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Some top business people are so full of passion and energy and enthusiasm for the business that they carry on planning, plotting and persuading oblivious to health risks, and any advice from family and friends.

Business is just another drug at this stage and for addicts there is nothing quite like the thrill of opening a new unit, finding a different market or signing another deal. You can dress it all up to look like providing for the family, or pension security or leaving a legacy for the local community. And indeed all of these things and more may form part of the motivation behind some driven individuals.

Late last year one of my clients attended the funeral of a colourful business colleague. This chap was larger than life in so many ways and he was both working and fishing with friends right up until the day he died. James was very well known within his industry and his passing was marked by a large gathering one grey day in the north of England. The Order of Service was suitably decorated with photos of the great man on the river he loved, holding a cane rod in one hand and sporting a fresh run salmon with the other. He looked young in the picture and I was prompted to ask how old he was.

Fifty nine sounded a bit young, so I asked how he died. And the reply could have been to do with his prodigious working schedule but the answer was, “A diet of dark chocolate, gin and cigarettes probably.�

What a way to go.