I was chatting with a relative yesterday. They were describing how their boss and company owner was so manic that they had installed secretly cameras in the office – checking up on what time staff came in, while they were thousands of miles away in a different time zone on holiday. We discussed how to react.

On reflection, a more important question surfaced. What is your self worth? After all, the boss is playing control freak par excellence. This power play can only be won by diluting the self respect of individual staff members.

A great podcast by Daniel Pink looked at the same subject from a different angle. How can we measure gratitude?

We are taught to count or add up our blessings. Pink argues that we should mentally remove what is important to us. can we do without them. That will reveal what is crucially important for us.

True, and definitely food for thought. However, it leaves you feeling a little hopeless. A somewhat painful exercise.

Thus, I argue that Pink misses the follow up to his observation. There are times when we hit a crisis point. And, although help may be on offer, it has to come from within ourselves. We have to dig deep.

Long distance or marathon runners call this hitting a wall. And I just came across this amazing poster, which sums up with supreme clarity what I am trying to explain. It offers a clear way forward.

I looked at the picture for several seconds, as I contemplated what it was saying to me. What I can reveal were all the thoughts were powerful and motivating. Yourself?