Pausetive Model In Action → Collegians & Graduates
Feeling stuck in doubts, distractions, peer pressure, or career confusion? We help students develop focus, emotional
balance, and decision-making clarity—building a foundation for confident adult life. Empowering the next generation to
thrive.
Understanding Their World
This phase of life is a mix of contradictions.
There’s the rush of new independence. And the confusion that comes with it. The push to figure out your future. And the pull of just trying to survive the week. You’re told to stay productive, make smart choices, build your career. But nobody really teaches you how to handle the mental load that comes with it.
A lot of young adults in college or just out of school are surrounded by activity but feel strangely lost on the inside. They want to feel focused, clear, confident. But mostly, they’re just trying to stay afloat.
A Story from the Mind Gym
We met Aarav a couple of years ago, just as he was entering his second year of college. He was bright, full of ideas, reflective. But also scattered. He’d start things with excitement and lose steam within days. He couldn’t find a rhythm, and it bothered him more than he let on.
He said, “I know I have potential. I just don’t know how to use it.”
We didn’t give him advice. We listened. Then we invited him to try something simple. A pause.
Aarav was tired. Not physically, but mentally. The constant buzz of college life, the endless loop of comparison, the guilt of not doing enough. It had built up. So we asked him to step back for a moment. No fixing, no judging. Just noticing. That pause gave him the space to breathe.
Step 2: Identifying the BEAT Patterns
As we talked, the real patterns started to show up.
His Thinking Shortcuts were working against him. He often told himself, “I have potential, I just don’t know how to use it,” which created a loop of guilt rather than action.
His Attention was scattered. His focus jumped from one new idea to the next, never staying long enough to build momentum.
His Emotions were weighed down by a quiet frustration. He often masked this self-doubt with jokes, but underneath, it was draining his energy.
Step 3: Developing the Right Skills
We didn’t try to overhaul everything. That’s not how this works.
Instead, Aarav began with one small practice each morning: a five-minute check-in to notice his BEAT. No phone. No pressure. Just noticing where his attention was and what his internal dialogue was saying.
He started tracking his energy through the week, not just his tasks. We gave him a few short reflection prompts to help him see his patterns in real-time.
Little things. Done steadily.
Step 4: Reflect and Iterate
A few months later, Aarav wasn’t a new person. But he was noticeably different.
He paused more often. Noticed his thoughts instead of reacting to them. Spoke with more clarity. Still got distracted, but now he knew how to come back.
Most importantly, he started trusting himself again. And that changed everything.
From Struggle to Strength
This is how Aarav’s journey unfolded:
When we met him…
Over time, he showed…
Restless focus
Steadier attention
Unclear direction
A quiet sense of clarity
Frustration and guilt
Emotional self-trust
Living on autopilot
More presence, more intention
Understanding Their World
For many graduates, confusion isn’t the absence of choice. It’s the overload of it.
There’s advice from every direction. LinkedIn posts. Placement prep. Family expectations. Peer comparisons. Somewhere in all that noise, the question “What do I actually want?” gets pushed aside by “What should I do next?”
It’s not a lack of ambition. It’s a lack of clarity in a world that rarely pauses long enough to ask the right questions.
A Story from the Mind Gym
Anish had just finished his B.Com. Good grades. Strong resume. Everyone said he was “sorted.”
But when placements came around, he hesitated. He filled out the forms. Gave the interviews. But something felt off.
“I don’t hate the roles,” he told us. “I just don’t feel like any of them are mine. I don’t even know what I’m working toward.”
He wasn’t panicked. Just quietly lost in the middle of doing everything right.
We asked Anish to stop choosing for a moment. To stop listing pros and cons. And just sit with the discomfort of not knowing.
He realized he had been making career decisions like filling in blanks—roles, salaries, growth paths—without checking in with his own voice.
It wasn’t about finding a dream job. It was about remembering what mattered to him in the first place.
Step 2: Identifying the BEAT Patterns
Three areas came into focus.
His Thinking Shortcuts were keeping him in a loop. He was so focused on “What should I do next?” that he never allowed himself to ask “What do I actually want?”
His Attention was flooded. With too much input from LinkedIn, peers, and family, he had no filter. Every new option felt both exciting and exhausting.
His Emotions held a quiet pressure. It wasn’t panic—but the constant resonance of “I should have figured it out by now,” which made every decision feel heavier than it needed to be.
Step 3: Developing the Right Skills
We began with values to ground his BEAT.
Anish worked on a short values inventory—what energized him, what drained him, what he admired in others. It gave his decisions a clear anchor.
Next came clarity filters. Instead of thinking “What’s out there?” he started asking “What aligns with my way of working, learning, and contributing?” We used a three-circle tool: Skills, Joy, and Exposure.
He also set up a weekly curiosity window—one hour to observe his internal BEAT without any pressure to make a decision. Not for outcomes. Just discovery.
Step 4: Reflect and Iterate
Within a month, the fog started lifting.
Anish didn’t land a perfect plan. But he shortlisted three paths that felt like him. He asked better questions in interviews. He sounded more confident—not because he had answers, but because he had perspective.
And that’s what changed everything. He stopped trying to get it right. He started trying to get it true.
From Fog to Focus
Here’s how Anish’s experience unfolded:
When we met him…
Now, he shows…
Confused by too many choices
Clarity from aligned values
Chasing the “right” job
Curious about what fits him
Mentally overloaded
Using personal filters for decisions
Fear of missing out
Confidence in his pace and direction
Understanding Their World
Some graduates look like they have it figured out.
They’re confident. Social. Put-together. They carry energy, style, and certainty into every room they walk into. And so, no one asks how they’re really doing.
But even the most outwardly “sorted” students face their own internal noise—especially when college ends and the future starts knocking. That’s when the questions get louder. And the answers, blurrier.
A Story from the Mind Gym
Ritika is in her final year of engineering. Bright, bold, social. The kind of person who lights up a group project and has 10K Instagram followers. People ask her for career tips.
But in our first one-on-one session, her voice dropped.
“Everyone thinks I have a plan. The truth is, I don’t even know what I want to apply for. I’ve been saying I’ll go into tech, but I don’t feel excited about it anymore. I can’t even tell if I’m confused or just tired.”
For someone always seen as confident, the space to say that felt new. And freeing.
We asked Ritika to stop trying to decide anything.
Just pause. Let go of the “next step” question for a moment. And pay attention to the discomfort underneath it.
She noticed how often she played a role—being the sorted one, the planner, the all-rounder. And how exhausting it had become. Not because she was fake. But because somewhere along the way, she lost the habit of checking in with herself.
Step 2: Identifying the BEAT Patterns
Three areas came into focus.
Her Beliefs were tied to her image. She felt she had to be the “sorted” one, the planner, the diva who had it all together. This belief made it impossible for her to admit she was lost.
Her Emotions were fraying. Not in big breakdowns, but in small, resonant signals—irritability, withdrawal, and a lack of interest in things she used to enjoy.
Her Thinking Shortcuts were on autopilot. She was following the expected path—placement prep, tech roles—without any internal check-in, leading to a state of mental exhaustion.
Step 3: Developing the Right Skills
We helped Ritika rebuild her decision-making by noticing her BEAT.
She began with a personal pulse check—three times a week, noticing: What felt alive today? What drained me?
She didn’t write it down. Just voiced it out loud, paying attention to her internal state without judgment.
Next, she created a Career Moodboard—not with job titles, but with energies and environments that excited her. Team vs solo, structure vs creativity, code vs communication. It helped her step away from labels and tune into feel.
We also introduced a “drop the role” day each week—one day where she didn’t need to be the Diva. No filtered stories. Just her, observing her own BEAT as it evolved.
Step 4: Reflect and Iterate
Over time, Ritika didn’t land a five-year career map. But she started getting honest—with herself, and others.
She let go of a few internship options she had taken just to “keep up.” She reached out to alumni working in hybrid roles that blended tech with outreach. She admitted to her friends that she was figuring things out too.
And nothing collapsed. In fact, she felt lighter. More real.
From Image to Intention
Here’s how Ritika’s journey unfolded:
When we met her…
Now, she shows…
Confident outside, uncertain inside
Clarity about what energizes her
Doing what looked right
Exploring what feels right
Avoiding honesty out of habit
Speaking from where she is, not where she “should” be
