I Rewrote My Life, One Story at a Time

Walking away from a “safe” life helped me discover the freedom to build my own path.

I used to think success was simple, like a checklist you carried around in your head.

Make the to-do lists, tick them all off one by one, and life would reward you with safety, respect, and maybe even happiness if you were lucky.

That’s what I was told growing up, over and over again: study hard, score well, get a government job, and you’ll be “settled.” You’ll have something solid to stand on and make your parents proud.

So of course I followed the script. What else was I supposed to do?

I collected the markers of a so-called good life as if they were medals. An engineering degree, a 9.2 CGPA, government job.

On paper, everything was perfect. I had the kind of life that looks shiny and unshakable from the outside, the kind that makes your family brag about you at weddings.

Safe. Respectable. Everything society promised would add up to contentment.

And yet, I don’t even know how to explain it, it never felt like enough.

It was like sitting down to a feast and realizing you weren’t actually hungry for any of it. I’d look around at colleagues who seemed satisfied, who wore their titles like armor, and wonder what was wrong with me.

Why didn’t I feel settled?

Why did it all feel like someone else’s life that I was just borrowing for a while?

Something never satisfied my hunger though

There was a hunger in me that didn’t seem to get satisfied, no matter what.

After work, I’d open my laptop and write poems. I’d publish essays on Medium that maybe a dozen strangers read. On weekends, I’d scribble half-finished stories into notebooks with characters that lived in my head rent-free.

No one told me this counted as work. It didn’t pay anything. It wasn’t part of the “bigger plan.”

But I craved for it in a way I never craved high scores or promotions.

It felt like oxygen.

I’d happily cancel plans so I could sit in silence with my laptop until the voices in my head quieted down.

So when people later said, “Wow, you quit a government job to write? That’s so risky,” I never quite related. To me, quitting wasn’t a leap at all. It was the obvious next step.

I wasn’t running away from stability; I was walking toward myself.

Showing up for my dreams when I didn’t know if they’d come true

I didn’t know where my words would lead me. In hindsight, they led me to my dream life.

I published five books. They didn’t make me rich, but they taught me how to show up for my dreams.

I built a personal brand that crossed 200 million views. (Still hard to wrap my head around it.)

I turned my writing into a business, learning as I went, fumbling and falling, but slowly building something real.

That writing business grew to six figures. From scratch. From my words. From the very thing that had once been “just a hobby.”

The money was life-changing, but it wasn’t the big shift. The bigger shift was identity. I stopped introducing myself as “an engineer” or “a government employee.” I started saying, “I’m a writer.”

And saying it felt like my inner child was finally at peace.

The AI boom threatened to disrupt it all

When AI tools exploded onto the scene, I wasn’t sure what to think. Like a lot of writers, my first reaction was fear. Would this erase the need for us? Would words lose their value?

But then, an AI founder reached out. He asked if I could help scale his startup. Not by coding or building tech, but by doing what I do best: storytelling.

We leaned into SEO and human-centered content. I shaped their story so people could actually feel why the tool mattered, not just how it worked. And it clicked.

The startup scaled to €170K+ in just 7 months.

That’s when I realized something I hadn’t seen before.

I was more than a writer.

I was a bridge between powerful tools and the people they were built for.

That insight changed everything. It gave me a new direction.

It gave me a way to blend creativity with technology, words with impact.

The story beneath the story

Sometimes people look at the highlight reel: the published books, the author talks, business, the “success,” and they imagine one big, dramatic leap.

But the truth is, it wasn’t a leap at all.

It was one story. One post. One brave act of saying, “This is what I believe in, and I’m not going to stop until my dreams become reality.”

Small steps, but they added up.

The compounding effect of small, imperfect, honest acts of writing.

That’s what rewrote my life. Not some grand gesture of quitting a job in a blaze of glory, but the quiet commitment to keep publishing, even when no one was reading, even when it felt foolish.

If you’re stuck, imagine what your highest self would do

I know some of you might be where I once was. On paper, your life looks fine, maybe even enviable. But deep inside, it feels like you’re living someone else’s story.

If that’s you, let me tell you this: You don’t have to burn it all down.

You don’t have to quit tomorrow, or throw away everything you’ve built.

All you need is to imagine what your highest self would be doing, then take a small step in that direction.

Build what you’ve always dreamed of. Write one piece of your truth. Let your work out into the world.

It doesn’t have to be perfect or go viral. It just has to authentic, something that’s truly you, something that makes your heart sing with pride.

Because once you put your work out in the world, you’ll feel something shift. The path won’t look as fixed as it used to. You’ll see there are more doors than the one you’ve been told to walk through.

You’re the creator of your path (You just don’t realize it yet)

When I look back now, the irony is clear. For years, I thought I was playing it safe. But the “safe” path was actually the riskiest, because it risked my joy, my aliveness, my voice.

Writing saved me from that. It gave me the power to rewrite the script I was born with.

And here’s the beautiful thing: rewriting doesn’t mean rejecting everything. My engineering degree still taught me discipline. My job still taught me structure. But my stories, those guided me towards freedom.

So if you’re standing at the edge of your own unspoken dream, wondering if it’s worth it, here’s my answer: It is.

Not because it’s easy or because it guarantees money and fame. It;s worth it because it’s yours.

That dream was put in your head for a reason. You’re the only person on this planet with the power to make it come true.

At the end of the day, living your own story will always be worth more than living someone else’s.

Before we say goodbye

I don’t know where you are in your journey. Maybe you’re still ticking the boxes. Maybe you’ve already started writing your way out. Maybe you’re somewhere in between.

Wherever you are, I hope you remember this:

You don’t need permission.
You don’t need the perfect plan.
You just need to be brave enough to begin.

That’s all it takes to rewrite your path.

If you enjoyed reading this, follow me on Substack to see a more honest, unfiltered side of my journey.

And yes, here are a few other articles you might resonate with —

Quitting Your 9-to-5 Isn’t The Magic You Hope For

Why you should keep your job for as long as you can while building on the side.

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If I Started Blogging Today, Here’s What I’d Write About

A writer’s guide to starting your journey and setting up a personal brand online.

medium.com

What I Learned About Writing After I Started Doing It Full-Time

Lessons from three years of self-employment.

medium.com

Wherever you are, I hope you remember this:

You don’t need permission.
 You don’t need the perfect plan.
 You just need to be brave enough to begin.

That’s all it takes to rewrite your path.