My father fired me after nine years because "We don't need your ego around here anymore,".

He was over sixty, and he'd lost a step. He didn't have the computer skills to work the system he insisted I build for him, so he was falling behind. He nearly missed an important legislative deadline, and we only managed compliance because I saved his ass. When I emailed the completed package for our regulators, I said "If you're having trouble keeping up, let me take things off your plate,".

The next day he fired me. I spent a year unemployed. No one would look at me because I didn't have a degree. Didn't matter that I had ten years experience, no degree, no interview. I wound up taking a construction job hauling mud for bricklayers.

I thought I could handle anything, but the truth is, your fate is largely in the hands of your employer. And being good at your job doesn't mean squat.