Follow Your Passion! (...But theres a catch)
Do what you love... if you're good at it, it's useful, and you can get paid for it.
Posted 05-31-24
You’ve either never heard of the concept of ikigai or know it so well your eyes are already watering. Let’s put aside that the true meaning of the concept, essentially ‘a reason for being’, goes quite a bit deeper than the way it’s been coopted by the career / life coaching community. (Of which, yes, I am technically a member, yet NOT a jargon-spouting mercenary charlatan.)
Don’t get too hung up on the words Passion, Profession, Vocation, and Mission. I’m not entirely sure their definitions adequately convey the combination of the intersecting concepts. It is enough to know that these overlapping areas exist, and to begin to view your life’s work - and your life - through this lens.
If you’re currently experiencing any amount of career dissatisfaction, consider whether some of these elements may be out of balance, neglected, or missing altogether. If you’ve never thought about your work this way, it can be eye-opening. You may love and be good at your well-paid job, but it may not be work the world needs. Here’s where some of you will think But it provides liquidity in capital markets, and I do like my BMW! and some of you will think OH, THAT’S what I’ve been missing!
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You’ve either never heard of the concept of ikigai or know it so well your eyes are already watering. Let’s put aside that the true meaning of the concept, essentially ‘a reason for being’, goes quite a bit deeper than the way it’s been coopted by the career / life coaching community. (Of which, yes, I am technically a member, yet NOT a jargon-spouting mercenary charlatan.)
Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, ancient Japanese life concepts about the purpose of existence that career coaches have figured out how to use as a marketing tool. Notwithstanding the fact that I am, as-you-read, inelegantly doing just that, ikigai is an excellent idea to hold in mind as you contemplate your career.
When applied to your life’s work, ikigai essentially boils down to this:
Seek work that
When applied to your life’s work, ikigai essentially boils down to this:
Seek work that
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You love
-
You are good at
-
The world needs
-
Pays well
Ikigai lies at the intersection of these four characteristics.
Your work might not meet all four, at least not right out of the gate, and that’s ok. Note that in the above diagram (which I definitely didn’t steal from a schlocky content aggregation website) there are four key partially intersecting areas:
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When what you love intersects with what you are good at, that’s your Passion
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When what you are good at intersects with what pays well, that’s your Profession
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When what pays well intersects with what the world needs, that’s your Vocation
- When what the world needs intersects with what you love, that’s your Mission
Don’t get too hung up on the words Passion, Profession, Vocation, and Mission. I’m not entirely sure their definitions adequately convey the combination of the intersecting concepts. It is enough to know that these overlapping areas exist, and to begin to view your life’s work - and your life - through this lens.
If you’re currently experiencing any amount of career dissatisfaction, consider whether some of these elements may be out of balance, neglected, or missing altogether. If you’ve never thought about your work this way, it can be eye-opening. You may love and be good at your well-paid job, but it may not be work the world needs. Here’s where some of you will think But it provides liquidity in capital markets, and I do like my BMW! and some of you will think OH, THAT’S what I’ve been missing!
When this sort of realization strikes you, it’s a good time to consider booking a FREE Coaching Session.
But ikigai (career coach-coopted version) works on multiple axes. Maybe you are doing work the world needs, you love it, you’re great at it, but it doesn’t pay you well enough, and that causes constant stress. You’ve followed your passion, and I grant you points for noble intent, but that’s small comfort when you’re miserable. This, too, is cause to consider whether a job or career change might help you bring the four concepts into better balance.
One criticism I received about my article Stop Making Sense is that I was telling people to blindly follow their passion, throw caution to the wind and do what they love, damn the consequences. Well, no. I was trying to inspire people contemplating career changes to think bigger, but that’s only a small sliver of the process.
When I coach clients considering a job or career change, I prompt them to start by casting the widest net possible without any constraints of reality: “No, wider… and again: WIDER!” - to imagine what they’d do for work if they could do what they love. Then, in subsequent phases of the career coaching process, we will (of course), need to consider the reality of their current skills, financial situation, the job market, etc.
I find Ikigai to be a very useful concept as we move past the ‘dream career brainstorming’ phase. For example, let’s look at my chosen occupations from two very different phases of life:
Only once I learned about the concept of ikigai did I step back to consider whether I might be able to find work harmonizing all four key characteristics: Work I love, that I am good at, that the world needs, that pays well.
And I have.
What’s stopping you?
But ikigai (career coach-coopted version) works on multiple axes. Maybe you are doing work the world needs, you love it, you’re great at it, but it doesn’t pay you well enough, and that causes constant stress. You’ve followed your passion, and I grant you points for noble intent, but that’s small comfort when you’re miserable. This, too, is cause to consider whether a job or career change might help you bring the four concepts into better balance.
One criticism I received about my article Stop Making Sense is that I was telling people to blindly follow their passion, throw caution to the wind and do what they love, damn the consequences. Well, no. I was trying to inspire people contemplating career changes to think bigger, but that’s only a small sliver of the process.
When I coach clients considering a job or career change, I prompt them to start by casting the widest net possible without any constraints of reality: “No, wider… and again: WIDER!” - to imagine what they’d do for work if they could do what they love. Then, in subsequent phases of the career coaching process, we will (of course), need to consider the reality of their current skills, financial situation, the job market, etc.
I find Ikigai to be a very useful concept as we move past the ‘dream career brainstorming’ phase. For example, let’s look at my chosen occupations from two very different phases of life:
-
I love playing guitar, I believe the world needs all the music and art it can get, but I’m not particularly good at it, and it’s notoriously difficult to get that money playing dingy open mics. (Phase: Age 21, lasted about a year. And let’s be honest, my real occupation was delivering pizzas.)
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I never loved leading corporate technology sourcing groups, it’s a reaalll stretch to argue the world needs it, but I was good at it and boy, howdy, did it pay the bills. (Phase: My 30’s… basically, my Career Coach Origin Story.)
Only once I learned about the concept of ikigai did I step back to consider whether I might be able to find work harmonizing all four key characteristics: Work I love, that I am good at, that the world needs, that pays well.
And I have.
What’s stopping you?
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