Mike Abasov

Last year I’ve written a number of resolutions for each letter of the alphabet. Not everything went the way I expected but, in general, I’m happy with my 2011. Here’s the revised list.

Accomplished:
A - assume less, listen more. D - develop better studying habits. E - English, master. G - Gary Vaynerchuk, meet. H - help more people than I’ve helped in 2010. I - improve relationships with my parents. K - keep being awesome. M - meet someone truly amazing. N - notes (music), learn how to read. R - raise, get. S - speak in public about branding. T - turn 22, hopefully. X - forget about her. Y - because.

Failed:
B - build and improve this blog. C - Chris Brogan, meet. F - fight laziness. J - join a marketers’ association. L - lose 10 pounds and keep it that way. O - obey this resolution. P - post guest posts to some top-of-the-line blogs. Q - quit watching so many tv-shows. U - utilize video content more effectively. V - visit New York. W - write a book. Z - come up with a task for “z” next year.

Highlights of 2011

In April, I became the president of the UBC eBusiness club, and it’s been a rewarding on-campus experience that opened doors for new people in my life and provided me with an opportunity to master a variety of new skills.

In May, my friend and I started NotChefs, a social network for sharing recipes. After 2 months of development, we decided to put the project back on the shelf due to limited resources.  

In September, after working at HootSuite Media for 13 months, I left the company to pursue new adventures. I’ve been working a few small contracts since then.

In November, I went to Startup Weekend and co-founded EpicBets, a social game that takes betting on sports against friends to a whole new level.

In December, I’ve reached an important milestone — 1 year of school left. Yay!

There have also been many huge positive changes in my lifestyle and social life. I learned to enjoy the rain and really fell in love with Vancouver. Overall, it was a great year.

Looking Forward to 2012

There are some major events that will be happening in the next 12 month. I’ve been invited to write for a student magazine and a student blog as a guest author. I’m continuing to work on a variety of projects and getting deeper into the startup and agency communities in Vancouver. Finally, I’m planning to graduate in December 2012 and will soon start looking for a permanent job. Exciting stuff!

(And of course I’m totally stoked for the Zombie Apocalypse.)

This blog had been about cool pictures; then about marketing; then about learning…

Every new beginning for this blog meant a new attempt for me to figure out what (and how) exactly I was able to write.

This blog has not been updated in a long time, which can only mean one thing: the what and the how were not right for me. More specifically, writing success tips for students 6 days a week was not my thing. 

Now I’m trying to find a new what and a new how, and when I do, I’ll blog again. Until then, you can either enjoy the archives (there’s some cool stuff there) or leave.

Out of all the things, I’ve written on this blog and the ones I was too lazy to write, here’s one that will probably get into the TOP3.

Always analyze and evaluate your experiences.

When I came to work at HootSuite for a one-week-long internship, I had not idea if I would stay longer or no, but I wanted to make the most out of it. So I set a goal to write down “5 things I’ve leared today” for every day of that week.

It wasn’t hard, but it made me think and evaluate everything I was doing and look for more valuable information around. After 2 weeks, I had a nice list of 50 things HootSuite had taught me.

As you may know, it’s been 9 months and I still work at the “owly company.” I don’t take daily notes anymore, but I still think about my experiences there from time to time.

Return On Investment

So the interesting thing I’ve come to realize recently is that this simple practice can be applied to anything, especially to school, and it can be extremely beneficial.

It shows you your ROI of learning. It adds value to even the most boring course and justifies spending time on it, and it makes you love the interesting courses 10 times more!

For example, I’m extremely bored with Finance, as my motivation has nothing to do with banknotes, stocks or, thanks god, treasury bills. But if I think about what the course actually taught me, I can easily find important knowledge I can use in my life.

Try This Today

Think about 5-10 things you’ve learned in any course this semester. Sit and write them down. Don’t think about all this in boring terms (“I’ve learned how to calculate present value”). Instead, think about this in a fun and meaningful way: “I’ve learned how to pitch my startup idea to an investor.”

Also, write down everything that you personally consider important, and not just the stuff teachers care about. It doesn’t have to be on the final exam to have value for you.

Now that you know how many cool things 4 months of suffering have taught you, feel free to pat yourself on the back :-).

In the future, continue using this practice and keep relating what you learn to what you do. You’ll end up being way more satisfied with yourself than ever before.

For my Business Communications class, I’ve been asked to write about the “Greatest lesson learned from someone else,” so here it goes…

Wait! One lesson is not enough, let’s make it 3!

1. Effort is massively underrated

This one comes from Gary Vaynerchuk, bestselling author and super-star entrepreneur. These 4 words have changed my life is so many ways: from getting a job at HootSuite to rocking 3 speaking gigs this March. So thanks, Gary!

2. Good design is good business

Said by IBM’s ex-president Thomas Watson. In everything I do, I feel the pressure of this principle. It makes me go to Starbacks and open my Mac, and write in my Moleskine. It makes me never settle for low-quality results.

3. Money, career, fame… whatever. That’s all fine and good, but the bottom line is that there is one thing—just one—that really matters. Being fucking awesome.

Coming from another bestselling author, Julien Smith, this advice has already been built into my DNA, yet reading these lines helped it manifest like never before. Awesome!

The most common excuse for failure I’ve heard is that people don’t change. Bullshit!

People do change. Every second, every day, every month, every year. People change a little all the time and dramatically due to some major events.

The only thing you need in order to change yourself is wanting it badly enough. If you think that your laziness is on your way to success, change! Don’t say “that’s just how I am.” If you are not satisfied with yourself, you can do better.

I lost 30 pounds 3 years ago, because I got tired of being overweight. Unfortunately, this change had also turned me into an asshole. Luckily though, I fell in love soon after that, which caused me to change again to a good guy.

Since I came to Canada, I’ve changed a lot too. I adopted values of gift giving and selflessness, which were quite uncommon to me.

Start now

If there is anything about you that you’re not happy about, change yourself. You can. I believe in you. If you need help, ask for it. But do not, please, do not leave everything the way it is. You deserve better.

And don’t wait for the new year, Monday, tomorrow or even dinner. Start the change this very second.

Good luck!

Here’s a quastion: What are the 3 things you’ve done today to make your life better?

Did you read a couple of pages in that textbook? Did you run a few miles? Did you write a blog post? Did you pay your tuition? Did you meet someone important? Did you help someone in need?

If you can’t name 3 such things by the end of each day, you’re not doing a good enough job to become successful.

So what are you things for today?