At 29, Daniel made a bold decision.
He left his stable job to start a consulting firm.
People called him reckless. His mother cried. His friends doubted quietly.
The first six months were brutal.
Clients delayed payments. Some deals collapsed. Savings dropped dangerously low.
For the first time since graduation, Daniel felt like a failure.
But failure did something university never did:
It revealed his character.
He learned:
Rejection is part of growth.
Confidence is built by surviving hard seasons.
Identity cannot be tied to job titles.
One night, sitting in near darkness because he had cut unnecessary expenses, Daniel wrote in his journal:
"If I can survive this season, I will never fear life again."
That year changed him.
Not because he succeeded immediately.
But because he stopped needing validation.
He stopped comparing. Stopped rushing. Stopped chasing applause.
He focused on mastery.
And slowly, clients came. Referrals grew. Income stabilized.
Not overnight. But steadily.