"Getting Unstuck:"The Young Adult Cognitive Impasse 

Students 
In my practice for  over 16 years, I have learned that students often "get stuck" (Butler, 2010). Neurologically, this represents a cognitive impasse or a clouding of their reasoning ability. This is induced by the pressure to succeed, which can be overwhelming – there’s school work, extracurricular activities, internships and you are expected to have your future figured out before you graduate! As students, you don't want to get lost on this journey and lose hope. You need a process that helps you circumvent this impasse in order to navigate your way, to an understanding that you were hard-wired to do distinctively exceptional things in your life. 

Whether you are in high school or in college, defining your future is stressful. If you have finished college and are still confused about your direction in life, know that you are not alone! Your hope is not to settle for just some job or merely a paycheck. You want to find a career path that you will love, one where you will flourish, and feel proud of your contribution in the world of work. 

Young Adults
Young adults who never found a career path in college, or whose work seems more like a job than a calling, are experiencing the same cognitive impasse as students. When this reality is sets in, the stress to find themselves grows exponentially. Yet, as bright as they are, they just do not know "how" to solve this career equation without first uncovering the essential facts necessary to solve it. 

The Impact From Career Uncertainty 

70%students change their majors after enrollment at least once before graduation ​(Princetonian 2014).
36% of full-time students complete their bachelor's degree in 4-years (​NY Times, 2014). 
50% of students pursue a career unrelated to their major (Wall Street Journal, 2024).  
35k​ is the average debt of college graduates (Forbes, 2025).

4 Year Cost of Some Private Tuition Universities

Wake Forest University   $377,064
Vanderbilt University       $358,208
Furman University           $314,432
Sewanee                           $301,416
 
Sources:
https://financialaid.wfu.edu/cost-of-attendance/undergraduate/
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/financialaid/costs-undergraduate.php
https://www.furman.edu/admissions-aid/tuition-fees/
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/tuition-fees/

Problem:
Grasgreen (2013) argues only 28.3% of college graduates say they "are engaged in their jobs," citing 2 reasons: 

1. Students or young adults were without clear career paths in high school before they entered college.
2. They were lacking strong mentorship, all of which resulted in their disengagement or getting stuck in life. 
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​The takeaway from this suggests that if young adults never have the opportunity to define a clear career path or find a mentor to guide them, they will disengage at work and lose hope. What they require is a unique discovery process that helps them find that pathway. Otherwise, as Gallop (2020) research reveals, this uncertainty leads many young adults to feeling stuck after graduation, in jobs that do not draw upon their unique measurable giftedness. What often results is the daunting question: "What might I have become in life?"

This video articulates the student Career Readiness Dilemma:

 "It's hard to get interested in something unless you think you are good at it"

Translation:"How can I get interested in pursuing a career path, unless I know I was born with the innate abilities necessary to succeed in it?" ​

​Solution:
The solution is to guide young adults in a discovery process to reveal:

(1) "What" their inborn gifts are?
(2) "How" will they naturally support future professional pathways?
(3) "How" do these align and compliment each other? 
(4) "Why" those pathways even matter and allow me to become the best version of myself?

This awakens young adults to their role in this world: to develop their inborn abilities into skill sets through education and work experience, so that they may share their gifts with others in the world of work.

Why is this process necessary? Because without this newfound knowledge, trying to solve their career equation will never occur due to these missing key components. As a result, they may never find the confidence to engage in and cultivate their abilities into competencies necessary to thrive in the professional world. 

Abilities Assessment: Objectified Giftedness
In response to this, our Hope-Focused Model © uses a highly accurate objective Abilities Battery, that identifies their natural abilities. In the report we generate, we illustrate "how" intersecting complimentary abilities create ability patterns that will support distinctive professional pathways.

Narrative Assessment: Subjective Self-Authentication
We also use our proprietary subjective CCI Narrative© assessment that draws out a self-understanding of "what" drives them, "what" career paths are congruent with "who" they are, and "why" a career path matters to them. In this process, they develop the willpower to explore "how" these pathways connect with them, all of which leads to clarity of purpose. 

​Using results from these sophisticated assessment instruments, we work with individuals one-on-one through a program tailored specifically to fit their needs. In this process, they have the rare opportunity to become architects of their own careers, co-constructing that pathway sufficiently to take ownership of career pursuits that reflect their identity.
​
Our Approach and the Process
Our unique approach helps young adults understand their giftedness. To solve their career equation our process begins with:

(1) Intake Session: Talking through what their issues are. If they are stuck, what is getting in the way? Define what their goals and objectives are.
(2) Administering Assessments: This offers us the opportunity to study their measurable abilities of a spectrum and create ability patterns that serve as the basis for supporting distinctive professional career paths. Aligning abilities reveals "how" the left ad right brain compliment each other. 
(3) Integrating Assessments: The purpose of integrating these assessments is that young adults require (1) a validation of objectified abilities as a precursor to exploring (2) a subjective understanding of "why" they matter to them. To facilitate this we conduct a 2 hour debrief session and create a custom PowerPoint that highlights "what" this means to them.  
​(4) Unpacking Efficacy: At the counseling level, it is important to unpack the efficacy of this process through followup sessions. These are designed to elevate an understanding of their inherent potential, where they define specific career pathways to pursue and the underlying purpose of those pathways. This establishes the evidence that they are looking for: to know they'll have the capacity to "be good at "something professionally," sufficiently to engage in preparing for that next step.
5) Bound Report: Each young adult receives a custom bound report containing a variety of assessment reports according to the scope of the program they enrolled in. 

Importantly, we are the only practice that has perfected this unique integrative approach that enhances focus and clarity of purpose.
                                 
​                                          Attitude-> Emotions-> Behavior 

Attitude:
This process alters their belief in their self, directly shaping their belief that they were born with unique gifts.

Emotions:
This reveals "how" they feel about their self sufficiently to motive their development of their gift, so that they may be shared with others, offering a positive response.

Behavior:
Formatively, this empowers them to adopt new way of living resulting in an awareness of the meaning of work. Developmentally, this allows them to construct the scaffolding necessary to prepare for a career vision, one which manifests the purpose of that pathway.

                                                                              Mission
In my 16  of experience, I have leaned that Hope is found through engaging individuals in the discovery of their inborn abilities, "what" they are designed to offer and an understanding of "how" these gifts may be shared in endeavors that matter.

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Sample Features of Our Abilities Career Report

​Read more about Our Approach  here.
Read more about our Assessments here.

READY TO GET STARTED? ENROLL NOW!

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Student Testimonials 

“I was amazed at how accurately these assessments targeted not only my personality, but also my innate abilities and skills. In the vast sea of medical specialties a student has to choose from, I now have a much needed sense of direction."
- Matt Hartman, Loma Linda School of Medicine 
 
“Blair Hollis helped me focus on all the pieces of the puzzle that make me who I am and understand that I have the capacity to succeed with my particular ability patterns. Thank you so much for your time and confidence in me!"
- John, pre-med student, Rice University
 
All the elements that we discussed seemed to connect in a logical way. For the first time in my life this all made sense to me. He opened my eyes to my potential, thank you so much!!"
- Paul, engineering student, Vanderbilt University 

Parent Testimonials

​"The process was comprehensive and executed with care and much thoughtfulness.  I would highly recommend Blair Hollis for anyone, no matter what age or stage of life, to help determine a personalized career path."
- A Grateful Mom

"I would highly recommend Crossroads Consulting to any parent who wishes to offer their young adult a program that helps them better understand themselves and pursue the careers they dream about!"
- Susan 

"Blair Hollis was the guiding light that transformed my son’s self-esteem into a confidence that changed his outlook on his career search."
- Cheryl

                                      Read more from  professional testimonials ​​HERE.

                                      Read more from student and parent testimonials HERE.

Sources:

1. Butler, T. (2010). Getting unstuck: A guide to discovering your next career path. Harvard Business Press. 

2. Oliviera, D. (2018, August 1). Freedom to Explore. https://admission.princeton.edu/blogs/freedom-explore

3. Lewin, Tamar. "Most College Students Don’t Earn a Degree in 4 Years, Study Finds." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Dec. 2014. Web. 
​
4. Rao, S. (2024, July 26). WSJ: Half of college grads are working jobs that don’t use their degrees. The Burning Glass Institute. https://www.burningglassinstitute.org/news/half-of-college-grads-are-working-jobs-that-dont-use-their-degrees 


5. Hanson, M., & Checked, F. (2025, March 16). Student Loan Debt Statistics [2025]: Average + total debt. Education Data Initiative. https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics 


6. Grasgreen, A. (2013). College grads less engaged in work than those with less education, survey finds. Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/18/college-grads-less-engaged-work-those-less-education-survey-finds

​7. AMERICA’S CALL FOR HIGHER EDUCATION REDESIGN. (2013). THE 2012 LUMINA FOUNDATION STUDY OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC’S OPINION ON HIGHER EDUCATION. https://doi.org/https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/resources/americas-call-for-higher-education- redesign.pdf?utm_source=link_newsv9&utm_campaign=item_163538&utm_medium=copy