Sometimes I wonder if I have gone mad, but reading Dr Chatterjee’s 12 rules for body and mind reassured me that I’m as sensible as the next GP, best-selling author and podcast host.

If you haven’t come across his 12 rules for body and mind (Where have you been? There has been a marketing frenzy of his latest book ‘Make Change That Lasts’), I’m going to pick one rule that could save your life:

Do not tie your self-esteem and identity to your job.

As Chatterjee observes, ‘It’s no exaggeration to say that this myth is killing us’. He cites common behaviours like working through the weekend and getting by on no sleep as the perfect recipe for high blood pressure…. and the rest.

And yet we see these behaviours all the time everywhere don’t we?

Recently, my Mother mentioned her friend ‘David-the-retired-anaesthetist’. I thought it was an extraordinary way to refer to someone until I met him in person: he introduced himself as David-the-retired-anaesthetist. Clearly, being David just isn’t enough for him.

I suspect busyness is the biggest killer. Maybe it will be like smoking one day and it will be banned. Everywhere.

So here’s to going to bed at 9pm, turning our phones off at home and staying alive.