A useful example offers a possibility rather than a demand to copy the whole life behind it.

Examples get taken too literally, especially inspiring ones. Someone’s route out, their schedule, their career change, comes bundled with a whole life, and copying the bundle rarely fits because the circumstances underneath it were theirs. What the example genuinely offers is proof that a thing can be done at all.

When somebody’s story appeals to you, work out which single element is actually transferable to your situation. Take that and leave the rest. Admiration turns into something usable only after it has been broken into parts.