A fascinating exercise in analyzing your Ikigai.

I got an email this week from my friend, John, who is in the midst of a career RESET. He forwarded along a picture his dad had sent him that shows a Venn diagram based on a Japanese concept I had never heard of call "Ikigai." I don't know who created the chart, although there's a small citation in the bottom corner. I've discussed something similar in the past, but this chart adds a new dimension:

So how did I use it just now? As a reflection tool. Take anything you spend your time doing. For me, I used "leadership curriculum development" as my first "filter." My answers are in bold. Now ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do you love it? No.
2. Are you good at it? Yes.
3. Can you be paid for it (or have you been paid for it)? Yes.
4. Does the world need it (like, actually need it -- not "I think the world needs it but the world doesn't yet know it")? Yes.

Sure enough, developing leadership curriculum is a comfortable activity that can leave me with a feeling of emptiness. I'm ok with that, because it financially fuels other ventures that are much more Ikigai.

Another way I used the chart was to take something I spend time doing and figure out which of the five "feelings" it leaves me with. For this one, I took "career/life coaching."

1. Satisfied, but feeling of uselessness? No, definitely feels useful.
2. Delight and fulness, but no wealth? No, I've created wealth doing it.
3. Comfortable, but feeling of emptiness? No, feels fulfilling.
4. Excitement and complacency, but sense of uncertainty? No complacency.
5. Reason for being? YES! I exist to help people maximize their potential. It's something I love that I'm good at that the world needs and that I get paid for. It's my IKIGAI.

Give it a go. Pick something you do, anything you spend time on, and use it as your filter. After figuring out which circle it belongs in, ask yourself the following:

1. Am I ok with the result?
2. Am I spending the majority of my time living outside my vocation or my Ikigai?
3. Am I clear about my Ikigai and am I working toward it?

Finally, if you need help identifying your Ikigai, hit me up! It's my Ikigai.