If you’re a student, here is the one thing you should do this summer..

You’re now a few weeks into your summer break. It’s a time to kick back from your studies and enjoy non-academic life. However there is one thing that you, and every student, needs to be doing this summer – and that’s really understanding what you’re passionate about.

You may not want to think about work right now, but you should. We spend 100,000+ hours of our lives working and far too many people I know find themselves stuck in jobs they hate, doing things that are fundamentally unsatisfying.

The secret to a happy and fulfilled working life is doing what you love – the good news is that once you’ve worked out what that is, not only will you have a more enjoyable career, you’ll most likely go further as you’ll be doing work that truly drives and inspires you.

I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. My summers were spent working in small businesses, mainly pubs, where I would earn some money and then I’d set off looking for new experiences as I backpacked around Europe.

Not only was this a lot of fun, it was also perfect training for the frontline of business. As a result, ever since I started my first company in my last year at university, I’ve had an incredibly enjoyable working life full of excitement, fascinating people and new challenges.

 Some people never find their passion; don’t let yourself be one of them. Here are my three simple tips to help you:

1. What did you enjoying doing as a kid?

Did you like meeting people, doing sport, organising things or writing plays? Could these things you used to do for fun help you figure out what you want to do for work?

 Your childhood-self probably knew a lot about what you really enjoyed, before the intrusion of parental expectations, peer pressure and well-meaning careers advisors.

1. What would you do if you won the lottery?

Go wild, think about what would make you really happy if you didn’t have to worry about money.

Would you travel, make the world a better place, work on a conservation project or start a business? Whatever you choose, you could probably start working towards it right now; you don’t need a fortune, you just need to listen to what you really want.

1. Get some feedback

The people who know you most, your friends and family, normally know when you’re happy and relishing life and when you’re not.

Ask them when you seem to be at your happiest and most fulfilled. For some people, it can be surprisingly hard to know when they’re happy. Ask your parents what you talk about most often, ask your friends what makes you smile. They may well understand you more than you do!

Life is just too short to do a job you don’t enjoy. The sooner you can find your passion and hold on to it, the happier you’ll be – you never know where it might take you!