Freedom of Stress

After high school, whether the next step is pursuing college or work, true success requires mental wellness. Mental wellness requires minimal stress. Since stress lives on a continuum between truth and pretense, learning to live one’s truth is the foundation post-high school success.

Far too often, the discussion of post-high school success centers around gaining admission to a prestigious college/university or landing a job at a recognizable company. This mindset is widespread, yet has somehow been ignored as a factor influencing the current youth mental health crisis. Whether attending a top school or starting a career at an elite company, it is only after addressing the core causes of stress that we can expect improvement in the state of youth mental wellness and real post-high school success.

Stress, the conflict between who we are and who we pretend to be, is the precursor for mental illness.

Many youth feel compelled to meet the expectations of their parents and obey societal success norms. When this is incongruent with their own personal passion, internal stress results. Some navigate this conflict by temporarily camouflaging their truth, allowing the tension to build quietly for years and sometime their entire lives. The stress builds as they rely on the promise of delayed gratification — that one day they will be free or can retire and begin living in their true passion. For others, this conflict overflows, visibly presenting itself as depression/anxiety.

Understanding our youth mental health crisis is not difficult, but requires a high level view of human nature. While admission to a top college is great for some, for others is spells heightened intensity of the stress endured while 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 painful labor that reminds them of the misery they’ve watched their parents experience for as long as they can remember.

A Fresh Approach

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. Many institutions report students changing majors at least once during the 4-year period for as many as 75% of its students. Many of these have already admitted stress and negative feelings experienced during high school. Rather than addressing their existing trauma, we often encourage them to pursue admission to the most competitive, prestigious, and often stressful colleges that exist. We fail to encourage them to even identify their passions and “who they are”, while forcing them down a road that has been chosen by their parents and societal recognition. The effort to treat the resulting youth mental health crisis with increased investment in mental health awareness, diagnosis, and treatment has been beneficial to many, but has not resulted in a measurable youth mental illness trend reversal.

Data confirms that when we identify and incorporate the student’s passion into their post-high school education or work, the path becomes infused with a joy that can lead to a lifetime of mental wellness and true 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 top jobs, and help them start businesses that match their passions. Our world-class team of professionals has done it all at the highest level. They hold Ivy League degrees, have risen to top positions in corporations and the arts, and are serial entrepreneurs who have built and sold multiple businesses. Our team is fully committed to helping your child do the same, with a foundation of identiying, developing and living their passion to make the world a better place, while enjoying a mindset of passion, joy, and mental wellness.

Prevention Exceeds Treatment

The main idea of PIE is simple. Rather than addressing youth mental health crisis as a response to the competition-based model that is prevalent in our current society, PIE takes a preventative approach by ensuring that passion sits at the foundation of all post-high school endeavors. Whether the step following high school is college, work, or entrepreneurship, success is achieved immediately, because it ensures that passion drives each day. It stresses that the ideal school or job is not dictated by national college or company ranking, but by how well it matches the passion of the student. The consequence is improved individual performance and societal contribution. Everyone performs better and carries less stress when they enjoy what they are doing. It leads to true personal and societal success.

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 truth and happiness. You are a part of a growing adult segment of … youth mental health crisis abolitionists!