Finding the Courage to Disappoint to Build A Life for Himself

From designing jet engines at Rolls-Royce to decoding the mind, creating journals. Borja Raga shares his story about finding the courage to disappoint everyone else to finally choose himself.

Pivoting, restarting, and quitting careers in 2026 is the new normal. And there is one story that stood out the most for me:

He left a stable career in aerospace engineering for the uncertainty of a startup, navigating through the judgments of those who couldn’t understand why he would walk away from success.

Soon, he will no longer work as an engineer; he is not yet a successful founder, but he is finally becoming himself.

Behind the scenes of Borja living his authentic life.

Rejection is redirection

Born and raised in Spain, Borja Raga was 12 years old when his father first taught him to program. He came of age during the telecom boom of the 2000s, when infrastructure projects poured into the country. This series of events influenced Borja to enter the world of engineering.

Over the next decade, he built a successful engineering career, which led him to relocate to Germany. There, he designed critical systems like jet engines for Rolls-Royce.

When his unit at Rolls-Royce ultimately closed, Borja began a search for a new prestigious role and eventually landed an interview with a perfect $3 billion company: a C-level role, a high salary, and the freedom to work from anywhere. They liked him so much that they offered the job on the spot.

Riding that high, Borja went home, only to receive a shocking call from the recruiter: “We’ve changed our mind and decided to go with another candidate.”

It was the final blow.

“Nobody tells you that there is grief in starting over.”

While taking time off to recover, Borja began to journal. Climbing the corporate ladder was no longer his vision. Engineering had given him the skills to build systems, but he realized he could apply those skills to something more personal.

So he decided to quit the industry entirely and rebuild himself as the founder of Ara Journals.

This drastic change shocked the people closest to him, ultimately his mother. To her, it looked like he was throwing years of hard effort into the bin just to start from scratch.

“I think the hardest part of having the courage to be disliked isn’t facing strangers. It’s the people who love you, not understanding why what-looks-like-a-great-life doesn’t feel like yours.”

His mother was the one he feared the most to disappoint. She struggled to understand his decision, reminding him: “You don’t know how fortunate you are to be in the position you are in right now.” This reframing of his doubt as ingratitude made Borja question whether he was wrong for wanting something different.

Despite the doubt, Borja leaned into the momentum. He researches, writes, networks, and shows up every day through the challenges.

He has eventually come to accept that doubt and persistence can coexist.

3 Exercises to build the courage to disappoint

As of this article’s publication, Borja’s last day at his current job is fast approaching. “I haven’t arrived anywhere,” he says. “I just have the work and the conviction that this is mine in a way that nothing before it was.”

And through his journey, Borja found three tools that helped him befriend his doubt and stay on his new path.

1. Borja’s version of “Pie of Life”: First, define what you value. Don’t rate your career from 1 to 10 based on external success; prioritize your internal north star.

Pie of Life exercise from Ara Journals

2. Working on acceptance more concretely: Categorize your current challenges based on three columns:

Define what you can change and what you can’t, an exercise from Ara Journals

3. The Daily Highlight: Journaling is most effective when it leads to actions. Write down one concrete item with a specific time and place that you will do today. One step reveals the next.

Journaling with Ara Journals

Building for lasting impact

During our interview, Borja showed me his desk full of samples and previous versions. One is better than the next versions. He aims to build something with a lasting impact by consulting with mental health professionals to comment on the approach of the journals.

Borja’s working desk with sample journals that he’s perfecting

I’m personally excited for Ara Journals and rooting for Borja. His courage to quit a prestigious industry and build something meaningful for the community inspired me to continue with my own journey towards resilience.

✨ Ara Journals is looking for your help! ✨

While cherishing his final days with the corporate world, he is also now in the final stages of developing his first guided journal, “Quiet Your Mind.” Unlike a blank notebook, it is a structured practice based on cognitive science, designed to help overthinkers get out of their heads and into action. And he needs our help!

Ara Journals are looking for:

1. Beta testers for the physical journal: Borja Raga has a free PDF sample to be sent to a small group before launch! Anyone interested can email him directly at hello@arajournals.com or direct message him on Substack.

2. Quiz + journal preview: for readers who want a lighter entry point, the quiz takes 2 minutes, and you get a peek at the journal content right after!

Restarting is hard as it is. But I believe with a supportive community, it doesn’t have to be lonely!