Freedom of Stress

True post-high school success requires freedom of stress. Far too often, youth mental wellness takes a backseat to gaining admission to a prestigious college/university or landing a good job after high school graduation. This mindset has led us to the current youth mental health pandemic. Whether attending a top school or starting a career at an elite company, only after addressing the core causes stress can we expect improvement in their mental wellness and post-high school success.

Stress, the conflict between who we are and who we pretend to be, is the precursor for mental illness. Unfortunately, many youth feel more compelled to pursue the dreams of their parents and follow societal norms for success than to identify and live in their own personal passion. While admission to a top college is great for some, for others is spells greater intensity of the stress and negative feelings they experienced in high school. Similarly, Fortune 500 employment after high school graduation is perfect for some, while others process it as the start of a lifelong journey of work that reminds them of the misery they’ve watched their parents experience for as long as they can remember.

Our youth education system has evolved into a competition-based, cycle of stress. Society strongly encourages the pursuit of admission to elite/ivy league schools upon high school graduation as the path to personal success. With many institutions reporting a change of major during the 4 year period for as many as 75% of its students, despite many having already indicated stress and negative feelings and toward high school. Youth enter college without knowing what they want to study while attempting to recover from the stress they experienced in high school is a formula for continued stress, not personal success. The effort to address the resulting youth mental health pandemic with a heavy societal investment in awareness, diagnosis, and treatment is helpful, but has not resulted in a mental health illness trend reversal.

On the other, when we identify and incorporate the student’s passion into their post-high school education or work, the path becomes one of joy that can lead to a lifetime of mental wellness and personal success. This is exactly the mission of the Passion Identity Education model. Our professionals coach students toward continued education at the worlds’ most elite colleges, match them with jobs, and help them start businesses that match their passions. Our world-class team of professionals has done it all at the highest level and are committed to helping your child do the same, with a mindset of passion, joy, and mental wellness.

Paradigm Shift

The United States federal government annually spends billions of dollars ($42 billion in 2022) on youth mental health, yet the associated crisis has worsened in the last decade. With 40% of high school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2023, Most indicators suggest that a fresh approach might be worth consideration. Honoring the gap in values between today’s youth and societal leadership is a natural starting point.

Data indicates that the pervasive notion of dreams deferred is an eroding value among today’s youth. Many youth have simply outgrown the traditional beliefs that dream college education, religious faith, and traditional marriage are pathways to eternal happiness.  Among youth, college enrollments have declined since 2010; religious unaffiliation outnumbers Christians; and cohabitation and alternative lifestyles have overtaken traditional heterosexual marriage.

If we focus on only on eduction, we note that Yale research reveals 75% of students reporting negative feelings of stress and boredom toward toward their current high school experiences. While the idea of dream college still exists for some, many youth see it as an opportunity to continue the stress experienced in high school and only a dream for their parents.  The promise that a top college degree will guarantee a fulfilling and lifelong career of happiness has been shattered by the reality of student loans, fear of continuing their negative high school experience, AI job displacement, and watching while 85% of their parents feeling disengaged with or hating their jobs.

When a society requires youth to enjoy values that they they do not share, internal conflict and stress arises. With this in mind, we must admit that today's youth mental health pandemic is not surprising.  Professional treatment, in-school therapy, and awareness workshops can be of some value, but if we truly expect todays youth to thrive while being smothered by unshared and outdated societal values, perhaps the wrong audience is receiving mental health support.

Due to shifting generational values, the solution to the youth mental health pandemic and the post-high school education/work dilemma rests just beyond our egos, in the the acknowledgment that what youth want today varies from the desires of previous generations. Youth mental health awareness, diagnosis, and treatment touches the very small segment of the population that acknowledges the need for help or shows symptoms. It does little in the way of prevention to effectively address or diminish the inward flow of those with evolving challenges. So, noble intentions and large budgets are invested in an exercise of whack-a-mole.

In 1903, the General Education Board was tasked with developing a nation of workers that would obey authority; follow rules; memorize (not think); and work 9-5 jobs for elite companies to meet the demands of the Industrial Revolution. Higher education and degrees from prestigious colleges gave citizens a competitive edge when entering the workforce, but has been unable to guarantee less stress or true feelings of personal success. In today’s Digital Information Age, youth values have become more self-serving, with a shift towards independent thought, innovation, creativity, self-expression and personal passion.

Acknowledging that there is a difference between youth delivering passion to the lives of their parent’s versus themselves puts us in position to win. Most parents would love to boast that their child is an Ivy League student —so much that an entire industry has been created to supply this demand. However, while most students would love to please their parents, many acknowledge that an ivy league education is their parent’s dream, not their own. When asked what brings them true passion, many youth admit that it is not attending an ivy league college, nor any other college. When pressed, very few reveal that they have ever even given much thought to their true personal passion. Rather, like their parents did, they believe they MUST attend college, get a good job, work for 40 years, and retire before they can even think about their personal passion.

When we encourage our youth to discover and unapologetically accept and live with who they are, we reduce the daily conflict that feeds their stress. Subsequently, mental illness starves without a healthy supply of this stress on which to feed. While awareness, diagnosis, and treatment are wonderful tools to identify and address mental illness, true prevention requires the removal of the core conflict.

If, as a parent, you think you know more about what will bring your child true passion than they do, please stop reading and close this page now. If you are still reading, congratulations, because you highly value your child’s true passion and are a part of a growing adult segment of … youth mental health pandemic abolitionist!

(Passion Identity Eduction (PIE)

Passion Identity Education (PIE) is a 3-step process that begins with empowering youth to explore and embrace their most authentic selves. Ironically, this is a foreign concept to many youth who are taught to be ultra-focused on family and societal expectations of who they should be. This process of envisioning an authentic life closes the gap between who they are and who they pretend to be. It is the key to stress reduction and a life of mental wellness. Finally, the youth is matched with an experienced personal PIE consultant to guide them in constructing a practical and satisfying path to a life of passion. This youth-centered path can range from admission to a prestigious college/university to being matched with and elite corporation to starting a small business. PIE consultants have done it all at a very high level.

Many of us live lives full of stress and conflict because it is difficult to constantly live in a state of pretense. Living in this manner means burying our authentic selves and smothers our freedom. It strips the world of the opportunity to benefit from of our true potential and natural genius.

More importantly, this conflict slowly decays our essence and can ultimately be quite self-destructive. The resulting depression, anxiety, self-medication, and poor choices can lead to relationship difficulties, mental illness, alcohol/substance abuse and engagement with the criminal justice system.

We often attribute these behaviors to our past traumas, including genetics, environment, class, racism, sexism, and more. However, PIE consultants guide teach us to get to know ourselves, honoring our authentic selves, living authentically, and practicing self- acceptance. When we learn to remove blame accept responsibility for our own lives, we unveil the excellence that has been dormant for years.

Once we learn to distinguish between who we are and who we and who we try to appear to be, we have taken the first step toward living our passion. It is only through discovery of this passion that we can begin reducing stress and pursuing an unapologetic life of purpose and joy.

This means understanding our core values, accepting our unique self (strengths, flaws, passions), setting boundaries, and making choices aligned with our inner compass rather than external pressures. This involves self-reflection, honest expression, and letting go of some of the people-pleasing associated with social media, peer groups, and even the expectations of our parents, teachers, and trusted respected societal figures. 

It can be challenging to treat ourselves with compassion and accept aspects of ourselves and life we can't alter. But once this skill is mastered, mental wellness and a joyous professional life lie ahead. 

PIE Consultants are graduates of ivy league schools, top professionals in their fields, and successful serial entrepreneurs. So, if college is truly your passion, PIE professionals can help you gain admission to your the right school. If joining the workforce or military is right for you, PIE experts will guide you to that match. If a new business is your passion, PIE serial entrepreneurs can engage you on that path.

What separates PIE team from other counsellor and coaches is that we only work through your true passion. College admission purely based on desired prestige is not our approach. Landing a job to earn money to impress others is not our philosophy. Grooming entrepreneurs who are simply chasing wealth is not our sweet spot.

But if you understand the value of building a career on a foundation of passion and joy that enriches your life and society, then Congratulations!! You’ve come to the right place and we are so glad you are here. Our fees are reasonable and need-based full/partial scholarships are available.