Purpose-Driven Career Transitions
by Kristopher Dempster, MLIS, GCDF, CCSP
Today’s topic is finding your vocational purpose.
I recently read a book titled, “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.” It touched on the concept of life’s purpose and finding your passion by aligning your unique talents and interests to form a bond with what fires you up and drives you to present your best self.
The concept is simple and it has four distinctive components to it drawn inside a Venn diagram; You Love It, You are Great At It, The World Needs It and You Are Paid For It. The middle, where all the components connect, is what I call the sweet spot or as the authors call your ikigai.
I recently read a book titled, “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.” It touched on the concept of life’s purpose and finding your passion by aligning your unique talents and interests to form a bond with what fires you up and drives you to present your best self.
The concept is simple and it has four distinctive components to it drawn inside a Venn diagram; You Love It, You are Great At It, The World Needs It and You Are Paid For It. The middle, where all the components connect, is what I call the sweet spot or as the authors call your ikigai.
Below are some tips and pointers to finding your ikigai.
1. You Love It – You first have to discover what you love. This is probably the most difficult component out of the four. The saying, the hardest part is the beginning, is so very true. This takes experimentation, research and a lot of patience. Ask yourself some important questions, for instance, what do I enjoy doing or reading, when does time pass quickly while doing a specific task, what gets me fired up, what motivates me? Another question I like to ask, if money were no object, what career would I follow? These are great questions to ask yourself to get at the heart of your passion and what drives you.
2. You Are Great At It – Think about a time you helped someone and they said, you are a natural at that. How did you help that person? What skills were needed to complete the job? Look for patterns of times when tasks ‘come naturally’ to you. You can also ask others that know you well for their opinions on what they see you are good at doing.
3. The World Needs It – I understand this component as answering the question, what problem will I solve? A lot of small business owners ask this question in a way to help them start their own business. This could be a technical solution, human services solution, educational solution, a medical solution or another solution to help humanity.
4. You Are Paid For It – This is where someone or business or organization is going to pay you for the skills, abilities, and experience that you have gained over a period of time. Search for companies that need your special trade and apply with those companies. Therefore, remembering the concept, this part should align with the other three components.
2. You Are Great At It – Think about a time you helped someone and they said, you are a natural at that. How did you help that person? What skills were needed to complete the job? Look for patterns of times when tasks ‘come naturally’ to you. You can also ask others that know you well for their opinions on what they see you are good at doing.
3. The World Needs It – I understand this component as answering the question, what problem will I solve? A lot of small business owners ask this question in a way to help them start their own business. This could be a technical solution, human services solution, educational solution, a medical solution or another solution to help humanity.
4. You Are Paid For It – This is where someone or business or organization is going to pay you for the skills, abilities, and experience that you have gained over a period of time. Search for companies that need your special trade and apply with those companies. Therefore, remembering the concept, this part should align with the other three components.
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