I'm 61 and can say honestly that I pathologically cannot work for anyone else. I have done it in small stretches but will not tolerate it long-term. I cannot be told what I need to work on.

25 years ago, I wrote software for telephone companies to handle/route calls. I had around 125 exchanges in North America running my software. I sold the rights to the software for a tidy sum. With this money I moved to Australia a walk from a beach.

15 years ago, I wrote software for mortgage brokers and financial planners to be able to see how much lenders would lend, what the best products were, etc. I had 800 firms using my software, 15 employees, and sold the company for some millions.

But amongst those successes I had countless failures. And I mean countless failures. And when I think back I am proud of myself with the path of independence that I took. I never had a job, I always charted my own course. I backed myself. And it worked.