The Secret To A Joyful Professional Life.

I haven't mentioned this anywhere, but I was sick recently. You don't need to worry about making a deal about it, but being in bed for a short time with time on my hands gave me a moment to do a little reading. I have spoken many times about this, but I like to read things off the beaten path to spark new and different ideas and stay away from the same things everyone else is reading to avoid derivitivness. That probably isn't a real word, but you get it.

What I read was Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. This book really moved me and got me thinking.?

For those unfamiliar, Ikigai is a Japanese concept of one’s sense of purpose or reason for living. It’s like a Venn diagram in that it reflects what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for. When all four things align, or you’re hitting all four circles, that’s when you’re in your Ikigai.

This thought process takes the concept of "do what you love" and adds clarity to what you can get paid for. Gary Vaynerchuk and many others talk about following a passion; it is good advice. Still, I have joked many times about "what if the thing you are most passionate about is illegal or not socially acceptable?" PETER LEVITAN writes in his new book that all Ad agencies should have a one-page business plan, and I followed this advice and built my Ikigai diagram at the same time. They are both super valuable, but when you are having a bad day and nothing is clicking, you can look at your Ikagai and see you are still in the right place, and you need to keep going. The one-page business plan is a living document that can change all the time based on input, but the Ikagai is something that is a guide that stays mostly the same because it is designed for a long-term path once you have really nailed it.

In my next post, I will talk a little more about my one-page business plan and shoe you were I netted out, but for now, I hope you think about your own Ikigai. It will help with the happy.