That's fine.

I think I maybe use this as a last one.

That follow your passions, you never work another day of your life.

That is just a big pile of stinking garbage.

Like, I just can't stand that.

That's horrible advice.

It's given by well-meaning people who generally hate their jobs.

want to make a living swimming with dolphins.

So do you have any like practical advice or maybe even just ways for us to be aware that we're doing that in our, in our raising of our children so that we're trying to get them to focus on thriving as you like to say thriving versus success?

Well, I think in a lot of things, it's less about the mechanics of doing it.

And it's more about understanding what you're doing, right? I mean, I think that you're uniquely equipped by God to raise your children.

And therefore advice for me on specifics is probably, you know, wasteful at best and completely misguided at worst in the sense that, you know, God gave you your children and your unique abilities and your unique circumstances to raise them.

And so it's not so much about the mechanics of that.

You're actually equipped to do that or you're not, which is both helpful to know.

I mean, like we're never fully equipped, right? Like We have to rely on God.

either

So how do you define the difference and what does this distinction, why does it matter so much?

Well, I always say, I'm not a big fan of success.

And then I qualify, go back and sort of, you know, say, let me think about this for a little bit.

And let me explain it to you.

I'm absolutely delighted for you to be successful.

I'm not against anybody being successful.

The problem as I see it is that our society at large and our culture subconsciously defines success as some measure of fame, fortune, and power.

And it's it's.

How do you ask the right questions so that they're not thinking I need to get my hobby as my life goal?

Well, first of all, fashion your seatbelt because I'm just slightly passionate about this.

If it was a live audience, I'd tell the first row, you're about to get spit on.

So back up a little bit or put up your programs.

So let's start with this.

Asking the right question, I think, starts with really challenging the assumption of what you think is happening here.

Because a fish doesn't know it's wet.

So could you tell us about Ascend? Let us know what that looks like.

To be clear, I think your identity is given.

I don't think anybody gets to choose it.

It's like gravity.

And so that's the biggest gift you can have as a Christian.

And most Christians are still walking around misunderstanding that.

No,

I'm kidding.

I think I'm going to go broad and then deeper, right? Okay.

Yeah

...

I don't have any experience with people like that.

Um, instead w- we have children, and my definition of a child is somebody who will die if not, you know, because they're not fully responsible for themself, right? So I have a four-year-old and, you know, every night when she goes to bed, I'm really happy she's still alive, 'cause I don't take that for granted, 'cause at least several times through the day that didn't look like it was gonna be a likely outcome.

And so, so, so that's a child.

They, they need somebody to be responsible for them.

Then there are young adults, and young adults are beginning to accept responsibility for themselves, but they're not fully responsible, but they usually can be left alone without complete fear they're going to die.

Amen.

Look, I understand AI will probably do all the algebra that you need to do, 'cause you're not gonna be an engineer, and that's fine.

But because algebra is difficult for you, the, the, the transferable skill from here is you training your brain to do something your brain's not good at.

[upbeat music] The very nature of what home- how homeschooling works is precisely designed to train people for the kind of economy they're gonna move into, and I don't care what job they're in, uh, AI and technology's gonna disrupt every industry, and they're gonna need people to go, "Okay, I need to learn something new.

I have to learn it quick, and I need to apply it to this problem." And that's exactly what homeschool students know how to do, because Mom and Dad didn't know how to teach every subject, and so especially through high school, they were on their own having to figure things out.

There's this idea that like, oh, there's all these gaps.

I- bad news, I'm post 40 now.

Mm.

And I don't care if you remember anything about algebra in two years.

But can you share a little bit more about even just as parents, like what can what can we be doing to help our kids on this journey?

Yeah, well, and first of all, 40 was my favorite birthday party.

I mean, I didn't have a birthday party.

My 40th birthday, I guess.

And people think that's so strange.

No, at 40, I finally thought, like, actually, I'm old enough to know a few things.

And to your point, and to know that I don't need to know it all.

Well, that's completely different now.

Maybe one of the most important things you can do as a parent is instead of being able to find an easy path for your student, hey, son, I see you're really gifted in this.

You should do these things that we can provide the perspective to say, I know you don't think that this is important, but these skills are going to collectively accumulate in such a way that is going to really prepare you.

But that was probably two questions in one.

No, that's fine.

First of all, I want to say this carefully.

I think you're absolutely correct.

And that's excellent advice.

And we ought to be students of our children.

Yeah.

And I tell my students all the time to be aware of anomalies.

And I wanna say this clearly, if you are an anomaly, that's a gift from God, and run with that.

So if you know you wanna do photography, you wanna do writing, you wanna be a fighter pilot, whatever it is, absolutely, go charge after that.

That's fine.

Um, and we're not sp- speaking directly to you in this next section, which is, if you don't know what you, you wanna do, or you think you do and then, and you end up changing your mind, that's normal.

A- and so, so let's start with knowing what's normal and what's not.

Yeah

Yeah.

Uh, but the, but the stress part is the part that really frustrates me because I feel like, you know, while it's, it's maybe healthy to have a little bit of stress 'cause they're trying to do something new, I feel like there's a lot of stress over things that don't make sense.

And I don't think this is like, "Well, I have some secret knowledge, and if you just listen to the guy that, you know, speaks and talks about this, it'll, it'll fix everything." This is more like, no, there's nothing secret about this.

This is just some perspective.

This is just taking a deep breath and looking at things accurately.

A- and I think that that will reset for most people kind of where they are.

Um, so I, my, I guess my biggest message would be like, okay, be a little scared, that's okay, but can we just de-stress about this whole thing? [laughs] That would be fantastic.

Yeah.

And I think it would just do all of us good to hear more examples of where Christians are stepping into this world and just thriving.

So I can tell you a whole bunch of stories about graduates who have gone on to start businesses, and they've employed a bunch of other graduates, and that's fun to hear.

I can tell you stories about people who have gone on to work for nonprofits and ministries, and they're doing really cool work, and that's fantastic to hear.

And I can tell you about people that have advanced in different places and all those things.

And the problem with all those things is that runs exactly counter to what we tell our students, right? We say, look, I don't really care if you're successful if success means fame, fortune, or power.

I think that's in God's hands, and I'm not against you being successful.

I'm very against you thinking that that's your job.

If they want to learn more about that avenue, if that seems like the right next step for them, where can they go? What can they do? Well, let's do it in reverse order so you get the important

So do you have any like practical advice or maybe even just ways for us to be aware that we're doing that in our, in our raising of our children so that we're trying to get them to focus on thriving as you like to say thriving versus success?

Well, I think in a lot of things, it's less about the mechanics of doing it.

And it's more about understanding what you're doing.

I think that you're uniquely equipped by God to raise your children.

And therefore advice for me on specifics is probably, you know, wasteful at best and completely misguided at worst in the sense that, you know, God gave you your children and your unique abilities and your unique circumstances to raise them.

And so it's not so much about the mechanics of that.

You're actually equipped to do that or you're not, which is both helpful to know.

And so for those young adults who are trying to figure out who they are and how their past has shaped them and how to move forward with courage, what kind of guidance would you give to people who are kind of in that boat?

Mm-hmm.

Um, but it takes less time if you know that's what you're trying to do.

So drop trying to find a job with a hobby, unless you're called to that and it's working out for you, and that's fine, and instead think about, "What can I do right now that will build skill, and what can I do right now that will build experience?" And if I keep asking that question, a- a- and we tell, train our students, and have an attitude of mastery, which means that, you know, whatever job I'm doing, I'm gonna look around and say, "What can I get better at than everybody else here?" Not as a competition, but as a way to measure excellence.

Then the sooner you start the process, the sooner you'll trade skill for autonomy, and the sooner you'll trade experience for work that makes a difference, and the sooner you'll find work that you love.

A- and, and, you know, almost always people find work that they love in places they didn't expect.

You know, if you had told me at 18 that I would have a job that I was so passionate about that I just get up every morning, I pinch myself and I'm so excited, I can't believe I do it, and it was being the CEO of an education company, I'd been like, "What?" I mean, this is an 18-year-old-

Yeah.

And the good news is you don't get a better identity than that.

i'm like that's perfect because you don't have to know what you want to do and so i guess the question there is if we are encouraging 18 year olds or just you know high school graduates that don't worry about it you don't have to have everything figured out so what for the parents what's a better approach to helping them prepare for adulthood

Yeah, so two things that I think is important to say there.

So first to the 18-year-olds who aren't sure what they want to do.

First of all, being sure about what you want to do and being right is an anomaly.

And I tell my students all the time to be aware of anomalies.

And I want to say this clearly.

If you are an anomaly, that's a gift from God and run with that.

But that was probably two questions in one.

i'm like that's perfect because you don't have to know what you want to do and so i guess the question there is if we are encouraging 18 year olds or just you know high school graduates that don't worry about it you don't have to have everything figured out so what for the parents what's a better approach to helping them prepare for adulthood

Yeah, so two things that I think is important to say there.

So first to the 18-year-olds who aren't sure what they want to do.

First of all, being sure about what you want to do and being right is an anomaly.

And I tell my students all the time to be aware of anomalies.

And I want to say this clearly.

If you are an anomaly, that's a gift from God and run with that.

But that was probably two questions in one.

I think some people maybe have never heard of it, and I could give my two bits, but you would be the best person to explain the whole structure of who comes and what they do and enrollment and then events that I've been to a few of over the past few years.

Absolutely.

So there's a progression here.

If you're interested in Unbound, we can help you starting in ninth grade.

We offer a high school curriculum that kind of interacts with any curriculum that you're doing and teaches all those practical skills that are sort of non-academic.

And you can go to beunbound.us to learn about that.

And then that walks its way into our Ascend program, which is kind of our flagship post-high school program.

What are some of the projects that your students have done in the first year, second year, third year? Because I think that's right there is a window into the uniqueness of the opportunity.