One good mentor conversation can save you three years of figuring it out alone.

Experience compresses badly into advice, which is why one conversation can do so much. Someone who has already been where you are can name what you are getting wrong in a sentence, skip the routes that lead nowhere, and tell you which worries are worth having. Working it out alone is possible, and it is slow.

Ask one person a few steps ahead of you for half an hour, with two or three specific questions ready. Most people say yes, because being asked is flattering and nobody does it. Afterwards, do one thing they suggested, and tell them it helped.