“Not many people do a self-audit though before they choose a landing place. Some of us even think we don’t have that luxury. No matter the case, you have the ability to discover what you believe the world needs.” – Jack Wilson in today’s Tip 531
Do you found your Ikigai?
Join the conversation below and be sure to connect with “The Guy with Ikigai.”
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. If you’re a regular listener to this show then you’ve heard Jack Wilson before, and if you’ve ever looked at his LinkedIn profile you’ve seen that he describes himself as “The Guy with Ikigai” Today Jack’s going to talk about what that means in the start of this 6 part series where you’ll see new installments released once a week. Here’s Jack:
Jack Wilson: What’s going on Daily Sales Tips Community. My name’s Jack Wilson and I’m here to kick off a series of tips that I hope you find helpful. Because sales is hard. I mean, sometimes just life is hard, pandemic, social issues or economic downturn, notwithstanding. As a result, you feel any type of way from time to time and sometimes that type of way is one that derails your progress. Perhaps you feel comfortable in your work, but there’s a sense of emptiness. Maybe you’re excited about what you’re doing, but still, you live with a sense of uncertainty. These feelings can be symptoms, that’s your purpose, your cause, or your reason for what you do every day is slightly ajar or off-center.
So how do we fix this? It starts by understanding where that center is, and it’s followed by identifying exactly where you veered off course.
Over the next series of tips, I’m going to outline a framework that will enable you to map your reason for being, your cause or what the Japanese referred to as your “Ikigai.”
So that instead of just closing your eyes and thinking real hard, you’ll have a tangible model that will allow you to pinpoint why you’re feeling the ways you are. And more importantly, where to focus your efforts to maximize your internal motivations.
Now, if you’re thinking, what does this all have to do with sales? Then bear with me because through this series, we’ll talk through each component of the framework and I’ll provide you with challenging questions about your past, current, and even future roles that when reflected upon will help you have that “AHA” moment needed to propel you forward.
So let’s start by introducing the principle. I want you to picture a plus sign and at each of the four corners, large circles that overlap in the center. At the center is your Ikigai or reason for being. Each of the four circles represents a component that you’ll need to explore deeper. At the top of the plus sign, that circle represents what you love. If that sounds too touchy-feely for you, we’ll get over it because whether you like it or not, the psychology behind how you behave each and every day as much to do with the activities, feelings, people, principals, and other things in your life that you both consciously and subconsciously care about.
When we dive into this component, we’ll work to understand what stories you’re telling yourself that you care about as well as what yourself is subtly telling you that you actually care about. Is it the big payday? Is it the recognition or maybe you’re an altruist and you truly just want to help your customers.
To the left of that plus sign, is what you’re good at. Just like the things you love, we often believe we’re good at some things, but how often do we seek to evaluate just how good we are, better yet how good we can be? Remember when you were new to that company or that role, how uncomfortable did that feel? It’s because you weren’t good at it yet. It’s human instinct to pursue more of the things we excel in and avoid those that were not. One way we fall out of alignment is by finding ourselves in a role that we say we’re good at because of the results we’re getting. But internally we struggle with the frustration of feeling like we could do so much better.
At the bottom of our plus sign lies a pretty loaded conversation piece. And that’s “What can we be paid for?” It’s much more than, “Does that job pay enough for me to want it?” It also dips into “What am I worth?” “What do I feel I deserve?” “What do I wish I was making?”
Our feelings about money or some of the most complex that we have. That’s probably why one of the biggest stressors cited in marriages happens to be money issues. Well, your job and your relationship with your leader in your company face similar conflicts, making sure you understand where you land on the issue of money is critical.
And last, but certainly not least, is what the world needs. An ever-growing percentage of professionals cite the need for work that aligns with their values or working for a company that aligns with their values. This can manifest itself in so many ways, the internal culture of a company, the end product or service, the company’s ethos, or even what customers they serve. Not many people do a self-audit though before they choose a landing place. Some of us even think we don’t have that luxury. No matter the case, you have the ability to discover what you believe the world needs. And you also have the ability to listen to what the marketplace is telling you. So now that we have a 50,000-foot view, stay tuned to the next tips in this series to take a deep dive into each area and ultimately find out if you found your Ikigai.
Scott Ingram: To connect with “The Guy with Ikigai” just click over to DailySales.Tips/531 and we’ll have a link for you there. Once you’ve done that make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast so you don’t miss the rest of the series or tomorrow’s tip. I’ll talk to you then. Thanks for listening!