I’m 29. I’ve been self-employed since I left high school. I’ve gone through virtually all the emotions and experiences described – the struggle between maintai

I’m 29. I’ve been self-employed since I left high school. I’ve gone through virtually all the emotions and experiences described – the struggle between maintaining a consulting practice and building a product, the loneliness of self-employment, and the mishaps caused by poor tax planning. I don’t think I’ve quite figured out the solutions to these problems, but I can say that 10+ years of self-employment have instilled a hard sense of discipline. I’ve tried out more routines than you can imagine; the only one that seems to work is waking up very early (5-6AM) to get 2-4 hours of product work in before heading off to consulting responsibilities Another key learning from these 10 years is the importance of organization. It’s so easy to miss everything from project deliverables to tax dates when you’re working on your own. I’ve taken to maintaining copious notes and spreadsheets that keep everything neatly organized. This didn’t come easy to me; I’m not an organized person by nature. If I had to do it all over again, I’m not sure if I’d recommend people to take the same path. You’re likely better off in a good traditional job. There is the upside of making a lot of money IF the product hits big (or in my case, even bring in a substantial passive income), but that upside might not be worth the long hours, discipline, and loneliness of this line of work