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Today at a Glance:
- Discover how the Ikigai exercise can bring clarity and purpose to your career.
- Learn why focusing on your top 20% can unlock 10x results.
- Uncover the power of “Who, Not How” to accelerate your progress.
Read time: 5 minutes
My performance coach gave me a simple exercise that completely changed the direction of my business and, as a result, will have a profound impact on my personal life as well.
I’m going to share it with you today just in case you’re feeling stuck, stagnant or unfulfilled.
But oddly enough, I didn’t have any of these feelings before starting the exercise. Instead, I discovered my lack of focus was blocking me from what I truly wanted in life.
So, it may be beneficial to you regardless of your current situation.
IKIGAI – Discover the intersection of passion and purpose
Ikigai is a Japanese concept about discovering your purpose by balancing four key areas:
- Passion – what you love
- Mission – what the world needs
- Vocation – what you can be paid for
- Profession – what you’re good at
When these areas intersect, you find fulfillment and direction in life.
After going through the exercise, here’s where I landed. I’ll share a truncated version to make it more simple.
- What you love – speaking and writing
- What the world needs – help overcoming setbacks, igniting creativity, and chasing goals boldly
- What you can be paid for – speaking and writing
- What you’re good at – speaking and writing
Just like that, my path forward became much more clear.
I love speaking and writing, I’m relatively good at it, and I’m already getting paid for it.
I believe the world needs help overcoming setbacks, igniting creativity, and boldly chasing goals, which I can speak and write about.
This clarity was a catalyst for me to change how I work and present myself moving forward. I even updated my bio to reflect it, you can see a portion below.
“Through his work, he uncovers practical yet often overlooked strategies that help individuals break through obstacles, ignite their creativity, and boldly chase their life goals with purpose and clarity.”
So, great—I had more clarity on what I want to do moving forward, but that also means I need to leave some things behind.
You’ll most likely have the same experience, so I’ll pass along another process to help with that.
Action item: Complete the Ikigai using this template.
10X is Easier Than 2X – But it involves sacrifice
The majority of my time isn’t currently spent speaking or writing, I’d say it’s closer to 20%.
This means I’ll need to make some changes if I want to follow the path I discovered through the Ikigai exercise.
The book 10X is Easier Than 2X (written by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan) discusses the idea of focusing on your 20%—the activities that yield the most significant results—as your primary focus, effectively making it your 80%.
As a result you’ll be able to concentrate on what truly moves the needle rather than spreading yourself too thin.
On my end, this means reducing the amount of consulting and collaborations I take part in so I can have more time for speaking and writing.
I literally could make 10x more money, and I’ll also have more time to spend with my family.
However, this won’t be an immediate and drastic change since I still have bills to pay, but over time those aspects of my business will play a much smaller role.
You should consider taking the same phased approach.
Sure, you’ll still have to do some of the work you may not enjoy as much, but you’ll still be able to make incremental progress towards the revenue streams you’re more passionate about.
But that brings up another challenge.
How can you determine the best way to go 10x and focus on work you enjoy?
Action item: Determine what activities you’ll need to shed so you can spend 80% of your time on what matters most.
The Path to Making Progress Faster – Focus on Who, Not How
I’ve already had some success as a speaker, but I have no idea how to write the book I want to share with the world.
You may be stuck on how to make progress as well. But fortunately there’s another approach for both of us to take which I discovered in another book written by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan.
The general theme of Who Not How is about shifting your mindset from thinking, “How do I accomplish this?” to “Who can help me achieve this?”
It emphasizes the importance of collaboration, seeking out mentorship or consulting, and delegating tasks to the right people, allowing you to focus on your strengths and achieve greater success.
I chose to seek mentorship from Bruce Feiler, a bestselling author of seven New York Times books and an expert in the book industry. He’s helped numerous authors shape their books including my buddy Jason Feifer.
Sidenote: Jason has an incredible newsletter where he shares one way to be more successful and satisfied — and build a career or company you love.
Bruce was kind enough to invite me to his brownstone here in Brooklyn. He then proceeded to pepper me with tough questions and effortlessly shared wisdom that unleashed powerful insights and frameworks I can use to shape my book.
A 90 minute conversation saved me from months – or even years – of confusion and wasted effort. All because I decided to ask myself “Who can help me achieve this?” as opposed to “How do I accomplish this?”
Action item: Determine who can help you make progress towards your goals, and – if necessary – how you can gain their support.
Terry’s Recommendation Zone
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That’s it for now, but here’s a quick recap:
- Complete the Ikigai exercise to discover your purpose
- Determine what you should spend 80% of your time on
- Identify who can help you make progress, faster
Chat soon,
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