The Japanese concept of *Ikigai serves as an efficient way to find a person’s life purpose. It works by looking at what you are good at, what you love doing, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. From students embarking on their journey to professionals seeking a shift, understanding and applying Ikigai can guide an individual towards a fulfilling career and a happy life.
Ikigai for Students:
To students, Ikigai is a very useful concept to ensure purposeful career planning. Here is how you can use the four elements of Ikigai to mold your future:
What Are You Good At?
Start off by making a list of all the skills and competencies where you excel, even if they do not seem relevant to a job. Whether through academic, technical, or artistic endeavors, understanding your skills helps you understand where you can excel.
What Are You Passionate About?
Next, identify which activities get you excited. Passion will allow you to build a fulfilling career, so make sure to choose careers where you will have more than just adequate levels of engagement towards completion. Passion derives from the activities you most love and enjoy. Remember, it is important to separate enthusiasm from activities you may be quite proficient at.
What At This Moment Does The World Need?
Look closely at the hobbies you enjoy and determine if there is a fit with the needs of the world. Consider how you would tackle obstacles that are present or the things that are lacking. As an example, let’s say you enjoy and are good at singing. There are many potential professions with the required skills, as the world may need performers, educators developers, songwriters, and many more. You may desire to do something in that area of expertise and turn it into something productive.
What Are Willing To Pay You For?
Lastly, consider the financial aspect where you have to ask yourself whether the mix of your skills, passions, and the needs of the world can be transformed into a well paying profession. Take the time to look for job positions, diploma paths, or industries where you will be able to enjoy what you excel in coupled with your passions.
Carefully reflecting on these four traits can help you decide which path to take. If you focus only on one aspect, for example, getting a job, while neglecting the other four aspects, your career may feel unfulfilling. Strive for balance to achieve success while ensuring satisfaction as well.
Professionals Ikigai:
If you have a job, you have nothing to worry about, you can still take advantage of the Ikigai paradigm to develop more meaning and fulfillment out of your job. A working adult may already be located within one or more of the Ikigai circles, but more often than not, there is at least one circle that remains unfulfilled. In this case, it is reasonable to assume that there is a deficiency in your career.
Reflect On Your Career Using the Ikigai Framework:
Think about your current role and assess it with the four Ikigai dimensions:
- What are your strongest skills?
- What drives you?
- What can you make a living from?
- What is the demand in the marketplace?
Identify Gaps In Circles:
If you genuinely believe that you’re making the world a better place through your work but are also passionate about it, or enjoy profiting from it yet not diligent enough, then the scenario presents a red flag. Suppose you are an artist or a musician and possess premium obsession towards a dying out form of craftsmanship – then you will need to upskill as livened out in the world.
Conversely, if you are proficient in your skill and it is in demand, however the job is not engaging, then focus on the fourth quadrant- what fascinates you. Make sure that there is a seamless enthusiasm and job satisfaction coupled with your career path.
Cover the Gaps:
After identifying which areas there are gaps, make an effort to cover them. Whether it is by enhancing your current skill set, shifting your career, or finding more ways to make your work meaningful, accomplishing all four circles will lead you to your Ikigai– a vocation that blends happiness and fulfillment.
Key Takeaways:
- As for students, Ikigai helps you conceptualize and structure your career by capturing your skills, interests, social needs, and monetizable value.
- As for professionals, apply the Ikigai framework to identify what elements are missing in your career and make sure that they are for your true self.
- To find your purpose in life and have a rewarding career, fill out all four circles: what you are good at, what you care about, what the world needs, and how much money you want to make.
With Ikigai, one can design a career path that supports their livelihood while also bringing them joy, satisfaction, and value to the society they are a part of. This framework can help anyone from a newcomer to someone advanced in their career by providing a way to make decisions that lead to long-term happiness and achievement.
