If you've spent any time apologising for the non-linear shape of your professional life — stop. What you've been calling a liability is almost certainly your most valuable differentiator. I know this because my own career makes no sense on paper.

Everyone talks about the leap. Fewer people talk about what happens right after you land.

Maybe you find yourself counting down to Friday before the week has even started. Maybe you stop volunteering for projects that once excited you. Maybe you catch yourself staring at someone else's business and thinking: I could do that. I could do that better.