When I finished my MBA I had had an amazing girlfriend for 5 years. I accepted an offer from a leading strategy consulting to go to Madrid, where social life is worth more than financial success.

After 3 years dividing my dedication (heart and soul) to my love and my employer, my personal relationship soured due to lack of attention and, soon after, assisted by the 2002 crisis, I was made redundant by both. I lost the things I had valued the most over the last years.

I learned 2 lessons:

1 - A stable personal life is needed to succeed professionally, so you better take very care of your loved ones, friends and family.

2 - Generalising, professional companies will have no problem in firing you once they run into problems. One has to assess very well the cost of opportunity of our dedication. We are ultimately responsible for what we get back.

After 5 years I developed the perfect solution: freelance consultant.
I'm in full control of my dedication: I can readjust my time slots between consulting, my relationships, my health or simply resting.
The rewards of my dedication will be mine alone: simply the smarter I work the more I gain (considering outside factors of course).

People tend to say it is more risky, but I fell more safe now, because I'm in full control, than when I worked for that famous consulting house.

I'm now a happy and dedicated partner, I surf about 4days per week (and I often choose when to work depending on the swell... and the client of course), and I make the same money than before. If I don't like a client or a project I can say no. If my family needs attention I can say yes... and that's priceless.