This is a continuation of the previous post. I will be sharing my thoughts on a Japanese book by Nishimura Yoshiaki, Unfortunately I don’t think there is a title in English but I will share some of the main takeaways from the book which I think are interesting.
The topic is a common one, but an important one nevertheless. Many of us dedicate more than half of our lifetime to our jobs. It’s fair to say that having a good career would probably make one’s life significantly better than those who don’t have good careers.
One-Size-Fits-All Career
Now the question is, how do we know what is the best career for us? According to the author, we would never really know. And we probably shouldn’t be too focused on that. The so-called ‘ideal career’ is usually a scripted, one-size-fits-all path, something that’s already been done by others. Yet we are all different individuals, we all have different wants and needs and feel differently about things.
Express Yourself
In the book, the author interviewed many ‘successful’ people (let’s go with your own definition of success) from different walks of life. But none of these people being interviewed really followed the tried and true path. All of them have somehow stumbled on things which led to their current job roles. One interviewee worth a special mention is a guy named Kato. He started out as an industrial designer for Sony but later found his passion in the art of soba making. His role might have changed but one thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that he’s always followed what feels right to him. This may sound cliched but he simply followed his heart. He said to live (a fulfilling life) is to express yourself, be your very honest self.
Do What Interests You At That Moment
Another important thing is to do what interests you at that particular moment. Sometimes it’s hard to know what you like, we all have too many things that pique our interest at the same time. But there is often something that you want to do the most at a particular moment. The key is to focus on that thing, and very soon, the next door will open.
Ironically it sounds like a bit of a revelation that finding a good career is more about finding out about ourselves. It’s about looking for joy and self-expression. Whether it’s the passion inside us or even just something more lighthearted that we find interesting, all we really need to do is to simply find an entry point and go for it.