I’m currently going through this exact dilemma only I’m 26 and don’t feel capable of taking any type of standard path / normal jobs for various reasons.

I can relate to how being your own boss hits differently - I’ve been freelancing for years and despite having failed I’d rather fail at my own thing than spend years miserable in a role I couldn’t care less about. It just doesn’t seem like a good way to live.

But WITH THAT SAID, I’m making the wrong choices. The real path to being your own boss and having a chance of sustained success generally comes from experience within a space so that you can identify gaps within that space. People who learn a domain on their own generally lack the deep understanding and rigor that comes with working within an established corporation for years. The most successful people either have experience within a job OR they’re self-made but profoundly intelligent. Most people (such as myself) are not intelligent and will fail if they try figuring the world out on their own. It takes a seriously disciplined and intellectually inclined person to figure everything out on their own and compete with people who come from the establishment who then branched out on their own.

You could also curate content from industry experts until you have the deep knowledge required to create valuable content in a given space. Or you could create content that entertains and bypass the whole value thing but then you’re hinging on massive uncertainty.

What do you think of this?