Most of us invest more time in planning our holidays than our careers. And yet we spend between 4-6 weeks a year on vacation and the other 46-48 in work. If we loved what we did more, maybe we would spend less time planning our escape routes and enjoying life ‘in the moment.’
Wouldn’t it be great if we could simply wave a magic wand and conjure up our perfect job? Is there a way to decide what kinds of job would best suit us?
The Japanese have a word which encapsulates the concept of a fulfilling life- a reason for being rather than simply a job. It’s called Ikigai.
The IKIGAI diagram is a helpful tool to appraise particular opportunities you may be contemplating. Considering these key elements in combination can help you decide whether a job is right for you. While there may be no such thing as the perfect job, investing time trying to move as closely as you can to the centre of your IKIGAI is likely to lead to a stronger sense of fulfilment.
The reason many of us are dissatisfied in our jobs is because we often focus on only two or three of the four dimensions of IKIGAI.
For example, my first job delivered solely on what I could be paid for. There was a recession and I needed a job. My choices were limited. I got a job in telesales. I hated it. I dreaded each Monday morning and felt drained at the end of each week. I couldn’t wait to leave and lasted only a few months. It wasn’t something I was any good at and the world really didn’t need another telesales person. Eventually I retrained and achieved all four elements of Profession, Passion, Vocation and Mission through my move into careers work. I felt truly blessed. If it was possible to be in love with your job, I was that person.
Later I moved into a role where the sense of Mission was missing. A friend of mine described the work I was doing at that time as ‘hitting the target but missing the point.’ This was such a good description that I knew then I would have to leave in order to regain what I’d lost from previous jobs I’d enjoyed so much. Once I changed jobs, I appreciated what it was to be energised in work again.
Questions to ask yourself when exploring options:
- It might seem sensible to focus on Profession: what you’re good at and what pays well. You’ll be able to complete applications and match your skills to a job role. You may convince a recruiter that you’re the right fit. You may well be successful. Sometimes a mid-life career crisis is the result of deciding you can’t go on with a particular job. Whilst you can do it, you don’t love it and your battery quickly becomes drained of energy.
- If you focus on Mission– what you love to do and what the world needs, will this work also pay you? Will it make use of your skills ?
- If you focus on Vocation- what the worlds needs and what you can be paid for, do you also have the skills that will make this employment secure? Will you also enjoy it?
- If you focus on Passion, what you love and are good at, will it pay you? Does the world need it?
You may find that achieving three out of four elements is good enough- or perhaps better than what you have currently. However achieving all four elements will bring you closest to your ideal role.
There are no quick fixes for finding your perfect job. Everyone will have their own ideas of what will deliver this. However using the IKIGAI diagram to evaluate your options may help you to explore what different jobs may offer and help you decide which will be the most personally fulfilling.
The minute you choose to do what you really want to do, it’s a different kind of life.
Buckminster Fuller
