I agree that knowing yourself is essential before taking any big leap. In fact, knowing yourself is the foundation of anything in life. I'd say though that the

I agree that knowing yourself is essential before taking any big leap. In fact, knowing yourself is the foundation of anything in life. I'd say though that there's no better - perhaps even no other - way to learn these particular things than by doing them. So, if you absolutely hate networking, talking to people and the more technical stuff that comes with a business like bookkeeping then yes: Being a self-employed consultant probably isn't for you. On the other hand you might just think you hate these aspects of running a successful business because you never really did them yourself and only have a vague idea about them. Going down this path can be a great learning experience that can help you discover talents you didn't know you had. I think people tend to underestimate what they're capable of, which often is especially true for technical types when it comes to anything related to human communication. I've seen quite few self-proclaimed introverts and "I just want to code." people become great presenters and teachers. Being an employee is something of a default case so many settle for that. Perhaps that's the 'reasonable' thing to do, especially when you're starting out and need to learn anything at all (including the skills you might later be selling as consulting services). It needn't be the end goal, though.