Life's Purpose is Not an Intersection of Circles

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Many of us have read the self-help book IKIGAI – The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. I read it two years ago only after I happened to see it on my son’s desk.

The cute Venn diagram (below) with four overlapping circles – reminds me of math in my high school days. I never imagined it could be used as a framework for life's purpose!

According to the authors, purpose happens to be the magical point where:

1. You’re doing something you’re passionate about
2. You’re great at doing it.
3. The world needs it.
4. And, most importantly, people are willing to pay for it.

When I first read it, it seemed fascinating as well as reasonable. I waxed eloquent about it in many of my conversations with friends, and even recommended the approach in some of my coaching / counselling sessions.

Until realisation hit me. The word Ikigai is Japanese. The Japanese people themselves use it in philosophical terms about value or meaning in life, and that there is no ‘exact’ definition for it. Refer this article.

No one I knew or read about had ever met all the conditions the authors stated. Some may have at a certain point in their lives, but surely not consistently. Except for those fantastic people in the Blue Zones perhaps. So, this set me thinking about critically analysing the four-circle intersection.

Before I continue with my critique, I would like to acknowledge that the book is indeed a thought-provoking one, provides great suggestions to finding ones purpose in life, and the authors indeed have presented their research in a reader-friendly manner.?Also, I am in no way trying to challenge or discredit the original Japanese concept of Ikigai - for the simple reason that I don't really know much about it.

Testing the Four-Circle intersection

To test the book's purpose model, I looked at some real-life examples of people many of us admire. I thought at least some of them may have nailed all the four circles.

?i.? Van Gogh

• Was he passionate about painting? - absolutely.
• Was he talented? - no doubt about it.
• Did the world need his paintings? - many would argue yes now, but perhaps not as many when he was alive.
• Did people pay him for it? Van Gogh sold only one of his paintings when he was alive. (He died very young, apparently due to depression).

So, according to Ikigai – he probably didn’t meet his life’s purpose. We’ll never know, would we?

ii.??Mother Teresa

• No one would doubt her passion for humanitarian work.
• She had exceptional leadership qualities and inspired others to join her cause, so she was great at it too.
• Did the world need those services? Well, you can ask the millions of beneficiaries.
• But was she paid for those services? Not directly. I don’t think donations and charity, her organisation’s main source of funds can count as ‘being paid’.

So, should we think Mother never found her purpose?

iii.?Elon Musk

Picking a contemporary example just for variety.

• Is Musk passionate about innovation? Possibly.
• Is he great at it? One could argue that, but he has been successful in selling the ideas to governments, investors and even the public.
• Does the world need clean energy, efficient transport and space exploration? Obviously, they do.
• Are people willing to pay for it – well, at least his Teslas have a long waiting period. But wait – will the world pay for ‘hyperloops’ or ‘colonising of Mars’ right now? That’s debatable.

Again, this does not mean Musk has not met his purpose already. ?Or maybe he hasn’t, considering his latest foray into politics!

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Challenges with Meeting All Four Conditions

Let’s look at some people who may have met all four conditions. For instance, a chef who is passionate about cooking, talented in the kitchen, serves delicious food the world needs, and earns a living through it.

So, she’s found Ikigai here. Or has she? There could be a problem:

What if her “passion” shifts after years of cooking? And decides to open a laundry service. So, she’s lost her purpose?

And how does one know if she is really “great” at her work. Is it her Michelin awards? The size of her restaurant? Number of customer reviews?

Even if someone appears to have achieved all four conditions, it’s difficult to prove objectively that they found their purpose.

And even if they could, it’s difficult to stay at that four-circle intersection all the time – especially if the passion fades or the world’s needs change.

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Purpose Beyond the Four Circles

There are people for whom one or more of the Ikigai criteria don’t apply. In that case, are they supposedly without any purpose?

Like Mother Teresa, there are thousands of volunteers and caregivers, who give their time and energy to causes they deeply believe in. Helping elderly, running a blood bank or a food shelter, organising disaster relief camps. They may not be doing anything that they’re “great at”. But the fact that they are committed to making a difference gives a whole new meaning to their actions. This could even be called their life’s purpose.

Even in the world of activism, people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela didn’t fit the 4-circle framework. What they did wasn’t about passion alone. Freedom and liberty are necessities, not passions.

So, not every circle in the Venn diagram needs to be ticked in order to meet purpose. Some may have met just one of the criteria, while others – none.

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Nobody Fits the 4-Circle Intersection Model

Let’s face it. Life is messy for most people – whether born into wealth or in abject poverty. Otherwise, why would someone who inherited an alcohol conglomerate and was once one of their country’s richest people take his company to bankruptcy and become an outcast? Or why would the founder of a path-breaking IT company be fighting harassment cases his wife filed against him?

While Ikigai in the book may be about finding the intersection of the four circles. But in reality, it’s so rare that perhaps the person who achieves it must be…. a Lucky Guy.

p.s: I'm all for equality, just my attempt to make it rhyme :)

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Just Having a Purpose is “Good Enough”

Stand-up comedians are possibly satisfied if they can make people laugh at half the jokes told. They have passion, they may be great at jokes on some days and shoddy on others, they may not earn enough money and maybe even the world does not ‘need’ comedy. But their purpose is to keep trying to land their jokes and bring joy, even if it’s only to a few people at a time.

A homemaker isn’t “paid” but takes care of their family, doing something the world (or at least their loved ones) need. Have they missed their Ikigai just because money isn’t involved?

I may have met my life’s purpose just by building my own house.

You may have met yours by just marrying someone you loved.

Some others may have met theirs by taking care of their parents till their last days, or by teaching high school students for a lifetime, or getting their company listed on a stock exchange, or getting water / electric supply to their remote village, or taking revenge on their father’s killer, publishing their only novel, or getting their child to the world’s best college (whether the child wanted that or not), and so on.

Not having a purpose in life could be a purpose in itself!

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Purpose Is What You Make It

There is a problem with the 4-circle model – although the authors have done a great job in objectivising an abstract concept such as ‘purpose’ – it creates a pressure on the innocent reader. That unless you achieve all four conditions, you haven’t really “arrived.” This could make people feel inadequate or stuck for not ticking all boxes.

But life doesn’t work like that. Purpose is quite personal.

Instead of chasing an intersection of circles, it’s good enough to live in the moment.

After all, the purpose of life might just be to live it – king size or otherwise.

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