Peel the Onion Podcast by Olivia Maxwell

I Chose Myself Over My Psychology Career — Why I Walked Away | Olivia Maxwell #20

Season 1 Episode 21

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0:00 | 28:32

This episode might trigger you and that’s the point.

We’re taught to build a life that looks right. Study hard. Get the title. Stay in the system. Be someone that makes sense to the world.

I did all of that.

And then it all fell apart.

What came wasn’t a gentle awakening - it was shock, grief, and a truth I couldn’t ignore. The kind of truth that disrupts everything you’ve worked for. The kind that asks you to walk away from the very identity you built your life around.

So I did.

I chose myself over my psychology career. Over the years of study. Over the safety of a title. Over being understood.

And it felt like warfare.

Because choosing yourself isn’t always empowering at first - it’s disorienting, confronting, and scary. It asks you to let go of who you’ve been told to be, without knowing who you’re becoming.

But here’s the truth no one talks about:
Clinging to an identity that isn’t aligned will cost you far more than walking away ever will.

On the other side of that collapse, I found something real.
A life that isn’t performative.
A path that isn’t dictated by systems.
A version of me that is fully alive, embodied, and unapologetic. A version where my passion gets to soar!

If you feel like the life you’ve built isn’t actually yours, this is your permission to question everything.


| Olivia Maxwell |

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Website | https://awakenedmbs.com.au/