Well, to be honest, as a kid I came across as having the same attitude. I think right now he really is just interested in painting cars for a living. Fair enough. That can actually be rather lucrative if you're good at it.

As he progresses, his talents may develop or he may discover something new. However, if you keep pushing him, he's just going to become more determined to follow his original decision, trust me.

So since he's going to do what he wants either way you may as well not fight him over it. If he's anything like I was, he'll be able to buckle down and get serious when he needs to. He's probably a master of the last-second deadline rush.

My opinion is always: "Who cares as long as I'm happy?"

And since I could be happy living by myself in a shack in the woods, it's really not all that surprising that I'm fairly unconcerned about my future even now.

its probably just a phase... just like emo's when they might eventually see how bad they look in tight pants... your mate will look back and realise what he's been doing was bad. i suggest you continue to be an influence on him for as long as possible