One of Them Knows Where He's Heading. Do You?

April 24, Saint Petersburg. Two appearances in one day: in the morning — for school principals; in the evening — for high school students. Different ages, different status. But at the foundation of both conversations was the same question: what determines whether a person becomes self-realized — and what horizons they can reach?

The Leningrad Region competition "Principal of the Year 2026," organized by the Leningrad Regional Institute for the Development of Education (LOIRO). The lecture "Cosmic Ambitions. We Are All Capable of More" for leaders and educators of the region's schools.

A school principal is also a commander. A commander on whom it depends whether the staff of teachers will become a team. And whether the children they teach will be the kind who find their own path. I'm convinced that being a teacher is the most important profession in society. And I wanted to support the inner fire in these people. So that they would burn at full intensity for their work.

I defined my goal of becoming a cosmonaut at fourteen — and walked twenty-one years toward my first flight. At the very earliest stage of my path, a decisive role was played by my school teacher, Natalya Vladimirovna Afanasyeva. It was she who came up with the plan "How to Become a Cosmonaut" for me. Had her reaction to my dream been different, it's quite possible I would never have moved in that direction. One teacher — and an entire trajectory of life.

In the lecture I examined what determines whether we will act in an average way, by template, or be able to achieve results we didn't expect of ourselves. In my view, this depends greatly on how aware you are of the shared meaning of your large team's work, how personally you embrace that meaning, and how ready you are to take responsibility for moving your team even a little forward.

In some lines of work, finding this larger meaning is difficult — it hides behind familiar goals and reporting metrics. But in the teaching profession it is obvious. And it is the most powerful of all that can be: you help a person determine the right direction of flight. You launch trajectories, each of which is someone's life.

After the lecture, the head of the LOIRO management department, Viktoria Karanova, gave me a postcard with Petersburg cosmic cats. Look at it carefully. Three cats in open space. Two of them clearly don't understand how they ended up there. Paws splayed, bewilderment in their eyes. They didn't choose this flight — they were simply swept into it. And the third — the one above them all — is flying consciously. In his eyes there is no fear, but a fire. He knows where he's heading.

And so it is in life. Some fly consciously toward their star. Others were simply swept into open space — and in zero gravity they don't understand what to do next. And often the difference is just this: whether someone was nearby who helped to define the direction.

I feel myself to be the cat who flies consciously. And which of these three do you associate yourself with?

But wherever in your flight you find yourself right now — it is never too late to stop, rethink, and start taking conscious steps. Toward your star.

That same day — the Teen and Youth Center of the Petrodvortsovy District. The lecture "Cosmonauts Are Not Born — They Are Made. And It's Within Reach for Many!" for high school students.

This isn't a lecture about life and routine in space. It's a conversation about how to consciously manage your own self-realization. About how to raise the chances of becoming the best version of yourself — and through that, of becoming happy. In the sense that Lev Tolstoy gave to that word: "Happiness is not always doing what you want, but always wanting what you do."

This lecture is a deep reflection on, and analysis of, how my own professional path took shape. In my case, much happened intuitively. But looking back, I was able to make out the key patterns that largely determined how this path came together. I consider that I have realized myself in what I do. And I very much want to give young people the chance to walk their own life paths not blindly. The point isn't even to learn from someone else's mistakes — it's to use the positive experience of someone who has already walked the road. Imagine what can be achieved if that experience is used consciously.

One of the key starting points for any conscious movement toward self-realization is understanding your strong line. During one of the psychological assessments in the cosmonaut corps, the psychologist said to me: "Alexander, remember — you will be more successful, guaranteed, if you move along your strong line." The strong line is the most pronounced abilities and talents that are already in you by nature. Not the ones that are fashionable. Not the ones that pay better. But the ones in which you can become the best.

But knowing your strong line is only the beginning. What matters is that it intersects with what you find interesting to do. The zone of your most pronounced abilities and the zone of your interest — where they overlap is where your optimal path lies. The earlier you start thinking about this, the better. And to answer for yourself what your strong line is, it's worth listening carefully to yourself, talking with parents, friends, teachers, taking a career-orientation course, or speaking with specialized psychologists.

It isn't easy to talk about this with teenagers — it makes you think, and that isn't the most habitual activity at fifteen. But these kids listened attentively, asked questions, and we ended up on the same wavelength.

And at the end, a shy girl named Sasha came up and gave me a painting she had made herself.

Look at it. A cosmonaut in a helmet, gaze upward, cosmic flame all around. This isn't a child's drawing — it's the work of a person who already knows for sure what their strong line is. Sasha, good luck to you — lay your own path!

Why is the non-profit B-612 holding meetings with teenagers?

A person who has found their strong line and realized themselves through it will, with high probability, begin to create — not only for themselves but for the world around them. Especially if, at an early stage of their formation, someone helped them take the first conscious steps. A natural desire arises, in turn, to help someone else. As Tolstoy also said: "There is only one undoubted happiness in life — to live for others." These are not pretty words. This is the next stage after self-realization.

The power of our technology is growing faster than the wisdom to apply it. In my view, raising people who are creators is not charity. It is the only way to pass through the crisis our civilization is approaching. That is exactly why the non-profit B-612 exists.