Mike Abasov

My story

I was 17, studying in my first year at a university in Ukraine, when I almost failed every course in that year. I was bored with school. I felt like every piece of information thrown at me in class could not be more useless.

I had no idea whatsoever about what I wanted to do with my life. For a while, before applying to study economics, I wanted to become a programmer and make video games or websites. Before that, I was fascinated with the idea of becoming a professional actor.

My parents thought differently of my future, not wanting me to turn out to be one of the many poor actors or computer nerds (in Ukraine, both of these professions usually pay badly). So I went into economics.

It was not until a year and a half into college until my life changed. I found my passion. It was marketing.

The next 3 and a half years I remember as a line of never-stopping events that have shaped and keep shaping my future, my present and myself.

Your story

Hopefully, you know by now what you want to do in your life. But there is a chance that you don’t.

Trust me that finding your passion might be one of the most important and life-changing events that you will ever experience.

You will become more productive. You will see the path clearly. You will be able to plan your life and make decisions. There will be less hesitation. You will be proud of yourself, and you’ll start to grow.

As you are still studying and figuring out your future, I advise you to think seriously about how you want to spend you life. It will be harder to do so later, having a full-time job and other commitments.

If you already know your passion, share how you have found it in the comments section. I think that other students will find it helpful.

If you are still wondering around, here are a few tips that helped me and might be useful to you too.

Action plan

1. Try
Try anything you find interesting. Join student clubs, register for interesting electives, cooking classes, anything at all. Try as much as you possibly can.

In my story, I got into a student club and started working on their marketing strategy, although I’ve never had any interest in this aspect of business before. On the other hand, I liked creating things, and this looked like a good thing to try. 3 months later my life changed forever.

2. Switch
If you don’t find something exciting or useful anymore, drop it. If you don’t like your major, change it. If you don’t see new opportunities in your Toastmasters club, try AIESEC.

It may sound radical at first, but there is nothing more time-wasting than an activity you no longer enjoy.

3. Analyze
Sit down with a piece of paper and write down answers to the following questions:

• What do you like?
• What makes you happy?
• What career paths are possible for every thing you have listed?
• Which of the paths include many of your interests compared to only one or two?

The career that gets the most points might as well be the one for you. Now find a way to try doing the job on a small scale and switch, if you change your mind.

After a few cycles, you will find what you were looking for. I strongly believe that you will find it, as long as you are actually interested in finding it.

And when you do, let me know!