I hadn’t significantly climbed the career ladder, I’d progressed steadily with great performance and feedback on my contribution to the business. I didn’t step up to a director role, like some of those I’d interviewed and brought into the company years before. I suppose I'd plodded, always contributing and diligent, but never taking the next big leap. Something had held me back, that inner voice chattering endlessly, making sure I knew my limits. 

When all you can see are pound signs no matter what time of day or night and your brain feels like a huge calculator churning the numbers, pushing them out onto those large printed rolls of paper from a great big noisy printer.