How to figure out what career you want
Use the Ikagi model and find your purpose in life - and your dream career
A new year often brings on that feeling of new starts, especially when it comes to our jobs and careers. While we don’t encourage new year resolutions, “new year new you” propaganda that’s often pasted across our social media, whether it’s diets, exercise, or a new career, we want to give you some tips on how to figure out what kind of career you want. You might just be setting out in the world of work, or started a career you realise you don’t want to be in, or, have had an amazing career and now think that it’s time for a change.
It can be hard to think about what you want to do in the world of work and reconcile that with what’s realistic - and with what pays. So, we wanted to tell you about using the key principles of the Ikigai model for thinking about your career goals and life. Ikigai is a Japanese concept which loosely translates to “life purpose” and it’s not just for the world of work but here are the 4 key elements that you can use to start thinking about those important career questions:
What do you love?
A love for something is vital for finding your ikigai. What do you live for? Don’t just think about hobbies - what makes you happy, what makes you angry? What social causes invoke emotions in you? What kind of happy life do you imagine for yourself?
2. What does the world need?
Sounds like a big question - but this gets you to think about what you can contribute to the world, society, and the world of work. Thinking about your place in the world may throw you into a bit of an existential crisis, so, think small. What do your family and friends need, your local community, the communities that you care about? This could be a product, a service, something that makes people’s lives easier. For example, are you good with finances and gave a friend good financial advice? Do you volunteer for a charity or support a vulnerable person?
3. What are you good at?
You have to have an honest conversation with yourself here. Separate what you’d like to be good at from what you are actually good at right now. I’d love to be a renowned novelist. But am I good at writing fiction? No. But, there are plenty of things that I - and you - are good at! So think about your talents and skills. If you struggle to think about yourself in this way, ask friends, colleagues and family what they think you’re good at.
4. What can I get paid for?
Another question that’ll take some honest thinking. I make a good cake, but, honestly, I couldn’t get close to a Hollywood handshake on Bake Off, let alone be paid for my goods when there are so many exceptional bakeries out there. This issue of finances is important in this model though, because you can and should get paid for some things that you’re good at if it’s something people need. Think of current or previous jobs - what were you good at that you were being paid for, what skills did you identify in question 3 that people pay for? For example, if you’re good at giving financial advice, people will pay for this kind of advice. If you’re good at solving problems, there are a lot of problems in the world that people will pay to solve.
I’ve got my answers. What next?
Ikigai career venn diagram. Not property of the Lowdown.
Now, think about where answers in the 4 areas of the diagram overlap. Think of the overlaps like this:
What you love and what you’re good at is your passion.
What you love and what the world needs is your mission.
What you can be paid for and what the world needs if your vocation.
What you are good at and what you can be paid for is your profession.
What appears in all 4 is your ikigai.
Finally, remember that one (or more) circle might be missing. You might not have the answers to all 4 questions yet, and that’s ok. This exercise will hopefully help you figure out what’s missing and which questions to work on.
