Looking back: what consulting career has given me, and what it took
Ambition, Identity, and the Hidden Tradeoffs of High Performance
Looking back on my eight years in consulting, one thing has become increasingly clear to me: consulting is a growth system with high returns and equally high costs.
It shapes people quickly, but it also asks for something in return, often over time.
This is not a piece about right or wrong, nor is it an evaluation of any single firm.
It’s a reflection written from some distance - after stepping outside the system - trying to make sense of why I chose it in the first place, and how deeply it shaped the way I think, work, and relate to myself.
Why I Chose Consulting
My first encounter with consulting happened near the end of college, at a time when I had very little clarity about what I wanted to do next. I didn’t fully understand what the job entailed, but reading the role description triggered a strong, almost instinctive pull, as if it had been written for someone like me.
Only later did I understand why.
At that stage of my life, consulting happened to meet several needs that mattered deeply to me.
First, the pace of growth.
Before consulting, I had already spent a few years in the workforce and could feel my learning curve slowing down. Consulting offered an environment where unfamiliar problems were constant, timelines were compressed, and expectations were high. You were expected to make sense of complexity quickly, form a point of view, and stand behind it. That intensity was precisely what appealed to me at the time.
Second, the diversity of experience.
Before committing to a single industry or function, consulting provided a relatively low-commitment way to gain exposure across sectors and problems. It allowed me to explore, observe, and learn at speed—buying time to better understand my own interests.
Third, identity and validation.
This was something I rarely named explicitly back then, but in hindsight it was undeniably present. Consulting carried a certain prestige, and entering that system felt like a form of external validation, one that aligned closely with my desire to prove my capability.
Finally, practical considerations.
The compensation was competitive, reinforcing the belief that hard work could be exchanged for future optionality.
Taken together, consulting appeared to be a choice with little obvious downside.
What I Gained
Over the course of nearly a decade, I worked across dozens of projects and progressed from junior roles into more senior ones. Looking back, the most enduring gains were not titles or achievements, but deeper shifts in how I think and operate.
The ability to solve problems structurally.
In consulting, problems are rarely clear at the outset. You learn to break down ambiguity, test hypotheses, and move toward clarity step by step. Over time, I stopped waiting for experts to provide answers and developed a quieter confidence: most problems can be understood, and many can be solved, if approached with rigor and persistence. That belief has stayed with me well beyond consulting.
Clarity in communication.
The emphasis on structured, top-down communication reshaped how I express ideas. Complex issues had to be articulated simply and precisely. This skill has proven invaluable, but it also came with trade-offs, including a reduced tolerance for messier, more exploratory conversations.
Leading high-performing teams.
Consulting teams often bring together highly capable individuals from diverse backgrounds. Leading such teams requires less motivation and more structure - clear standards, thoughtful guidance, and steady support. At the same time, I became deeply aware of how common insecurity is among high achievers. Many people who appear confident on the surface are quietly carrying significant self-doubt.
It was through these experiences that I discovered something unexpected: I genuinely enjoyed helping others find clarity and rebuild confidence. Acting as a mentor or, informally, a coach, became a source of energy rather than depletion. That realization would later shape my next steps.
What It Cost Me
Every high-return system has its price.
Health and rhythm.
Sustained intensity eventually takes a toll. Fatigue became normal, and recovery rare.
Equanimity.
In an environment where performance and evaluation are constant, it’s easy to conflate outcomes with self-worth. Decisions become heavy, risk-taking diminishes, and over-analysis replaces intuition.
The courage to change.
Ironically, a system built around challenge can become a comfort zone. Once the rules are familiar and the support structure is in place, leaving feels riskier than staying.
Depth in any single domain.
Consulting prioritizes breadth and transferability over deep specialization. That trade-off is clear in hindsight.
None of these costs invalidate the value of consulting—but they do underscore that growth is never free.
Would I Choose Consulting Again?
Most likely, yes.
Consulting played a formative role in shaping who I am today. It also eventually gave me the capacity to step away from a growth model built on constant depletion. If I could do it again, I might stay for a shorter time, and I would hope to move through it with more ease, less attached to external validation, more attentive to internal signals.
But perhaps that perspective itself is a result of having gone through the experience.
Looking back, I no longer ask whether those years were “successful.”
I ask whether, at that point in my life, they were worth it.
