Originally written for SA Coaching News. Published with permission.
As a career coach, a model I find particularly useful in assisting clients to clarify their career direction and to plan out their next set of moves, is called Ikigai. This is a Japanese term made up of two words where IKI is life and GAI means worth. There is no direct translation in English for this word but the best way to think about it is your reason for getting up in the morning or your “Why”, as Simon Sinek would say.
Consider your context
Before we get into the model, I want to put the current situation in context using another favourite model from Abraham Maslow – the Hierarchy of Needs. The basic premise of the model is that people will not be happy or motivated unless their needs are met. Secondly, it suggests that we need to meet our basic, or lower-order, needs first starting at the bottom of the hierarchy before we’re able to focus on the higher-order needs towards the top of the pyramid. Some of the ideas in the Ikigai model might feel like they are more applicable to the higher-order levels of Maslow’s hierarchy, where we’re concerned with being successful and fulfilling our potential. The reality is that most of us are having to focus more on the lower-order needs right now, looking after our physiological and safety needs, including our psychological safety. Even the way that we go about meeting our social needs has been impacted. So, when you consider the steps in the model, perhaps take two journeys through – one for the current reality, and another one for later on when things hopefully get back to some kind of (new) normality.
The Ikigai Model
The concept of Ikigai is about having a direction or purpose in life which makes one’s life worthwhile. Activities that take us towards our Ikigai are not forced but rather undertaken spontaneously and willingly, and they give us satisfaction and a sense of meaning.
The Ikigai model is made up of four circles that intersect. Circle number one talks about what do we love to do. This might sound like some advice that you might have heard before: “follow your passion.” This is really just one of the circles though and to complete the picture we need to look at all of the circles. Number two is to look at what does the world need. The third circle is what will people pay for if we need to earn our living doing this work, and the fourth relates to our skills — what are we good at. It is in the intersection of all four of these circles that we find our career sweet spot or our Ikigai.
What do you love to do?
For some people this is an easy question and for others it’s a bit more difficult. You might have found that you’ve gone into a career that you kind of just ended up in accidentally and you’re not really loving what you do. Having worked with many project managers over the years, we commonly use the term “accidental project manager” to describe this very event!
To help you with ideas, think back to what you loved to do as a child. What can you remember that you really liked to do? Perhaps your family members or friends from your childhood can tell you what they observed from you. You can also look at your career so far and think about which are the jobs or positions that you had that you really enjoyed the most, and also which ones did you not enjoy so that you know what to avoid in future. You can also think about the kind of environment that you like to work in. Do you prefer a more corporate sort of culture do you prefer a more start-up or small business type of environment? That could play a role as well. Consider whether you like to work from home or from a formal office. I’ve always thought that I liked working from home, but my definition of “working from home” includes frequent outings to coffee shops and co-working spaces which I’m really missing at the moment!
Look for clues all around you. What’s in your bookshelf? What catches your eye when you go into a bookstore or if you sign into Amazon and you go into the book section? What does Amazon think that you like based on your past browsing history? What catches your eye if you’re looking at news articles or what comes up in your social media stream? And that can also just be based on what you are most drawn to. Artificial intelligence has been keeping an eye on you and seeing what your interests are and you can get clues from just from looking around you.
What does the world need?
Let’s have a look at the second circle which talks about what does the world need. I’m writing this article during the time that we’re in quarantine here in the UK, and many other countries are locked down or shelter-in-place –whatever your government is calling it — due to the current pandemic. So things do change and what the world needs now might be quite different from what it needed a short time ago and also what it might need in a year’s time.
Therefore, it’s very important to do this exercise regularly to take into account trends and changes and economic situations and just keep your eye on what the world needs. Above all, be flexible and adaptable to what the world needs. I love a quote from Winston Churchill that says “We make a LIVING from what we get, but we make a LIFE by what we give.” Consider the kind of contribution you’d like to make in the world.
In this time in particular, it’s so important to consider what the world needs from us and then we can think about how we can apply our skills to those needs. You can get an idea of what the world needs by just looking around you: seeing what’s up on job boards; what’s in the news; what people are asking for; and just looking at trends and being open and adaptable to applying your skills perhaps in novel ways that we haven’t thought about before.
What can we get paid for?
In the third circle we need to consider what we can get paid for and perhaps also how we get paid. Are you looking for a permanent position or perhaps part-time work? And nowadays we live in what is being called the gig-economy where we might be paid for a piece of work at a time such as writing a blog post. You might also want to decide if you’d like to start your own small business and become an entrepreneur. Think and reflect on what your preferences are and that can help you to solidify what your future direction is.
What are we good at?
In the fourth circle we need to look at what are we good at and here very simply we can start with looking at our qualifications, our skills and experience so far. Then we can look a bit beyond that and think about things that we might find relatively effortless that other people might struggle with a bit. What do people naturally come to us for and ask us questions about because they think that we’re good at that thing? Here we also need to think about how future-proof the skills are that we’re thinking about and do we need to improve our skills or up-skill? Can we transfer our skills to something slightly different that would be of more use to the world if we were to improve in that direction.
Putting it all together
The final step is to put together all four circles and see where they intersect. What are the commonalities? What themes come through in all of the circles? How can you draw together the things you love and are good at with what the world needs and what the world will pay you to do? And if you do that, that’s your career sweet spot or Ikigai.
Finally, here are a few pointers to bear in mind when using the model. Don’t assume that everyone has one single true calling that will satisfy both their psychological and financial needs. You might be a “multi-passionate” individual that thrives on having a variety of things to focus on. If you come up short in the “good at” circle, then learn! This is the circle that we probably have the most influence over. Acquire skills through research, taking classes, reading and practice. This will increase your options.
If you don’t immediately find your true Ikigai, that’s OK! Approach the model from all angles and work towards creating the centre. We generally don’t happen upon our Ikigai through introspection only, but rather it emerges while we’re gaining experience and growing our skills. Cal Newport, in his book “So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love,” encourages us to dedicate ourselves to mastering a craft rather than looking for something we’re already passionate about. Because we tend to enjoy the things we’re good at, we’re likely to develop our passion through working at and growing our skills. This will draw us towards the centre of the Ikigai model.