Yesterday I was listening to Oprah's new Super Soul Conversations podcast (it's basically just edited, audio-only versions of Super Soul Sunday TV episodes), where she was interviewing Paulo Coelho.

If you haven't heard of him, Paulo Coelho is the author of the mega-bestselling allegorical novel The Alchemist, which was published 29 years ago and still hits the New York Times bestseller list regularly. (If you haven't read it, you really should. It's one of those rare books that contain within it almost everything you'll ever need to know about life. Kristen and I did a book club episode about it last year, which I'll link to!)

Anyway, what struck me about Oprah and Paulo's conversation was what happened to him when he was 17.

He said that his parents really wanted him to be an engineer, like his father. His parents had experienced a lot of instability in Brazil, so they wanted something safe, secure, and socially esteemed for their son.

But Paulo always wanted to be writer, and he was adamant about it.

His parents were so distraught by his insistence on being a writer that they genuinely believed something was wrong with him … and so they committed him to a mental institution three times.

He spent his years between the ages of 17 and 20 being committed to institutions and then escaping every time before they finally gave up! (Of course, the ultimate irony is that he ended up becoming a world-renowned author and making ten times more money than anyone in his family.)

Fifty years later, we read a story like that and think his parents were the crazy ones. There's nothing wrong with someone just because he wants to be a writer, for god's sake! But this isn't a thing of the past. In fact, his story echoes something one of my clients shared with me a few hours ago.

IF YOU LIKED THIS YOU SHOULD ALSO LISTEN TO…

Blog: Are you tired of pretending to be someone you're not? (April, 2018)

Side Chat: Overcoming impostor syndrome (July, 2018)

How to find your tribe and grow a network with Carolyn Birsky (April, 2018)

Bonus Book Club! The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (August, 2018)

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