I was feeling anxious and an imposter, then my buddy said: ‘Judge yourself by your friends’

‘Not to compare myself to them, but to realise that if I have such cool friends, I can’t be a total blight on humanity.’ Composite: Getty

I started in journalism as a “mature-age” cadet, which meant I was old enough to have developed fully formed anxieties before I even started such an anxiety-inducing job.

Luckily for me, an even more “mature” cadet also started that year. And Russell was also marinating in anxiety.