Part 2/12 - The Higher You Climb…

There’s a saying I would sometimes reflect on during the years my business expanded by over 500% in headcount, and revenue multiplied 10x.

The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

At the time, it felt like a cliché.
Now, I recognise it as a warning I quietly heard but did not yet understand.

Outwardly, everything was increasing.

Success.
Growth.
Expansion.
People.
Revenue.
Credibility.
Expectation.
Clients were growing.
Services were expanding.
We built a research facility.
We moved into a larger home.
Company cars became more expensive.
Our family grew.
Income increased.

From a worldly perspective, everything was moving in the right direction.

It felt like climbing a mountain.
Or climbing a ladder.
Choose your analogy.

The altitude was increasing.

And with every step higher, the external world became more aspirational.
More impressive.
More validated.

But altitude changes pressure.

The higher you climb, the thinner the air becomes.
The fewer people can relate to your position.
The greater the expectation.
The less margin for visible weakness.

What no one talks about is this:

When you climb, you don’t just gain success.

You gain responsibility.
You gain weight.
You gain scrutiny.

And if your inner world is not expanding at the same rate as your outer world, the gap begins to widen.

At the time, I did not see a gap.

I saw momentum.
I saw progress.
I saw expansion.

But I now understand something I could not see then:

Climbing amplifies whatever is unresolved.

If identity is secure, altitude strengthens you.
If identity is fragile, altitude exposes you.

The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

Not because success is dangerous.
But because height magnifies fracture.

And fracture at altitude carries consequences.