An Unusual Case of Career Reinvention That Will Make You Laugh and Rethink Work and Success

I was very intrigued when I came across an article about?Rental-san?in the?Washington Post.

Shoji Morimoto, 38, lives in Tokyo and has been offering himself for rent since 2018 to do… nothing.

Captivated by his story, I conducted some digital detective work and found that more than 235,000 users follow him on Twitter as of writing. His bio reads that he is offering to do nothing except eat and drink for 10,000 YEN. On his profile, he also shares the links to four Kindle books that he wrote.

The idea of paying for someone to accommodate us to do a specific task is nothing new. For years, we have been able to find someone for wide-range activities with our fingertips. For example, the website?RentAFriend?reports that today, there are over 621,585 friends available for rent worldwide.

So, what made this story or Rental-san’s service stand out from others?

Rental-san’s gig seems to be more straightforward. He shows up, is present for his client and engages in minimal conversations that he never initiates.

Sounds simple enough, right? But why does this service even exist?

Loneliness and social isolation are major concerns in Japan. The issue is so severe that the government appointed its first?Ministry of Loneliness?in February 2021 to tackle mental health issues in the country.

Thus, although Morimoto was hired for broad reasons, what stand out are?his?non-judgemental presence, safe space, and no-strings-attached companionship.

Can you imagine making someone happy by just being present?

What makes this story hilarious

I initially laughed while reading this article because I love the comedic effect of the story. When he was employed, Morimoto’s bosses reproached him for not doing enough and not taking enough initiative to succeed. Instead of trying to change, he decided to run with the feedback, made it his brand, and hit the career reinvention sweet spot. He successfully unchained himself from any future Performance Review from an unimpressed boss. Instead, he can now choose his assignments and work with appreciative clients — some of which are return customers. When you think about it, it actually sucks to receive a “Meet an expectation” grade year after year despite going above and beyond for a company, let alone being told that your presence does not make any difference for them. For that, I find it quite humorous that he earns as much as employees on average while working a lot less. Good for you, Morimoto-san!

Why this story also made me cry

OK, I am exaggerating. I did not cry out loud, but I was saddened. This story got me thinking about our modern work culture and the image of success society may have.

The term?salaryman?(サラリーマン,?sararīman) refers to any?salaried?worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a?white-collar worker?who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation they work for.—?WIKIPEDIA

Photo of a “salaryman” — a Japanese corporate worker — by?Allegra Pacheco

In Japanese culture, the term?salaryman?denotes success. Indeed, salarymen have been the driving force of Japan’s economic growth and development post-World War II. The companies offer good compensation, lifetime employment and generous benefits, such as health insurance, paid leave, housing subsidies, bonuses and pensions. In exchange, the workers are subjected to gruesomely long work hours and display the utmost loyalty and strong working ethics that bleed into after-work hours.

Luckily, the white powder around the body shown above was staged for a five-year-long documentary,?Salarymen, directed by Allegra Pacheco. However, the sight of an unconscious salaryman who missed the last train and passed out on the streets, possibly after obligatory drinks late into the night, is abnormally common in Japan.

In 2014, the Japanese parliament passed a law promoting countermeasures against?death by overworking?過労死 (Karōshi), which has been a deadly issue in Japan for decades.

While Japan’s salarymen phenomenon is extreme, excessive overtime hours, burnout and the unhealthy boundary between an employee’s work and personal lives certainly are not unique to Japan.

All-night, late-night or holiday work, both long and excessive hours are the most common causes of?Karōshi, companies tend to reduce the number of employees and have the same amount of work.— North, Robert Scott. 1994.?Karōshi and the politics of workers’ compensation in Japan.

Raise your hand if you have worked overnight, late nights, during holidays, or long and excessive hours more often than you want to admit.

While our loved ones deserve our best rather than our residue, how many employees go home after work feeling unfulfilled and too exhausted to enjoy their personal lives? What difference would it make for us to consciously stop and think about what success means to us and determine whether this version of success is ours or someone else’s?

We need to rethink our relationship with work and the pursuit of happiness and fulfilment.

The western interpretation of IKIGAI, a Japanese concept of “a reason for being”, has gained popularity in the context of work invention. The idea is to find a sweet spot that covers doing 1) something you love, 2) something you are good at, 3) something the world needs, and 4) something you get paid for.

Find your Ikigai. Chris Mayer, BodeTree?How To Find Your Ikigai And Transform Your Outlook On Life And Business (forbes.com)

Rental-san may have got it right.

He found something he loved (noticing interesting things in different situations without having to assert extra effort), something he is good at (doing nothing in particular and holding spaces), something the world needs (a safe space and a non-judgemental, no-strings-attached companionship), and something he is paid for (with a current rate of 10,000 YEN/session).

So far, he has fulfilled more than 3,000 enquiries. With the money he earned from his service and the royalty fees from his four books, he reports being able to contribute his part to a dual-income family with one kid.

Holding space is a skill that is often overlooked. After all, in a world where people compete to be seen and heard, who is really there to listen? People are occupied by their own thoughts and concerns, and judgement impairs our ability to connect and listen without interrupting. All of these make a safe space that comes with a silent, no-strings-attached companionship something that everyone seeks.

Rental-san identified a need and had the courage to share his service humbly. His offer is straightforward and makes an impact on his clients. Thanks to it, he was able to quit his job and turn his bosses’ awkward feedback into a business opportunity. Now, every day, he gets to choose the projects he finds interesting and neither risk his safety nor do more than he wants. He reported that?for the first time in his life, he experienced job satisfaction.

We need to rethink success

Success looks different for everyone. For instance, not everyone would like to be a CEO earning 300 times more than the average employee.

To truly feel successful, you need to know what?YOUR?version of success looks and feels like, not what society dictates it should be. After all, your version of success reflects your own values.

For instance, Morimoto may have miserably failed his career if you measure his success by his time in the corporate world. However, he has had a remarkable impact on his clients and is satisfied with his lifestyle, job and support for his family.

He is?valued for being, not doing?— Take a moment to think about how liberating that is.

So, with that in mind, what is success for you? How do you measure it?

The takeaways

The rental-man story shows us that someone’s narrative or opinion about you does not have to be your truth, even if repeated often enough.

Therefore, dare to redefine your life or career so that it aligns with your values, skills and solutions to improve the world. Without overthinking, be bold enough to offer the solutions you have in mind, even though no one has done so before.

Companionship and the ability to hold space for someone may sound like “doing nothing” for some, but it has proven to be what the world needs and what people are willing to pay for.

Rethink your relationship with work and define success on your own terms. Ask yourself, “Can I feel this version of success from the inside?”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As a personal empowerment and accountability coach, my mission is to help ambitious professionals change the way they approach success by escaping survival or hustle mode and intentionally crafting the life they want most.

Will you join me in defining success that can be felt from the inside and changing the way you approach success? Reach out to?me, and let’s discuss how we can work together to make it happen.

This post first appeared on my blogpost on Medium