Four questions to help choose your next direction

When my friends see something online about Japan, they forward it to me. This is how heard about ‘ikigai.’ I lived in Japan, speak some Japanese, practiced a Japanese martial art, drink Japanese tea (and sake).

If I believe what I read online, ‘ikigai’ is an important thing in Japan, and clever publishers, reading Marie Kondo’s sales figures [The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up], have brought it to our attention.

Ask yourself four questions:

• What am I good at doing?
• What do I love doing?
• What does the world need done?
• What can I be paid to do?

The next time someone comes and asks me about finding a new job or finding their “passion” I’ll show them this diagram.

I’ll be sure to tell them not to ignore the fourth question.