For Brooke Taylor, achievement – the kind people recognise – was everything.
“I grew up in Silicon Valley, in a culture that really prized achievement and intellect over everything else,” she says.
After chasing down goals throughout her education, Taylor was successful in her career and became, she says, “golden handcuffed” in a managerial job at Google.
“And that worked really well for a long time. I was able to climb up and get promoted quickly. I was one of the top salespeople … I got this big award one quarter, but after getting that award, I still felt empty.”
The pressure to achieve every goal was affecting all aspects of her life.
“Throughout this time … I was also numbing out with drugs and alcohol … going deeper and deeper into my addiction.”
So she made the call to take a different path.
