Most people talk about gratitude like it’s being thankful for the “good stuff.”

Family. Health. Business wins.

That’s part of it. But the older I get, the more I resonate with the Stoic version of gratitude: be grateful for everything that made you who you are—even the parts you would never have chosen.

The last 1.5 years building QFS have been the hardest of my life:

• Leaving a stable path to start an independent firm from scratch
• 70‑hour weeks, uncertainty, and a bank account that didn’t always match the effort
• Prospects dangling for months and choosing big brands anyway
• And in the background, some heavy family stuff and the end of a three‑year relationship

In the moment, none of that felt like a “blessing.”

It just felt heavy.

Looking back, I wouldn’t trade it.

• Burning the boats forced me to learn marketing/sales
• The rejection forced me to sharpen what I do and who I’m for
• The loneliness forced me to get very clear on why I’m doing this

I’m grateful that I kept doing the work on the days I felt least like doing it. Those reps are the only reason QFS exists in its current form.

Most importantly, I’m grateful for:

• The clients who trusted a young, nerdy guy
• The managers who took my calls when QFS was just an idea
• The people who told me “no” and freed up my time to find the right “yeses”
• And the setbacks, because they forged a version of me that can actually shoulder the responsibility of other families’ balance sheets

If you’re in a hard chapter right now, you don’t have to pretend it feels good.

But it might be the part of the story you’re most grateful for later.

Happy Thanksgiving.