Shun was a farmer,Fuyue was a construction laborer, Jiaoge was a seller of fish and salt, Guanyi was put in the prison, Sunshu'ao lived by the sea, Bailixi was a slave.
So when God wants someone to be successful, He will torch him in both his mind and body, let him have nothing to eat, and make him tired, and his life a mess, however all these help him to master what he didn't.