There’s a simple formula I use to find work that pays me for doing things I love. It combines three things:
Something I love
Something I’m good at
Something people pay for
In my case, I love building brands, copywriting and coding. So I learned the skills needed to get paid for each of them. Now I’m a freelancer who works wherever I want, doing the things I love.
Most people have one or two of these. For example: You might love something but not be very good at it. Or you might be great at something but hate doing it. But the magic happens when all three overlap.
People often mistakenly credit Mark Twain for this perfect quote:
“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
No idea who said it, but I believe that’s the consequence of finding something that fits into all three segments.
Heard of Ikigai?
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that roughly translates as “reason for being”. In 2014, someone turned it into a diagram of four overlapping circles: what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.
My three-circle version is a simpler take on it. I’ve dropped “What the world needs”, because I’ve found that kind people who make money tend to do good in the world anyway.
And not everyone is motivated by changing the world. For some people, making money is the goal. There’s nothing wrong with that either.