Having come across a few people that struggle with self-worth and lack of purpose in their jobs, I find the Japanese concept of ikigai to bring some clarity in search for one’s purpose. Ikigai stands for “a reason for being.” It is depicted as a Venn diagram of four circles. The four sections are:
- What you love
- What you are good at
- What you can be paid for
- What the world needs
The area where “what you love” and “what you are good at” intersect is Passion. Intersection between “what you are good at” and “what you can be paid for” is Profession. Area between “what you can be paid for” and “what the world needs” is Vocation. Lastly, intersection between “what the world needs” and “what you love” is Mission. This gives us four places to start with in finding one’s purpose.
- Passion is great to get started with, but it burns up fast if the other aspects are not in place.
- Profession will pay your bills and give you some satisfaction of getting you job done well, yet over a period of time it will cause you to question why you are doing what you’re doing.
- Vocation is something most people will draw away from as it becomes just a job that one is not even that good at or may not need have any major skills.
- Mission is working on something that’s highly needed but undervalued. It causes its own burnout in people as they end up sacrificing too much of their lifestyle and end up not being able to afford basic living.
The areas where three circles intersect give us additional insight. Where “what you love”, “what you are good at”, and “what you can be paid for” intersect one will feel satisfied with their ability to perform their job, but ultimately will feel uselessness, as the work performed is not what the world needs. While this state exists in the model, I do not believe this is a realistic state in the real world. How would someone get paid to perform a job they love and which is not needed in the world? If someone pays to perform a task, does it not automatically make that task needed?
The second intersection is between “what you are good at”, “what you can be paid for”, and “what the world needs.” Someone in this job would feel comfortable because they are good at what they do, they get paid for their tasks, and the world needs their output, but since the person does not love what he or she does it leaves an empty feeling in their heart. Which work environments do you think causes people feel this way?
The next intersection is between “what you can be paid for”, “what the world needs”, and “what you love.” This place gives people excitement as they finally get paid to do what they love and the world needs, but because they are not good at their jobs it also gives them a sense of uncertainty. A person at this job will need to learn quickly or end up losing their job.
The last intersection is between “what the world needs”, “what you love”, and “what you are good at”. At first, this seems like a great place to be but soon enough one realizes that in this world there are bills and living expenses that require some form of wealth. I would strongly suggest starting here for teenagers and young adults that are still under their parents’ care. This will help them build skills they will need in the real world and possibly develop things that they can be paid for in the future. What are some projects that you’re aware of that initially did not pay the founder but once it caught on the found and/or startup team reaped a good financial reward?
Bringing together all of these areas is ikigai. To get to the reason for being, one will need to search for work that brings all of these areas together. In some cases, and area can be developed by the person such as love for what they do or acquisition of skills to make one good at what they do.
What do you find is the hardest part of ikigai to bring together?
(image from pixabay)