In my last post, I have written about the importance of having one’s profession in one’s area of interest. However, there are a couple of other factors that also matter, which decide whether you’ll be successful in that profession over the long term.
The Ikigai, as shown in the Venn diagram above is an area where four circles overlap. The four circles represent the following four factors:
- What we love to do
- What we are good at
- What the world needs
- What we can get paid for
As mentioned earlier, the start point is to identify what we love to do. i.e. our areas of interest. We need to find out all those things which we would enjoy doing if we were supposed to do it for a lifetime. Very often there could be multiple areas that meet this criteria.
The next thing that we need to check is whether this is something that the world needs today as well as in the long term. It may not necessarily be something that the entire world needs but may be something that a specific set of people or companies require.
We also need to check if we could get paid for doing this task, and if yes, how much? would it be enough to ensure a good income that can take care of our current and future expenses.
Then finally, we need to check if we have the ability or skill related to that area. We are checking for skill a the end, since it the first three are fulfilled, then developing skill is something that can definitely be done if we are willing to put in the required time, money and effort.
Think about this, would it be of any use if our profession was in our area of interest but if the world didn’t need it or if we couldn’t get paid for it. Would we be happy if we were in a profession that was needed by the world, we got paid for it, but we weren’t interested in it. That would make our professional life boring.
We also need to take into consideration paradigm shifts since often, over a period of time, certain professions simply move out of the circle “Does the world need this” i.e. certain products or services just become redundant over the years.
To see what happens when our choice fulfills three of the criteria but not all four, check out the figure below.
I chose Training in the field of Leadership, Behavioral and Soft Skills, since it fulfilled all the four criteria. I was passionate about Training, The world needs it, I could get paid for it and therefore consciously developed the skill required to deliver training and keep trying to learn something new so that my skill remains updated all the while.
My work in the areas of Healing also fulfills all the 4 criteria. I am passionate about healing, I have developed the skill and have helped more than 450-500 people to heal, People need healing and are willing to pay for it. Although right now, I don’t look at is as a source of earning, who knows ..this could possibly become a significant source of earning some day.
I recommend that you too use the Ikigai model to choose your profession and trust me, you’ll be happy and successful for a lifetime. Have a nice day ahead !!
