With the straight path for becoming a musical engineer seemingly closed off to her, Susan looked past the standard options and considered unconventional possibilities, using her individuality as her guide. Instead of passively picking, she made an active choice. She took a job as a receptionist at the University of Sound Arts.

flawed. It not only fails to describe how most people actually end up with compelling careers, but for many people it can actually make things worse: leading to chronic job shifting and unrelenting angst when, as it did for Thomas, one’s reality inevitably falls short of the dream.