Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning “reason for being.” It sits at the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Working through these four areas helps you identify a career direction that is both personally meaningful and professionally viable. Work through each quadrant: use the prompts to guide your thinking, then write your response in the field below.
Quadrant 1
What you love
When do you lose track of time at work?
Which tasks do you look forward to, even when the rest of your workload feels heavy?
What would you do on a Tuesday with no financial pressure?
Aim for at least 2 to 3 sentences.
Quadrant 2
What you are good at
What have colleagues consistently come to you for, beyond your job title?
What in your skills audit gave you a quiet confidence when you named it?
What have you been asked to teach or explain to others?
Aim for at least 2 to 3 sentences.
Quadrant 3
What the world needs
What problem do you feel genuinely equipped to help solve?
Where do you see a gap that your background is unusually positioned to fill?
What do people around you struggle with that feels straightforward to you?
Aim for at least 2 to 3 sentences.
Quadrant 4
What you can be paid for
Where does your skills profile intersect with real market demand?
Where are organisations already paying for this, or starting to?
Which of your capabilities are hardest for employers to find in one person?
Aim for at least 2 to 3 sentences.
Where they meet
Now reflect on the overlaps. Write a sentence or two for each intersection.
Love + Good at
Good at + Paid for
World needs + Paid for
Love + World needs