processes and tools
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Be Wrong
- Cross- functional Teamwork
- Adaptability
- Collective
- Intelligence
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Smash Change
- Optimize For The Whole
- Trial & Error
- Experimentation Continuous Learning and Improvement
- Common Direction
- Emerget strategy
- Clear goals and simple rules
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DIY, FFS
- Self-Leadership
- Accountability and Commitment
- Self- Organisation
- Personal Agility
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