 We got a question here from Lisa whose situation is kind of similar to mine. I'm a med student and I've been doing some soul searching. I think I want to go to school for computer science. The job opportunities are great for this career path and I like the challenge more than medicine. But here's the thing. If I change my academic path, I risk upsetting my parents. They've always wanted me to be a doctor and that's cool but I want something different. Family, guess what? We're stuck with them in good ways and bad ways. They are going to love and support you no matter what. We are not talking about criminal activity here. We are not talking about something that leads parents to disown their own children. They ultimately want your happiness and security. Now the problem is that for a lot of them they've bought into this narrative that the only way for our children to achieve happiness and security is an advanced degree and a reputable occupation like a doctor, like a lawyer. And what ends up happening with this narrative is we buy into it and we think that our own happiness and fulfillment will come from it. And of course as you move through the system, as you move to the upper rungs out of your education, if you're not in love with it, if you're not driven by it, you're going to struggle because in the meritocracy that we're in, that passion, that zeal leads to more hours spent, more work in the lab, in the clinic with patients than you may be willing to put into. I don't think people understand just how powerful narratives are. These are stories that stir you up emotionally that logically make sense, but it's a story in which you get emotionally engaged. So it's hitting you in both senses and you hear it enough times, then it becomes the narrative in which you are running on. This person is in school. I think there's also this idea because she has heard this narrative so many times that if she just keeps going, that she'll eventually like it, right? Like I'm supposed to like it, I'm supposed to be doing this because she's heard it from so many people including her parents who she's scared that is going to be upset about this career change. But these narratives need to be challenged because a lot of times they go against your own thoughts and feelings, but you just heard them so many times that you start adopting them. And then also some of these narratives, they go against your own gut and intuitive knowledge on who you are. So you have to step away from these and just go, this is a narrative. How much do I buy into this narrative? Because if you don't look at it objectively, you're just going to take it over. This is called waking up and then deciding, okay, here's always different narratives, which one am I going to buy into? If she continues to go to med school, it's only going to continue to get worse. And the other thing is, I remember the very first time that we had a client decide to make a career change. And I don't know if you remember this, but there was a young guy who was in IT and he'd come through a program. This was early on in our history. And I had spoke to him about a month afterwards for his follow-up. But he goes, well, I went home, I quit my job. I sold all my belongings and I'm getting on a motorcycle and I'm going to travel the country until I find where I want to be. And I freaked out because there were... That's not a narrative that you buy into. Well, it was just, I guess you could make an argument for that, but I was also just worried that this person who had this career just up and left. But the reality of it was that this person then did find exactly where he wanted to live and started the company that he actually wanted to be doing. And let's talk about that for a second. Because this narrative that your career is linear and it's a straight line to success is complete BS. You look at every successful person out there, there is not a straight line into the top of the mountain. There are going to be mistakes. There are going to be choices. There are going to be new paths that open and appear that you're not even expecting. When we think about this narrative of like, oh, okay, he's giving up his career to hop on a motorcycle. He's not. No. Careers pause. Careers go left. Careers go right. Careers sometimes take a dip and then explode with an upward trajectory. But it's not a straight line to the top. Unfortunately, from our perspective at the bottom of the mountain, that's all we can see is the straight line to get to the top. But if you ever hiked a mountain, it doesn't work that way. There are going to be paths that are straight, that are flat, that slope downward, and you're like, but I'm trying to go up. That is exactly what your career journey is going to be. So ask yourself, can I see myself doing this for the rest of my life? If the answer is no, I can't, I hate it. Then I want you to sit down with your parents and ask them why is this narrative so important to you? Why is it so important that I become a doctor? And I guarantee you their answer is going to be, well, we want you to be successful. We want you to have financial security. We want you to have better than we had, right? That's every parent's dream. Absolutely. Well, then you understand the core motivation is not about medicine. Then it's your job to explain how computer science offers you that same security and that opportunity. And you can sell your parents on this idea. And for me, you know, it's taken a very long time. And the salesmanship that I've had to go through this experience has taught me a lot that at the end of the day, my family cares more about my health and happiness as disappointed as they may be with certain life choices. We're not talking about criminal offenses. We're not talking about things that'll wipe away the rest of your career. We're talking about choosing a different path to get to the same success that your parents are after for you.