Japanese philosophy, a super-simple careers quiz, and what's more important than formal learning.
😊 Welcome
This week we explore a little bit of Japanese philosophy together with a brilliant way of working out if your planned career could give you the sense of purpose you are looking for. For those of you who haven’t found that perfect career yet, we find out about a super-simple (and uncannily accurate) careers quiz. And we learn what’s more important than university.
✍️ Ikigai. Something we can learn from Japanese philosophy?
I, along with many westerners, first came across ikigai as a career decision-making tool; a Venn diagram with four overlapping qualities in the ideal career: what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. I’ll come to the Venn diagram in a minute, as it’s brilliant, but I would like to start with an explanation of what ikigai really means to the Japanese…
💡 Did You Know?
Not sure what sort of career you might want to do? Try the SACU careers quiz.
It’s a five-minute visual questionnaire, and once you’ve done it, it will present you with a whole bunch of career suggestions that might suit you.
I tried it myself, and the top suggestions included marketing, careers adviser and journalist. Uncanny!
📢 Quote of the week
“Formal education is not nearly as important as an unquenchable thirst to learn.”
James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits
You might think this is a strange quote for me to include, given I write almost exclusively about formal university education. But for me, making great decisions about your formal education will only increase your thirst to learn. And a real thirst will keep you learning during your time at university and far, far beyond!
Thanks for reading!
Jonathan
🎯 In case you missed it: Taking Careers Advice from Dave Grohl
📅 Next week: Embrace the chaos: Nietzsche and choosing a university.
