What's your ikigai? ??

As we begin the new year, what's your plan for your career or your organisation?

If you're struggling for an answer, this is the solution for you....

Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being" and by answering the questions you can set yourself on the right path for success.

1) What are you GOOD at?

2) What does the world NEED?

3) What can you be PAID for?

4) What do you LOVE?

Questions 1 and 2 are often relatively easy to answer, especially if you have an established career or brand to build on. ? ??

Question 3 can be a little trickier as payment might be smaller than expected and doesn't necessarily lead to a profitable/sustainable career or business. ??

Question 4 is commonly the most difficult to answer, when taken in context with the first three questions, otherwise it's usually just a hobby. For example, I LOVE cycling, but am I particularly good at it, does the world need me as a cyclist and can I get paid for it? Possibly if I trained really hard, but very unlikely! ??

This tool or framework is really simple, but I find it's very powerful too.

It's likely a micro-business model.

It's a good way to test out ideas with the minimum of fuss.

And it helps push the ideas further as you start to see potential.

So, what's your ikigai for 2024?

I'll kick things off with my "newish" venture.

For the last 12 months I've been experimenting with hosting partner events for agencies, online and in-person. In short, they have pretty much gone to plan and I've enjoyed the ride, so for 2024 there will be more!

As I commit to this with more vigour, I do need to check if it's the right decision though. I've taken it through The Business Model Canvas and my own framework www.storycube.co.uk and feel confident it's right to give this part of my business more time and attention.

But the ikigai framework is very useful too, so here's a quick summary for my agency partner networking events...

1) What are you GOOD at?

I've realised recently that events/workshops and generally bringing people together has been part of my personal and professional life for about 30 years. From hosting parties/discos as a teenager, through to club nights at university, to workshops via The House / Story Cube and now of course these events for agency leaders too. In terms of personality type, I lean towards ESFJ (Consul) which is a personality type with the Extraverted, Observant, Feeling, and Judging traits. This means I'm attentive and people-focused, and enjoy taking part in my social community. My achievements are guided by decisive values, and I'll willingly offer guidance to others...which feels about right. Hosting my recent events are a natural progression and testimonials suggest I'm good at it too! ??

2) What does the world NEED?

There are many agencies in the UK and beyond and it's a growing market. The journey for each is trickier and often compared to a rollercoaster. What do they need? Having run my own agency for 15+ years, I know they need support, guidance, advice, motivation and resilience (to say the least) and I see events as a key way to address these needs. As we come out the other side of the pandemic, this one at least, perhaps the human connection is even more important than ever and hence the world needs events more than ever too. Add to this the nutty online experience AI is and will give us, maybe the in-person experience is all we can trust.

3) What can you be PAID for?

There are multiple revenue streams if we look at this as a business. On a base level, there are ticket sales (often to cover costs), sponsorship (to make it more sustainable and allow more time to improve the events) and of course the serendipitous project opportunities which seemingly land in my lap as a result of all the hard work. It might not make me rich beyond my dreams, but there is certainly enough potentials for it to be a profitable venture which I also enjoy.

4) What do you LOVE?

And that leads nicely on to the last and often tricky question...how do you take what you love from being a "hobby" to something that will form the core of your business life?! I'm lucky already, I have run more own agency for 15+ years and although it's not always easy, I pretty much always enjoyed it. But most recently for the reasons stated in the other answers, I realise now that bringing together the people I know and understand most - agency leaders - is where my heart truly lies! I find hosting the events energising, I enjoy chatting about the challenges of agency life and I'm pleased when the events have help these leaders find solutions. It's very fulfilling, so it's makes sense to do more.

One final thought is that you won't necessarily have just one ikigai. I mean I already enjoy running my agency and I can answer the questions pretty strongly. Thinking more widely though, I would say "Rugby" is another big love for me, but answering the first three questions strongly would be challenges. It's not impossible though as a braver me would apply for brand/marketing jobs England RFU (not too far from where I live) or I might even start a new rugby related business e.g. rugby apparel. For now though, this is maybe one for 2025 and beyond!

So, what's your ikigai for 2024?