Don't be facetious.

Dear Colleague,
First off, no one is telling young folks they MUST forgo homeownership, marriage or children. What I am telling them is that to be successful in any field, sacrifices are often made in both time and life-choices. Is this really such a novel idea? I mean, as a professional yourself, I would venture to guess that you made the choice not to have kids at 16 for instance or not to get married before having some sort of income. Was that some misguided advice from your parents or priest? No, more likely, realistic advice towards the goal of avoiding common mistakes.
Now, while I can appreciate the sardonic humor, on your part, about having to give up everything just to be a Podiatrist and so on, I do not appreciate the deliberate twisting of the inherent meaning of my posts. To clarify once again for all those reading: ANY MEANINGFUL SUCCESS IN LIFE REQUIRES SOME SACRIFICE. So before you become a podiatrist, a painist, a painter or a purveyor of porn for that matter, keep in mind that nothing comes free. Abandon all childish notions of two hundred thousand dollar a year job offers and a bonus Porsche with built in butt wipers.
Realize that those vaunted MD's,orthopedists or cardio-thoracic surgeons ,which so many of the naysayers on this web site look up to, gave up something very precious to get there; TIME. To be exact, a large portion of their youth. But they made that choice and more power to them. When I was considering professions I liked the idea of becoming a podiatrist because I understood the potential to retain much of my youth while still gaining a profession, I realized that I would not be giving up as much time and in turn, would not be assured as much reward. On the other hand, the potential for success was still very good. That was my choice and I'm happy it turned out well. I started practice at age 27 ,I think the average MD student is 27 (emphasis on the word student).
So please don't come here telling me that dispensing some truth about life is such a strange notion. What you illustrate is the prevailing problem which I am getting at in the first place. The idea that medicine is a sure thing. It's not. None of life's paths are. And the idea that you are somehow entitled to a house, a marriage and kids with your Podiatry diploma is ridiculous. Sure you can go ahead and buy the house get married and have twins, it's just going to be a bit harder to establish yourself with all these responsibilites on your plate. As if waiting a couple of years is unspeakable!
I do not deny that podiatry is more for self-starters and requires more knocking on doors to make it. I do fault the schools for not emphasizing this upon recruiting. But then again, college students should be well aware of the pros and cons of any profession before devoting the next 6-8 years of their lives to it. Simply put, do what you like because you like it. Spend time with professionals actually in the field, talk to them frankly about expectations. If you are doing what you enjoy doing for a living the rest is easy.