How to find and do what you love

Using the Ikigai framework to find what you love and do it for work

Hello!

How’s your day going?

This week, I’m taking a natural step from last week’s newsletter topic - how to run a personal SWOT - and talking about how to find what you love.

More specifically, finding what you love through the Japanese framework Ikigai.

Why you need to find what you love

Have you ever heard the quote, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”?

It’s one of those sayings that’s always rattled around in my brain because though I don’t believe you can ever escape the less favourable parts of your role - I’m looking at you, event and merch logistics - you can, and should, find joy and fulfilment from work that goes beyond a pat on the back from your boss.

What I mean by this is that a job should align with what you love, and in my experience in marketing, what you love can fit into a ‘motivating’ category: industry, function, purpose, and impact.

But what do these motivators mean? And who identifies with them?

1. Industry

This one is what it says in the tin - one of your ‘loves’ is a specific industry. For example, if you’re really into fashion, you’ll probably find joy in working as a marketer for fashion brands.

2. Function

Thinking of being a specialist? Or have a real passion for one specific element of the marketing mix? Folks who love a specific function like SEO, brand, and so on are more likely to identify with this which will naturally shape their career path in that they can work for pretty much anyone as long as they do what they love.

3. Purpose

For the folks who want to be a part of something that serves something beyond a good result in quarterly MQLs, whether it be social impact, environmental, community, or something else. Folks who value purpose can often be found working for charities, social enterprises, or brands that are leading change in their own industry for a good cause (think Coppa Feel, Toms, Hey Girls.)

4. Impact

Whether it’s making the next award-winning campaign for Gymshark or taking a startup from 0 to ￡1 million in turnover, impact marketers want to take on a challenge and run with it. These marketers can be found in all sorts of roles, but the thing they all have in common is they’re innovators - folks who thrive off of driving change or experimenting, and they’re not afraid of taking risks in their careers or at work. These folks have been the founding marketers behind our cult favourite brands, like Monzo, Innocent, and Gymshark - but can also be found driving growth in your local startup.

Whatever your mix, knowing it will help you:

• Keep on the right track in your career or help you focus on the next role you’re looking for
• Give you clarity on your own positioning, whether it’s in your portfolio, CV, or personal brand
• Know who to connect with on LinkedIn (sometimes it really is who you know or, nowadays, who’s seeing your content)

Let’s dig into some examples

Motivator: Industry

One of my lovely mentees works in the arts industry. For her, there is no ambiguity around her motivator; it’s to continue propelling her career within the arts industry.

So for her, when applying for roles or producing personal brand content, she knows that she needs to channel this into her career progression activities:

• When looking for promotions or new jobs
• Connect with folks in her industry on LinkedIn to create both a good audience for her content and a steady stream of insights and opportunities
• Personal brand content that talks about the industry; working in it, examples of her work, insights, etc.
• Tweak her CV introduction to make it crystal clear that she works in and her career is defined by this industry (and is not simply interested in it)
• Ensure her portfolio is packed with both actual work to show her experience and bolstered with hypothetical work to show her potential

Wondering what I’m talking about when it comes to portfolios? I’ll be doing a series on this soon!

Motivator: Purpose & Impact

For this one, I’m using myself as an example. I’ve worked in 7 industries in 10 years, which, on paper, could make you wonder if I just haven’t found my ‘passion’ - but that’s why understanding motivators is so useful.

I love working with brands that have a purpose bigger than themselves and places where I can make an impact. For example, my current company’s mission is to help SMBs grow by making digital marketing accessible. In my last four roles, I’ve been the sole marketer, growing their processes from the ground up. Growing challenger and startup brands is my passion.

So if I were to start my career all over again knowing what I know now, I would:

• Litter my CV with my soft skills - I’m creative, empathetic, a storyteller, and a great communicator, which makes me ideal for smaller brands with big ideas
• Create a portfolio that combines the two (years ago, my portfolio had a hypothetical rebrand project for Hey Girls)
• Follow founders on LinkedIn because these are the types of folks I would work well with

Motivator: A mixture of them all

As I said, you could sit in all of these boxes. For example, there are marketers out there who exclusively work in tech (focus) as a PPC manager (focus) for a brand like Flo because you want to make reproductive healthcare knowledge accessible (purpose), which is a global brand (impact).

But finding which box you sit in can be found through finding your Ikigai.

Ikigai: What is it and how can it help you with your career?

Since its launch in 2016, Ikigai has become one of those books people tout around as being “life-changing” or “mind-altering.” While I am far too English to be making such grandiose statements, I do think it’s up there with one of the most useful books I’ve read as I find myself referring back to it time and time again.

But if you haven’t read this global bestseller, here’s a recap for you of the key parts, its overarching framework and methodology, and why it’s helpful for your career:

Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese concept that roughly translates to "a reason for being” - think of it as the sweet spot where four key elements of your life intersect:

1. What you love (your passion)
2. What you're good at (your skills)
3. What the world needs (market demand)
4. What you can be paid for (your profession)

It’s pitched more as a way to help you find contentment in all corners of your life, but in the context of your career, I’ve found that it’s a great framework to create clarity in your mind when coming up with a path for your next step or career, or helping get you out of a rut.

For example, following what you really love might not pay the bills. But following what pays the bills, might give you the Sunday night dread. So finding your career Ikigai can help you ensure:

• You're doing work that you genuinely love
• You're using your natural talents and learned skills
• You're meeting a real market need
• You're pay matches your expertise

How Ikigai does this is by encouraging you to dig deeper and ask questions like “Am I really happy in my current role?” or “Is what I’m doing now aligned with what motivates me?”

With this in mind, it can be quite a confronting exercise. I’ve found that the realisations from my past Ikigais have been uncomfortable at times as it’s made me ask questions like “Am I even happy here?” Knowing that the answer was “no” was not easy, but it did make my next decision and step a lot easier.

Why? Because I had complete and utter clarity in my final decision and direction. Better yet, now I can see the positive impact it has had on my career.

The Ikigai framework: Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Create your template

Copy a template from Google, spin something up in Canva, or grab a scrap of paper and a pen. Whatever works best for you - draw your four overlapping circles.

Top tip: Personally, I like to do this on paper. I find the scrappiness of physically writing helps me channel my thoughts, but also I can’t be distracted by TikTok notifications.

Step 2: What you love - ‘Passion’

Let’s start with the easiest part - what you love. Think about what brings you joy and energy and ask yourself:

• What activities make you lose track of time?
• What topics do you love learning about?
• What would you do even if you weren't paid?
• What did you love doing as a child?
• Write down everything without judging or filtering. Let your mind truly flow!

Step 3: What You're Good At - ‘Mission’

Next step, ask yourself what you’re good at at work, university, or even just things that come naturally to you (like writing, design, etc.) Here you want to look at your full self, so hard skills, soft skills, and instinctive capabilities:

• What do people often compliment you on?
• What comes naturally to you?
• What skills have you developed over time?
• What problems do people come to you for help with?

If you get stuck, ask a colleague or friend to describe both your strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes what you’re not good at, will help you define what you are good at.

Step 4: What the World Needs - ‘Vocation’

Does the world need AI? Or does it need fairness and equality? Maybe it needs change? Whatever you think the world needs, based on your lived experiences.

• What problems exist in your industry or community?
• What services or solutions are people asking for?
• What trends are emerging in your field?
• What gaps do you see that need filling at work or in society?

Want an example? My Ikigai (which you can find in the next step) included helping people. I wrote that about 6 months ago, and now I write this newsletter… Ikigai in action.

Step 5: What You Can Be Paid For - ‘Profession’

Think about what skills (hard and soft) you can bring to the table for your next role:

• Which of your skills are marketable?
• What services are people willing to pay for?
• What business models exist around your interests?
• What roles match your skillset?

Top tip: Think about the various verticals (or swim lanes, as I prefer to call them) in marketing you can enter: content, digital, growth, or strategy. Or even deeper into the mix: SEO, PPC, social media, content creation, PR, brand, etc.

By now, you should have something that looks a little bit like this.

Step 6: Finding Intersections

Now it’s time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. You’ve filled out all of your segments, and you may start noticing some patterns or overlaps. These define your intersections.

At your intersections, write a word, sentence, or a couple of points that sum up the below (whatever feels right for you):

1. Passion + Skills = What you're good at and love doing

2. Skills + Market = What you're good at and can be paid for

3. Market + Mission = What the world needs and will pay for

4. Mission + Passion = What you love that the world needs

Step 6: Identifying Your Sweet Spot

Now you’ve completed all the segments, say hello to your Ikigai. You now know how each quadrant of your life and career should look like, or how they can best align to the happiest version of you.

Firstly, you want to refine your Ikigai further:

• Look for themes and patterns
• Consider how different elements could combine
• Think creatively about potential roles or businesses

Then you want to translate this into work by asking yourself which motivators it aligns to. By aligning it to motivators, you know what to look for in job descriptions.

For example, if Purpose is your motivator based on what you’ve uncovered through your Ikigai, you’ll be looking for brands or roles that align with not just a sense of purpose, but the things you care about under “what the world needs.”

Step 7: The big question

So you have your Ikigai, you know what motivates you. Now what?

It’s time to ask yourself a very tricky question.

Depending on where you are in your career, you need to ask:

• Currently in a marketing role: Does my current job align with my Ikigai/make me happy?
• Looking for a marketing role: Are the jobs I am applying for aligned with my Ikigai?
• Looking for promotion internally: Is there room for me to grow in a way that aligns with my Ikigai within this company?

If your answer is no to any of these, then grab your SWOT, your Ikigai, and keep reading.

Now, I can’t tell you exactly what to do here because I don’t have either your SWOT or Ikigai in front of me. But here’s some suggestions of where to get started:

1. Talk to people in roles you're interested in: slide into their DMs, ask for advice or what about the role they like, and see what they honestly say about their experience - most folks are happy to help, so don’t let the fear of rejection stop you from reaching out!

2. Try small experiments or side projects: either hypothetical ones you set yourself or freelance gigs

3. Take relevant courses or volunteer: one of the best things about being a marketer is the sheer amount of free content out there to help you skill up, so look to YouTube, Girls in Marketing, Hubspot, etc. for courses

4. Get feedback and adjust your direction: feeling really, really stuck? Find a mentor, speak to a trusted colleague, or even attend a networking event where you might find someone who can answer questions you have as getting feedback can help you clarify where to go next

Step 8: Bring your Ikigai to life

You’ve defined your Ikigai, you know what motivates you, and you’ve answered the big question - now it’s time to map out how you’re going to bring it to life.

Grab more paper, your laptop, or dictate into your phone (again, whatever works for you), and follow these steps:

1. Set clear, actionable goals: What do you want to achieve? New job, promotion, new industry?

2. Create a timeline for the transition: When do you want this to be realised? Next month, next year, in 5 year’s time?

3. Identify required resources or training: This is a key step as you need to fill those skill gaps whether it’s through free online training, shadowing someone else, or mentoring

4. Build a support network: Find people in a similar position as these are the folks who will inspire you when you’re feeling good, and pick you up when you’re feeling down

5. Plan concrete next steps: What are the first 5 things you need to do? And when you’ve done them, write up another 5.

A word to the wise (or confused, tired, and lost)

It’s really easy to do an Ikigai, find your motivators, and somehow feel worse - whether you’ve had a tough realisation, you just simply don’t know what your vocation is, or something else altogether rubbish, don’t feel down.

Here’s the thing - those feelings are normal. So take heed of this:

• Don't rush the process - finding your Ikigai and motivators takes time
• Avoid limiting yourself to job titles - some jobs offer more than they say on the tin
• Don't ignore financial realities - let’s not bankrupt ourselves in the process of finding career joy, as you’ll create living stress when you can’t pay the bills
• Remember that Ikigai can evolve - like a SWOT, I recommend doing these annually
• Don't expect perfect alignment immediately - your Ikigai is a goal, not an expectation, so take your time in making it a reality

Remember that finding your Ikigai is a journey, not a destination. It's normal for it to flex and evolve as you grow both personally and professionally.

This framework is a guide, not a "perfect" answer - because frankly, after 10 years as a marketer, I’m far from perfect or being completely aligned with my Ikigai, but with every step and move I make in my career and life, I’m getting closer than I was before.

Have a great week, you’ve got this!

Coral x

P.S. Completed your Ikigai? I’d love to see it, so either tag me in a LinkedIn post with it or ping it to my DMs because I am both so chuffed when I see you working on things you see from this newsletter and low-key nosey.

Things I am loving or have loved:

Reading: I’m a shameless lover of who dunnits - the cheesier, the better! They offer a bit of escapism in my rather hectic life, so currently I’m reading the very funny and charming ‘The Marlow Murder Club’ by Robert Thorogood.

Watching (and signing along to): Jungle’s Motion Picture for their frankly incredible album ‘Volcano’ which is both beautifully directed, creative, and filled wall-to-wall with incredible songs (big fan or ‘Dominoes’ and, of course, ‘Back on ‘74.)

Wearing: Lucy and Yak pretty much head to toe because I defy you to find anything better.

About the author of The Marketing Mentor

Hello! I am Coral, a Marketing Director who’s been in marketing for over 10 years, worked at 7 different companies, in 10 different roles, across 7 different industries.

After experiencing career-defining mentoring myself, I am trying to pay it forward as best I can, from 1-2-1s to this newsletter, and everything in between.

When I’m not in my professional headspace, I enjoy cooking and eating in equal measure, getting creative, being outside, and fussing over my incredibly spoilt dog, Bobbi.