Mike Abasov

— Why would I learn that? Will I get paid more?

I’ve heard these questions a lot of times. Indeed, why would you spend time learning about something that doesn’t have a direct impact on your future salary? Why would you read that book, if it doesn’t have answers to the questions on hand? Why would you meet these people, if they have no connection to your industry? Why? Why? Why? Be-fucking-cause! 

Learn it before you need it

First of all, things change: your questions on hand change, your job evolves, you change too. Something that doesn’t seem beneficial today may be critical tomorrow.

When learning HTML back in 2005, I had no idea how influential this knowledge would be. But when the right time came, this interest became a foundation for my freelancing job and, later, my social media obsession.

The same is true for networking or anything else.

Do I have any idea when Psychology 101 or Politics 110 will come handy? Not at all, but I still study them. And meanwhile, they are already altering my perception of the world by helping understand better how things work.

See the world differently

You have probably experienced this yourself. You learn something new, and it changes how you view the world. 

For example, after taking an advertising course, all commercials start making sense. Or after learning to play the guitar, you start hearing strumming patterns and classic blues leaks.

The more you know the more you can do; the better judgments you make; the smarter alternatives you see; the more successful you become.

Talk to me

Smart people are also fun to talk to. I love chatting with someone I meet beyond the classic “what brings you here?” and “what do you do?” Why not talk about sports, religion, space invasions?

When you have something to share and you are interesting to talk to, people will seek you company. While if you are a boring dumb-ass… well, you’re just a boring dumb-ass.

Curiosity is key

Be curious. Learn beyond your curriculum. Decide for yourself what to learn and then learn it. Here are some things I’m trying out right now:

• Philosophy of death, free video lectures from Yale.
• Daily facts in pictures.
• “Linchpin”, a book by Seth Godin (review coming up).

Anything you’ve learned recently or want to check out? Share in the comments!

So here we are. You already know that, in order to become really successful, you need to step up your game, which we will, from now on, call personal branding.

Sure, personal branding is not yet a must for becoming successful but only in cases where success is directly related to your achievements.

If being successful means to you being the best at doing what you love, then dive into the activities described below and start building your brand now!

Warning

I should warn you that taking these steps will make you forget 2 words from your vocabulary: boredom and free time.

Boredom. You will never be bored, if you are actively working on achieving success by doing something you like. You will be excited, full of passion, tired but fulfilled. Bored — never. 

Free time. You won’t have any free time, because you won’t need it. Don’t worry, you will still party and have fun, and date. But those days when you didn’t know how to entertain yourself are forever over. You can now find entertainment in work, and this is your first step to happiness.

Action Plan

Here are 5 simple activities that will help you start branding yourself.

1. Join student clubs.
Check out any student clubs you find interesting and get into a few! You’re not making any commitments, so don’t worry about joining too many — you can drop them along the way.

For every club you’ve joined, participate in their events. Try them out!

You will meet new people, and people = opportunities. Every job I had, I had got because of the people I knew. Networking is extremely important.

You will also figure out what you like, develop your palette of interests.

2. Become active online.
Yes, it’s time you get on Twitter. Start tweeting about the stuff you like, the books you read, the things you do to become successful. Tweet about this article, after all!

Putting yourself out there will help you show everyone who you are and what you do, leading to conclusions about why you are better than your competition, why you should be hired.

I don’t advise you get into blogging right away, but if you feel like it, go ahead!

3. Learn. More.
Curriculum is good. Extra-curriculum is extra-good. Start reading blogs and books about your profession, watching documentaries and going to conferences. Absorb avery bit of information and be hungry for more.

Then share your knowledge with your new friends from student clubs and followers on Twitter.

4. Increase productivity.
You might not feel this pain yet, but as you become more and more active with your life, you’ll understand how scarce the time is as a resource. So start early! Here’s a list to consider: speed reading, time management, life-hacking, utilizing commute time.

The more efficiently you can use time, the more you will be able to achieve before graduation.

5. Read this blog.
And subscribe to the “Awesome Sunday” newsletter, for god’s sake! :)

Summing up

Every point mentioned here, I will be discussing on the pages of this blog in detail. There is a lot more to learn about personal branding and other aspects of improving your college life. But these few tips will get you started.

Are you doing any of these already? What exactly? How is it working out for you?