Stage 1 · Lesson 5 of 7

The information gap

Sometimes the disagreement is not about values at all. Your parents may simply not know what a product designer earns, that a software engineer can work for a foreign company from home, or that a data analyst is a respected job. Their friends' children became doctors and engineers, so those are the careers they can picture.

When you say "UX research" or "content creator", they hear "no real job". Part of your work is translation: turning your path into something they can picture, with names, salaries and people.

Common trapassuming they understand your plan and are rejecting it. Often they are rejecting what they imagine it to be, which can be much worse than the reality.

A question to check yourself and an AI practice session come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it

Resources for this stage

Start with· follow one of these

BookPaid
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen (Penguin Books) · Paid book
The best book on separating what happened, feelings and identity in a hard family talk
VideoFree
Why We All Need to Practice Emotional First Aid (Guy Winch, TEDxLinnaeusUniversity)
Guy Winch (TEDxLinnaeusUniversity)
A short talk on looking after yourself when guilt and rejection hit hard

Keep handy

Find A Helpline
Find a free, confidential support line in your country if pressure turns into danger
Rozan Counselling Helpline
Confidential counselling in Pakistan for family stress, relationships and abuse

Also worth your time

The Courage to Be Disliked (Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga)Go deeperPaid
A challenging read on whose task is whose: your life choices versus others' approval

Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).