Recently. Four months ago, I was living in Moscow. Three months ago, my journey took me to St. Petersburg. Two months ago — back to Moscow. The past few weeks — Thailand. I’ll stay here for a while, and then I plan to head to Cambodia, India, and Egypt.

Some time ago, I made a decision to change my life exactly as much as I felt necessary. There's a belief (which works, I’ve tested it) that the world is willing to be the way you see and imagine it. I “imagined” that my professional and spiritual growth, the development of WAYUP, and endless travel to the most interesting and remote places were all possible. Today, I myself am the proof of this worldview.

I want us to think together about how your life could change in just one year.

Familiar Pattern

I love this term borrowed from English. In Russian, it means “template,” “habitual.” We constantly surround ourselves with behavioral patterns. More accurately, they take root in us because we often do the same things day after day. The brain doesn’t like unnecessary strain, so according to John Medina’s excellent book “Brain Rules,” it “remembers” familiar actions, allowing us to perform them easily, without thinking or wasting energy.

Often, after graduating from college or university, a person starts working and either gets stuck in one job for years or hops from one job to another — which also becomes a behavioral pattern.

So in this fast-paced and ever-changing world, everything changes — except for one thing: us. More precisely — our level of development. Of course, we’re not lazy, we strive for more, we read, we grow professionally, and so on. We achieve another rank, a promotion, receive some praise...

It’s great when a person understands that they are doing what they truly love. But what if you feel something’s off? That constant anxiety that the best years are being spent on “the wrong things” comes back again and again. Despite the inner discomfort, we keep doing what’s familiar. Habit, as we know, is a powerful thing. And such a habit can easily rob a person of the most essential thing — happiness and fulfillment.

How to Be Happy and Break the Pattern

The answer is scarily simple. To avoid the scenario described above, all you need to do is ask yourself one question right now: who do I want to be a year from now? What do I do? Who do I spend time with? What country do I live in? How do I spend my weekends? What brings me joy and surprise? What books am I reading?

This chain of questions will lead you to your ideal self-image. The key is not to fall into despair over how different your present is from what you want. That’s completely normal! Most people never ask themselves these questions — they live mediocre and unhappy lives. You’re already halfway to success because you’ve discovered its main secret: attentiveness and awareness in every single moment.

If, like me, you envision yourself in the future as a free and happy person doing what you love, not worrying about money, and living where you want — not where you were born and raised — then I believe I have something to share with you.

My “Story” in Two Words

I understand it’s difficult to describe someone’s life in just a few sentences, but I’ll try. I do this with one goal — to show that change in our lives (not just the world around us) is possible and real.

Seven years ago, I was dutifully following the main “script” of modern society — “serving time” at university, which, as I later realized, taught me nothing (especially not anything I loved or actually needed). I worked on construction sites, did home renovations with friends, and washed cars at a car wash.

Money is always needed — especially during college, when life is buzzing around you and you need at least something in your pocket. During all this time of physical labor, I had an outlet — a few personal websites that I managed to make generate a relatively stable (though small) income. But at the time, even that amount was helpful. It was my passion, hobby, my escape...

For a long time, I hesitated to focus on websites, thinking it was unserious, “not right,” not like everyone else. Real work meant using your hands — like any other student! (Or just not working at all and waiting to graduate before facing such questions.)

The main argument holding me back from online work was that I thought it was financially unstable. But over time, I realized that stability (a very fragile one) is only available to government workers — and it comes at the cost of mechanical routine and often low pay.

I came to understand that any endeavor that is innovative, bold, and unusual is destined to be unstable. At that moment, you realize whether you have an entrepreneur inside you. Apparently, I had something in me pulling me toward new, interesting, unconventional things.

Even at the cost of instability, I completely gave up physical labor and moved online.

I won’t describe my entire journey that began 7 years ago — it would take too long. I’d rather tell you what I’ve arrived at today.

Today, my life revolves around travel and growth. These are the main themes that define my days and those of my loved one. On a deeper level: I’m developing the WAYUP project, helping young (and not so young) people find themselves in IT, building websites, designing interfaces, consulting clients on how to grow their business online, and in my free time I read, take photos (thankfully, there’s plenty to shoot while traveling), and try to discover new hobbies and interests.

Summary

Summing up everything above, I conclude: change is inevitable. Only we can define the direction of that change. And even when it feels like you can put off deciding which path to take, you’re still making a choice — to let life carry you along a current you don’t control.

Ask yourself the sobering question of where you’ll be a year from now. Usually, it’s not hard to create an ideal image of yourself — one year into the future. The hard part is immediately figuring out what needs to be done and how to do it to reach that state.

You don’t need to “find faith in yourself” for this. The wind of change is blowing constantly. All you have to do is move your feet in the direction of your goals. Time, intention, and God will do the rest.

Wishing you the best in discovering your new self! If your ambitions involve web development, mobile apps, web design, online product promotion, or the IT field in general — I invite you to explore our online course library. Join our fast-growing community of designers, developers, copywriters, and marketers!