Human beings are not automatons, much as our daily 9-6 jobs would have us believe. We are beings of emotions and feelings – we’re driven by our heart’s passion. We’re driven to constantly change and improve ourselves and the things around us. In pursuit of this personal excellence, sometimes we have to take stock of our situation and then throw everything out the window to follow our heart’s desire to do something wildly different and new.

Today, we’re going to highlight successful individuals who did just that: upended their careers and lived to tell the tale. Read on.

Do you feel like you want to make an extreme career shift too, but fear unknown setbacks and failure? We’ve got you covered.