I don’t know about you, but I always got nervous when somebody asked me about my ‘purpose’, my ‘why’ or ‘ikigai’.
Everybody on social media seems to have one.
And if you don’t, you’re probably not ‘successful’. Not ‘self-actualised’.
So when you cannot answer the question, you feel without purpose AND an amateur in life.
‘Ikigai’ is just so complex.
“Just find your Ikigai”- is an advise I got from many people.
It is well-meant, but I find it too complex.
“Just try to overlap these 4 circles:”
“What you love”
I love MANY different things. Designing. Cooking. Grinding the BJJ mat. Strategy. Talking philosophy. Helping befriended entrepreneurs out with their business. Listening to inspiring stories. Roadtrippin’ with my girlfriend. Taking long walks in the mountain. Sipping a cortado in the sun.
“What you are good at”
I’m good at almost anything I put my mind on.
It’s called ‘a growth mindset’.
I only suck – big time – at one thing: administration. Cause it’s b.o.r.i.n.g.
“What you can be paid for”
You can literally be paid for anything, as long as you help somebody. From dishwashing to writing. From creating walking sticks to building websites. From helping somebody to sell their services, to helping others make a spiritual transformation.
“What the world needs”
The world needs a LOT.
Creatives. Inspirators. Builders. Strong shoulders. Leaders who have their ego in check. Who take ownership. Who help others become better.
A thriving natural ecosystem. Clean air. Pure water. Love.
And coffee. Loads of coffee.
Even after several attempts, I never seem to get all the four circles tightly overlap in this theoretical exercise. It’s always a big mess.
So I made MANY ‘incorrect’ purposes, just to not loose face.
(Especially since I co-founded a purpose-driven business – InstaGreen.eu – and helped other entrepreneurs find their ‘why’.)
Signs of the generalist?
There are to many things that catch my interest.
Am I eternally chasing ‘the next shiny object’?
That can’t be good!?
Or are these the seeds of a polymath? Homo universalis. A generalist. The digital renaissance (wo)man.?
Still, I have an intrinsic motivation to do things.
I can easily outwork others.
I don’t ‘need’ holidays like so many people.
So ‘something’ pulls me through the day.
And it’s not money.
(Money is just the electricity that feeds the engine of daily life. Once the engine is running, having more is not making your engine run better.)
I do so many things just to help others.
Not to get something in return.
Except for knowing that it was the right thing to do.
A clue appeared
A solution started to dawn on me when I was drawing the first rough sketches of what would later become the Strategic Business & Brand Alignment Canvas.
The first step towards having a successful venture is to know what you want to change.
Either in the world, or for others.
Change
Everything is started with a desire to change.
Either by inspiration or desperation
Change is the basis for life and business. Whether it is a personal, spiritual transformation – like the Hero-journey – or a down to earth business process flow (input-transformation-output).
You can try to resist it, but you can not stop it.
The desire to change something creates clarity and direction.
Change requires the death of the old self and a transformation to the new self. It takes time and the path is full of obstacles.
You need to ask yourself: “what do I want to change and think is worthy to spend weeks, months, years of my valuable time on?”.
The answer to that question.
That’s your purpose. That’s your ‘why’. That is your ‘Ikigai’.
To me, it’s much simpler to answer the question: ‘What do I want to change?’.
Easy. I have a long list:
✅ I want to change myself into a mentally and physically strong human being.
✅ I want to change myself into an inspiring person, while being inspired by others.
✅ I want to change how people perceive themselves, making them feel worthy of living and be strong in the face of life’s obstacles.
✅ I want to change that good entrepreneurial spirits get lost in the complexities of starting and running a business & brand.
✅ I want to change complexity into simplicity.
✅ I want to change how explorers, artists, visionaries build their (ad)ventures. Help them get the podium they deserve. Because they propel mankind and I want hard working visionary people to be successful.
✅ I want to change that many businesses create fake value in order to maximize their own profits, and instead create real value.
✅ I want to change the consumerism society and make people understand that happiness lies within themselves. Not in material objects. Not in how others see you.
✅ I want to change social injustice. Stop the greedy from taking everything and the righteous from being left with scraps.
✅ I want to change how humans are getting disconnected from nature.
✅ I want to change how the uneducated threaten the work of the educated. Not by silencing the uneducated. But by lifting them up. Making them see.
Maybe I don’t have my ‘ikigai.’
But I do know what I want to change.
And there is enough work for a lifetime!
Do you know your purpose or change?
How about you?
Do you also struggle with purpose and ikigai?
Do you know what you want to change? In yourself? In the world?
I’d love to hear about it !
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