Finding Fulfillment

It is possible to be empowered to work how you want (Autonomy), to be leveraging your skills and expertise (Mastery), and to be proud of your role in a cause (Purpose / Why), and yet still dislike every day of your existence. More than contentment (ikigai), you need Joy.

Not only is this possible, it is common. There’s the classic example of the startup founder who wakes up six years into the journey, realizing she’s been surreptitiously brought to a boil, burned out, dreading each day, drinking too much “to turn my brain off so I can sleep” but actually because she’s deeply unhappy.

What I enjoyed about this article was the Venn diagram showing you need to find something at the intersection of joy, skill, and need. If you only intersect two of the three, you will fall into a specific trap.

For instance, if you have joy and need but not skill, you are falling for “indulgent failure”. Or if you want the recipe for classic burn out, take skill and need but leave out joy.