Finding Your Purpose with ikigai

When I was teaching college at the local university, one of the things I covered was Ikigai — the Japanese concept of purpose, or the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Recently, I revisited this idea for myself. Here's mine:

1. What I Love

• Building businesses and new ventures

• Exploring culture, travel, and global perspectives

• Mentoring others, especially founders and creatives

• Communicating clearly—whether through writing, presenting, or marketing

2. What I'm Good At

• Strategic thinking and high-level business planning

• Cross-cultural insight and localization

• Sales, digital marketing, and brand positioning

• Identifying emerging trends in tech, finance, and media

• Synthesizing complex ideas and making them actionable

3. What the World Needs

• Ethical and scalable entrepreneurship guidance

• More diverse, cross-cultural innovation in business

• Humanized use of AI and automation in marketing and finance

• Education for emerging founders in non-traditional markets

• Financial transparency and smarter small business systems

4. What I Can Be Paid For

• Digital strategy consulting

• Brand and marketing leadership

• Fractional CMO or sales enablement roles

• Public speaking, workshops, or advisory work

• Monetized thought leadership (book, course, paid community)