Acharya Prashant addresses the burden of expectations, particularly regarding career choices like becoming an IAS officer. He questions whether such aspirations are genuine or merely a result of external pressure. Sharing his personal journey, he recounts how he pursued IIT and the civil services due to his environment and family background, only to realize upon reaching the training academy that the reality of bureaucracy was vastly different from his expectations. He highlights the difficult choice he made to leave that path, despite his mother's disappointment and her fascination with the power he would have held. He observes that many of his talented peers who lived to fulfill expectations ended up dull, weary, and spiritually dead, losing the joy and enthusiasm they once possessed. He emphasizes that work constitutes the majority of one's life, and choosing a vocation based on miscellaneous pressures leads to a life of torture and bitterness. To find one's true calling, Acharya Prashant suggests identifying work that one would be willing to do even without pay, or even pay to do, because it is deeply satisfying. He argues that a career should emerge from self-knowledge rather than social trends or parental desires. He warns that following the crowd—such as the millions who take the civil services exam—is a sign of not knowing oneself. Ultimately, he cautions that living to fulfill the expectations of others, especially in career and marriage, is soul-sapping and prevents life from being a celebration.