Redefining Success

When you put, like, your mental health and, like, your happiness at the forefront, it just becomes much more freeing and liberating. (bright techno upbeat music) I am Julien, and this is how therapy changed my life. (bright techno upbeat music) Growing up, there's always a basketball game on TV, or football game, you know, it's what we love to do. My dad was my basketball coach, he was the one who was training my brother and I. He definitely wanted me and my brother to be, you know, the best basketball players we could be. He would always surround our environment with basketball. We had a hardwood floor, and the reason why he put that in is so we could dribble in the house and always continue to work on our handles. The end-goal was to get to the NBA. Growing up, that's what I watched, me and my brother, we'd be glued to the TV watching the Lakers play, and that's what we strived for. My dad was extremely tough on me and my brother. (ball thudding) (shoes squeaking) Now make your layups. Every day, we were working out consistently, waking up early in the morning, going on runs, just late nights in the gym. It was hard. As a little kid, you don't really realize what you're doing, but as we got older, me and my brother, we saw the results from what my dad was doing, and, ultimately, it kind of paid off. I started getting notoriety in high school around basketball and kind of got a little buzz around the city about who I was, and I was receiving interest from multiple colleges. From there, I chose Oregon State. What struck me when I got to college was, in high school, you're like the man on your team, you're the man in the county, but it's different when you get to college. At the highest level, everyone's athletic, everyone's big, strong, fast, but it's like, how cerebral are you, and do you believe in yourself? Being a student athlete, there's just so many things to juggle, academics, practice, games. It's not easy to have a schedule that demands all your time, and still be able to focus on your mental health. I felt like nothing could stop me, and then, in college, guys are actually stronger and older than you, and it feels like the game's just moving a lot faster. It was a wake up call for me, I had a lot of struggle like learning, getting up to speed with everyone. Not all the coaches are there for you, it's a business at the end of the day, and you have this coach telling you that, you know, you're really not that good, and you need to be a lot better. Prior to that, like, you had everyone praising you for how good you were. Felt like I knew who I was, but when someone is telling you that you're not good enough, and...