Are you suffering from Ikigaitis?

If you have spent any time on LinkedIn, you are familiar with 1) Ikigai, and 2) some version of the chart that shows the rising number of sick care administrators compared to the number of practicing clinicians.

Your Ikigai is your sweet spot and, given the societal mood, Ikiguides abound to help you find it.

Ikigaitis is the result. The signs and symptoms are:

1. Deceiving yourself into thinking that you can find it and that it never changes
2. Ikigai complacency as a symptom of career and life satisfaction
3. A fixed mindset instead of growth mindset
4. Trying to find things that you can be paid for as a determinant when, in fact, there are many reasons why you should do things for free at various stages of your life
5. A mindset that focuses on the destination instead of the journey
6. Not appreciating the differences between the clinical and the entrepreneurial mindset
7. Retiring not rewiring
8. Knowing it when you are young
9. Believing it when you are a premedical student
10. Taking advice about how to find it

The factors that determine your Ikigai run into the headwinds of our economic, social, and political lives.

No wealth: Welcome to inflation and income inequality

Feeling unappreciated: Join the Undervalued Club

Sense of uncertainty: Study VUCAnology

Emptiness: Happiness leads to success, not vice versa

Here is the problem with the "passion principle".

There is no cure. Taking a gap year might help. Quick quitting is another option.

Here are the problems with the relentless pursuit of happiness. Enjoy the journey. Just don't spend too much time in one place.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs