Copy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login Of all my daily acts of self-sabotage, my horrible posture is the most entrenched. I can hardly afford it either.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average male height is 175.6cm – a line I barely scrape over without summoning every millimetre at my disposal. Instead, my shoulders droop forwards like my entire body is surrendering to a slow puncture.

I’m literally selling myself short. A lifetime of admonishments from my mother to “stand up straight” are not the only reason I know this is a bad habit. Our everyday language reinforces the idea that lousy posture doesn’t just project feeble body language but is a clear sign of moral decay.

We talk of “upright citizens”, “straight shooters” or being a “stand-up guy”. The alternative is being “crooked”, “bent” or “twisted” – none of which are great character references. Copy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

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