Purpose Over Profession
Professions come and go, your purpose is forever.
People often ask about the connection of Ikigai to following our passions.
Someone can express passion or interests in many ways. The better and more reliable path to success and happiness is a different 'P' word, purpose.
Ikigai is your purpose and your essence, the real you, in harmony with whatever you do.
I separate the deeper purpose you have as a human and the expression of it as your job, career, or even hobby because it's just that, an expression.
audio narration by David Marlow
Purpose is who and what we are here for; a profession is one way we live out that purpose.
Professions, unfortunately, and sometimes even passions come and go. Our purpose and who we are in it never go away.
When you focus first on your purpose, it ultimately reveals something you can be passionate about.
Passion for what you do is a trailing event; it often comes after, not initially. It's a matter of chronology and aligns with first understanding your values and exploring and experimenting with the best ways to embody those.
🌀 Reflection:
I’ve been everything from an engineer to an executive. When I think about how to define my profession, it comes down to being the real me, living out my purpose.
🌱 What would being you and being the best at it look like?
If you want to go deeper, you can learn more about Ikiquest+ here.
For Plus subscribers, you can access your Ikiquest+ resources here.
Once we have identified and defined our purpose, and become passionate about following it. It becomes impossible to accept a profession that is not moving in the same direction.