This is often because they don’t see you as you are but what you used to be. (A dumb/drunk/high/uneducated (in the best sense of education) [kid, college student, young man], etc.]). It’s really hard, if not impossible, to change that preconception.
To the extent it’s changeable, it’s a hell of a lot easier to change that perception if you disappear from their lives for a significant amount of years before you recommend. This is because the frog in the boiling pot is a real phenomenon you must fight. And the people you are closest to are usually people you see often. View quoted note →
