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The Moonshots Podcast goes behind the scenes of the world's greatest superstars, thinkers and entrepreneurs to discover the secrets to their success. We deconstruct their success from mindset to daily habits so that we can apply it to our lives. Join us as we 'learn out loud' from Elon Musk, Brene Brown to emerging talents like David Goggins.
Mike Parsons: Hello and welcome to the Moonshots Podcast. It's episode 215. I'm your co-host, my persons, and as always, I'm joined by Mark Freeland. Good morning, mark. Hey,
Mark Pearson Freeland: good morning, Mike. I've gotta admit though, episode 215, we're finally launching into a pretty valuable framework and way of thinking about our lives.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Maybe we should have gone into this topic a little bit sooner, Mike, we've certainly touched upon it occasionally, but do you think that we are overdue to dive into this particular model as well as this entire
Mike Parsons: series? I think we have touched upon this idea of purpose many times, but rarely have we come to a book, to an author, to a way of thinking that is this powerful mark.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think you're totally correct there, Mike. So listeners and members today marks the second episode within our series on Japan. Last week we had Mary Kondo who helped us align ourselves to organization peace, serenity, as well as a little bit of joy in our lives through the simple act. I say simple, the structured act of cleaning and tidying your house.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Today, listeners and members we're diving into the idea and the compound of IK guy, the Japanese secret to a long and happy life, which was brought to life very nicely by Hector Garcia, who wrote very popular and international bestselling book that we're going to dive into and really focus on the practicalities within this concept of life purpose and breaking down and defining that reason for being Mike.
Mike Parsons: So in preparing for the show today, I was reflecting on how long it took in my life to finally getting to some fundamental questions like, what am I good at? What can I be paid for? What does the world need? What do I love doing? And I'm still a student of this. I'm by no means an expert, but I am so excited to go to the heart of those questions on this show today.
Mike Parsons: Passion, mission, vocation, and Profession. Why on earth am I here? This is something that we're gonna learn out loud together. We're gonna work on together, as we always do here on the Moonshots Podcast. So if you need to. Create a North Star for where you are going in life. Or maybe you already have one and just want to check in that you are working on it enough.
Mike Parsons: This is a show for you. Icky Guy by Hector Garcia is such a fantastic breakdown of this great way of understanding and living out the life that you're meant to live. Mark, I am so ready to get into something, which is a little bit abstract, but we have such a practical and helpful show ahead. I am dying to jump in.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think you're right. Let's just revisit that word. It is somewhat abstract if you don't have that foundation and understanding. As well as practical tips on how to bring it to life. So that's really the intention of today's show, Mike. So let's hear, we're gonna intentionally go very practical here.
Mark Pearson Freeland: We're going to hear from an individual who we believe brings to life the idea of Vicki Guy in a way that you and I, as well as our listeners and members and the entire Mins family can really start to put into practice this idea of Ikigai in our daily schedules and our habits each day. And the individual that we found who did a fantastic breakdown is Cti Ata, who's the founder of Ara Academy, which gives us very practical tips on finding ours today.
Mark Pearson Freeland: So without further ado, let's get stuck in and let's hear from Sati. Give us the first step as well as an introduction to five Steps of Ikigai and how we need to start. There
Seiiti Arata: are several techniques for you to find your purpose, and these techniques vary according to the definition of purpose. However, all techniques agree on one aspect.
Seiiti Arata: To find your purpose, you have to turn inward. You have to have a, an honest conversation with yourself and have a great deal of self-awareness. Otherwise, what you think is your purpose might just be what other people think is good for you. That includes your family members, your coworkers, celebrities you follow, or even advertisements that you see out there to find your true reason for living.
Seiiti Arata: Here are five simple steps that have a really profound impact. Number one, start small. The first step in finding ei guys to get rid of a craze of grand that seems to hit a lot of people today. We want to have a lot of money to have a fit body, to have a successful career, to have a happy family, to have a beautiful big house, to have the car of the year, to have half.
Seiiti Arata: We want to have so much that we end up basically having almost nothing. Instead try starting small, just one area of your life that needs more attention. See that you can improve a little bit. Set aside the craze of greatness and start building your reason for living slowly, little by little, but in a constant way that gives you sense for longer life
Mike Parsons: planning.
Mike Parsons: This is such a great opener to icky guy and what is, I think, most fundamental that we're starting to get into here. What we are hearing in this idea of finding purpose and where do you begin, is this beautiful, simple advice of starting small. . And I think the way I'm interpreting this Mark is we all full victim to getting really fired up about something that we wanna do in life.
Mike Parsons: We set crazy ambitious goals. We put them on such a short timeline. Here's where I think we all fall apart. Here's what we're fighting against is because you set these crazy ambitious targets. Once you start, and I'm thinking like once you're a week or two or three in, you realize that you've set this massive goal wildly unrealistic on timing and that is de-motivating.
Mike Parsons: Yeah. So the classic example here is weight loss. A lot of people wanna lose 10 kilograms, 20 pounds in a month, and the reality is that's insane weight loss. So what happens when they get to week three mark and they've lost one pound and they've got 19 to go? They give up. Whereas if you say, Hey, I want to lose weight, maybe you're just like, I'm just gonna skip dessert this week.
Mike Parsons: Or maybe you're like, I'm gonna walk an extra block. In the mornings, maybe it's even just going for a war, start small. This is really crucial cuz we vastly overestimate what we can do in a day and vastly underestimate what we can get done in a year. And I think that's the beauty of starting small,
Mark Pearson Freeland: don't you?
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think you're totally right. That's really speaking to the work of James Clear with Atomic Habits, of course. But we're also hearing a lot from that productivity series we've done, really breaking down your big tasks because as we heard from Sati who's introducing us to Icky Guy, this craze of greatness is certainly something that I ran into with through my career.
Mark Pearson Freeland: This idea of comparing yourself to others, particularly on social medias or LinkedIn. Seeing, 30 under 30, ah millionaire, by the time they're 21, suddenly the timeline for success to become inverter com is great, shortened, didn't it? At the rise of people becoming more successful a lot quicker?
Mark Pearson Freeland: And that was quite damaging, I think, to a lot of people. And from my own perspective, I think what it damaged was my sense of confidence as well as patience. And I think that's the big call out that I'm hearing from that first clip. And this idea of starting small, have patience, trying not to boil the ocean as they say, and instead of trying to want everything.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Practice a little bit of restriction. Try not to get everything overnight. Try not to get everything for free. There's no such thing as a six minute ab . We know we can't get rich overnight. And I think what this all ladders up to Mike, is something that we heard at the very beginning of that clip from Sayi, which is this concept of Ikigai requiring you to turn inward.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It's a journey, it's a reflection that I think we need to do that then allows us to say this is where we wanna be. And I'm, I know I'm getting a bit meta, so bear with me for a second. The comparison that I would've done to others and this craze of greatness was because I didn't have my own plan in place.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It was simply comparing yourself to somebody who might have been very successful at a young age and thinking, I wish I was like them. Why? There was no reason. It was unfounded because I hadn't done any reflection. I hadn't put together my iki guy. .
Mike Parsons: Yeah. Think about this mate. We all are on our own path, and if you study great people, some people flourish later, some people flourish earlier.
Mike Parsons: Like we all have our own unique path. And it reminds me what you are saying, it reminds me a little bit of what Elizabeth Gil Gilbert talks about with creativity because it's gonna be your work, it's your idea. Even if you think others have done similar creative expressions and ideas, that doesn't matter because you've not told that story before.
Mike Parsons: Yeah, that's nice. In the same way. In the same way, when you are faced with the success of others or big dreams, like any big problem, what do we do? We break it down into a small parts and I think. The examples I would give here is if I want to be an athlete, I would start, okay, that's great. Just start walking or jogging once a week, then twice a week in three weeks.
Mike Parsons: And take pride. And this to me, mark, this is the, this is where starting small can really work, is if you've framed your purpose to be an athlete. Just as an example. And let's say you're gonna run a marathon for the first time. This is a recurring theme on this show. I'm sorry. Let's say you are gonna run a marathon.
Mike Parsons: Then today, if you're just starting on that invi, maybe you are running just three kilometers, not 42. Do not worry. Once you said, I'm gonna go and by the end of the year I'm gonna run a marathon, then the only thing matters is doing your three kilometers today. The best that you can today. So Mark, if you run three kilometers this week, just run the three.
Mike Parsons: Enjoy the three. Don't worry about the fact that your future, you have a target of 42 next week. If you run three this week, you're gonna run four next week. Hey, and Mark, what happens the following week? How much are you gonna run?
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think it's gotta be that big old number five, hasn't it? Slow and steady.
Mike Parsons: Exactly. But if you zoom out, if you just went up one kilometer every week for 42 weeks, you're actually running further than a marathon. . My whole point here is let it compound. Let the small things compound. That's gonna be a big theme of this Japan series. You remember Darren Hardy has the compound effect.
Mike Parsons: There's the book, the slide edge. There are so many. Successful people talk about the compounding of doing the work every single day. So don't worry about starting small, it doesn't matter. This is exactly how I try to frame challenges. You have a massively ambitious project or a huge problem to solve.
Mike Parsons: Break it down into small pieces and it's incredible. Once you know that you're gonna run the 42 you are free just to run the three kilometers the best you can and you get enormous satisfaction from running the three cuz you know that's part of a plan that includes running four next week and five the week after, and so on.
Mike Parsons: I, I think this is how we can make small things work in our lives. How we can almost shut out. All of that success porn that we see, because we all know these supposed overnight successes have been working on things for a long time. And many of these people are not the successes they are portraying themselves to be.
Mike Parsons: So I think that just forget about that. Have the plan. And once you have the plan, it takes all the stress off. I've only got a run through this week. Next week it's four. Pretty good, right?
Mark Pearson Freeland: It's funny, isn't it? When you break down a seemingly unachievable, Item such as a marathon. Maybe it's a huge project, maybe it's a renovation of your house, whatever it might be.
Mark Pearson Freeland: The fundamental tips that we are finding, whether it's Icky Guy and Hector Garcia's book, or even somebody like Stephen Covey who breaks down the seven habits of high Effect. Yeah, people, the idea of this continuous improvements, building out these habits, building out these techniques to stay on your front foot, but also more importantly, investing in the time that it takes just to make those bite size improvements, those little cycles that get better and better each day.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It's such a reminder, isn't it, Mike, that everything is achievable if you give yourself enough patience as well as enough space to determine how you're gonna do it, and actually importantly, why you're going to do it, which is obviously the topic of Vicky guys.
Mike Parsons: And I think, James Clear will be just giving us a big thumbs up here because Atomic habits are about breaking those big goals in life down into daily repeatable habits.
Mike Parsons: And here's the other thing, that they shift from being very conscious activities into subconscious. That's just how you operate during the day. This is just the things you do during the day, stretching, journaling, cold showers, whatever it is for you to make you better. It's not like a novelty. It doesn't really require special attention.
Mike Parsons: You practice it every single day until the point that it just becomes. The way in which you live. And I think that's the real power of small things because then it's not some massive, huge obligation that has huge cognitive load. It's just the way you live your life. And I tell you, a great way to live your life is becoming a member of the Moonshots podcast.
Mike Parsons: This is gonna bring you some serious, icky guy. Yet these
Mark Pearson Freeland: individuals who we call out every week just never cease to amaze us with their ability to be focused, be part of the team, and also to help us create something week in, week out. So without further ado, as always, please welcome first of all, those individuals who've been with us for a little bit of time.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Bob, John, Terry Marlin, Ken Dimar, Marja, and Connor, Yasmin, Lisa, Sid, and Mr. Bonjour, all of whom have been with us for well over a year, Mike, but again, hot on those tales. Those individuals who are working on the Ricky guys and being part of the team continuously are Paul and Berg, cowman. David, Joe Crystal, Ivo, and Christian.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Sam Kelly, Barbara and Andre, Matthew, Eric Abbey, and Chris, Deborah Lase. Steve, Craig, Javier, Daniel, Andrew and Ravi Yt, L gv, Karen and Rael, pj, Nico, Ola and Ingram. Dirk and Emily. Harry and Karth. Vanatta, Veara, Marco Suns Jet, Pablo, Roger, and Steph, you've all been with us week in, week out. Thank you so much for your continued support.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It really makes a huge difference. Not only. To us as a moonshot team, understanding our Ricky guy, but we are glad to be trying to help you understand yours every single
Mike Parsons: week. Indeed thank you to all the guys and girls for your support, for your little contribution. The small things make a big difference for us here at the Moonshots Podcast.
Mike Parsons: And if you'd like to become a member, head over to moonshots.io. Click on the big member button, and the magic will happen. Your purpose shall be revealed, and part of that purpose revelation is already something we've mentioned, but it's time to go deep on how we. Release ourselves from the expectations of others and find our true self.
Mike Parsons: Number
Seiiti Arata: two, free yourself. The second step is to break free from old ideas that might not be aligned with what you really want from life. For example, who says you need to have that lean body, a big house, the car of the year, and all those things to feel happier? Is this a real need of yours or is it something that came from outside, from colleagues, from family, from advertising so much that you have already internalized?
Seiiti Arata: That you might think this is your idea to find your guy. Try to break free from all these preconceived ideas and carefully reflect on yourself to really find what you want
Mark Pearson Freeland: from life. Mike, straight away. Once again, we're hearing a lot of consistency with this idea of purpose and how you've gotta start by understanding what matters to you, what makes you happy.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And you mentioned earlier, Elizabeth Gilbert and her book, big Magic, that idea of originality versus authenticity. I'm now starting to really see a bit of Mark Manson, the subtle art of not giving a, about fi, figuring out what it is that you want, and intentionally not comparing yourself to others, but also Mike.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I'm hearing a little bit of green lights here with old Matthew McConaughey, a moonshot over it, who, as we might remember, turned down. The continual roles that other people wanted him to take because he wanted to stay true to his ultimate goal, his ultimate ambition of being a different type of actor.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And I think, what we're hearing from society there is you've gotta free yourself from those expectations as well as those comparisons that you have placed on yourself through, conditioning, movies and so on. And unless you can free yourself to those unconscious shackles, you are always going to reach a bit of a ceiling and never be able to break through.
Mark Pearson Freeland: What's coming to mind is you hear that second step being broken down around icky guy.
Mike Parsons: I actually think this was quite a big step for myself just to stop worrying about what others think. Stop comparing myself with others and, accepting, who I am and my path and following my path for me.
Mike Parsons: Do you know, the strange thing is what comes to mind, again, a bit of a running theme here is a lot of great runners, they always talk about run your own race. And what happens is many young novice runners get into their first competitive runs. And because there's a starting gun and lots of people, they make the fatal mistake.
Mike Parsons: Of not running their race, but trying to pace off the really quick people. Oh yeah. And then they do what we call bonking, which is not what you might think it is, but it's actually when you run out of energy and you actually, a lot of people end up having to stop because they went out too hard, too fast cuz they didn't run their race.
Mike Parsons: This instantly comes to my mind as a metaphor for just releasing yourself of all the people running around. You just run your race. Now here's what I thought would be really fun, Mike. I want you to imagine that a friend of yours has joined us on the show and we, and they're having real problems with comparing themselves to others.
Mike Parsons: Oh, I'm behind. Everyone's doing better, more successful. Everyone's more beautiful. Let's work out how you and I, what would we say to them? How would we convince them just to. Free themselves of that constraint and those shackles. What are the arguments for actually releasing yourself, like we're talking about for this, this really negative energy of comparing yourself so much to others.
Mike Parsons: What's
Mark Pearson Freeland: funny? It's funny, isn't it? Because there's so many areas I'd love to start with , . But the thing that really comes to my mind as we are talking around uniqueness your value that you are bringing to the world versus the opinions of others are those classic stories that you and I have mentioned on the show before around Walt Disney, Oprah, the Beatles even Steve Jobs all being rejected to a certain degree at the start.
Mark Pearson Freeland: and instead of trying to fit into the mold, let's say, or instead of Oprah saying, okay, they told me that I'd never be on television, they're right. I'll step back. There's an element and an energy that you can, if you are focused enough rewire into proactivity and become the greatest. Tom Brady, again, talking about the greatest, what poi, what number was he picked at Mike?
Mark Pearson Freeland: He was maybe 350, I think
Mike Parsons: in the draft. Yeah. Or, you know what reminds me of Brock Purdy who was playing for the San Francisco 49. This isn't, he was the very last pick in the draft, and he ended up getting to play as quarterback for the 49ers in his first season. And under him they had. 12 wins in a row, and he defeated some of the most highly paid quarterbacks in the N F L, and he was the very last pick.
Mark Pearson Freeland: . So
Mike Parsons: both of those, it shows, it, it shows you, right? Like you, we've all got our own journey to go on. Yeah. But what I would say is if everybody is truly unique in their personality, right? And unless you're an identical twin, we all look different. We have genetic variation, so for me it's almost scientifically we are all unique, right?
Mike Parsons: So therefore, the idea of comparing yourself to others at a very base, D n a level is a faulty practice. Then add on that we've all had different upbringings and contexts and challenges in our early life. Maybe our parents got divorced, maybe we lived on some remote area. All of these things would affect us.
Mike Parsons: So trying to race against everybody to compare against a anybody is faulty on so many levels. And to your point about Tom Brady, even if you are not in first position or second positions, it doesn't mean that you cannot go on to do great things. And those things in the context of who you are, your upbringing, it doesn't matter how they compare with others.
Mike Parsons: What matters is are they great for you? And I think this is the freedom that's on the other side of saying, you know what? I don't care if they've got a Porsche. I don't care if they've got two houses, three houses or a private jet. I'm gonna do my thing to the best of my ability, which interestingly comes back to our previous point to start small.
Mike Parsons: That again gives you the freedom to say, Hey, I said I was gonna do a three K run and I did it. I feel satisfied and fulfilled. That is such a better place to be than sitting there going, I only did three Ks and my neighbor, he runs a marathon once a month. What's the purpose or what's the gain there value?
Mike Parsons: There is no gain in that comparison. Is
Mark Pearson Freeland: there? No there's no gain. And I think talking about gain and how much gravity we put into the opinions of others and how that can negatively affect a lot of us, I'm also reminded of the fantastic story that, so Ken Robinson breaks down in his book The Element, oh my gosh, might remember the Firefighter versus the the college professor, whereby this individual is recommended by his his tutor his his professor.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Oh, don't go and do that. You should go and listen to me. Don't go your own path. Don't go and be a firefighter. You can aspire to be greater than that. But the student, the individual he knew from a young age that's exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to go out and be a firefighter. He wanted to dedicate his life to that.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Fast forward a number of years, a decade, maybe two decades, he ends up saving that professor as a firefighter. During a horrific car crash that he and his wife and his family have. And I think this is again, maybe an extension mic that I would pass on to an individual, a guest that's joined us on today's show, or a listener or a member who's looking to get inspired around Iki guy, if you are taking.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Everything from other people, you are never gonna have a chance to go and explore those areas, directions, challenges that you've got in your own mind. And actually what might happen is you end up making a huge positive difference, maybe even saving some lives through following that ambition, that target, that character trait that you wanted to go out and explore.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I exactly hire me .
Mike Parsons: I think that's a gr it's a great argument. And what an incredible story that he ends up saving the teacher who actually encouraged him not to be a fireman. And it shows you that everyone is unique. Their path to their own potential, their own greatness is unique as well.
Mike Parsons: And look, if none of that convinced you, I would just say don't devote energy to comparison, devote the energy to being. And doing what you need to get done today. Start small. Measure yourself against your own goals. It's you who will sit in front of the mirror and knowing whether you put in a great effort today, you know when it's late at nine and it's time to go to bed, you're brushing your teeth.
Mike Parsons: You look in that mirror. Did you give it a good go today? Did you work hard? Did you do your best? That's ultimate accountability right there. You don't need to give that energy outside. Put it on yourself and you'll go places. I think the other way you can really go places, mark, is jumping into Spotify or your Apple Podcast app and leaving a rating or a review for our podcast because man, I've heard that there is like good karma that comes from this.
Mike Parsons: In fact, it's Luna powered. Good karma. If you actually give a rating or a review to our podcast
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think what I believe took place, Mike, when we were all starting up listening to podcasts is how a little attention we paid to the ratings and the reviews of these podcasts. Really, what I'm learning from the Iki guy process today is to free myself from the shackles that I don't believe in ratings and reviews for podcasts that I consume.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think you're totally right. If I think about how I'm consuming my podcasts and I'm, this is my call out to you, our listeners and members it's exactly this. It's opening up. Your Spotify or your Apple Podcast app of choice, hitting that rating or review button if you were an Apple podcast and leaving us a little message and maybe even celebrating it with, maybe five stars, we'll leave that up to the listeners.
Mark Pearson Freeland: But what we've noticed is how much of a positive impact that does make, that really does fit into the icky guy of creating something that we really love. That is our mission, that is our passion that we're putting out into the world. So any rating, any review that you, our listeners can leave us goes a long way to getting the message of moonshots and learning out loud into the four corners of the globe.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And as Mike said, you'll also get a lunar power dose of good karma heading your way as well.
Mike Parsons: So now you have that good karma coming to you. You've opened up the app, little star, little review. Now that you have got your mission complete, you're ready for the next step, which is, The pursuit of harmony. Step number three,
Seiiti Arata: seek harmony and sustainability.
Seiiti Arata: It is not useful in Eureka guy if it does not bring harmony into your life. And if it is not sustainable in the long run, use the following questions. Tools to find Eki guy, is this sustainable? Can this activity be sustained in the long run? Can you make a living from it? Is it going to keep your health?
Seiiti Arata: Think of IAI as an intersection. Of four different circles, what you love, what the world needs, what you're good at, and that makes you earn enough money for your living. If you can find an activity that meets all these four qualities. Danny found your reason for
Mark Pearson Freeland: living. Now, Mike, we're getting into the details now we're getting into those four circles, or as it's known, the Venn diagram of icky guy,
Mike Parsons: This is the business end of the season. This is where it all happens. I would start this by saying, mate, for a lot of our listeners and you and I are perhaps as well, that the idea of having harmony in our life between everything that we need to do and our obligations feels a bit daunting,
Mark Pearson Freeland: doesn't it?
Mark Pearson Freeland: It feels and sounds almost impossible. To try and get everything to my up, doesn't it?
Mike Parsons: Yeah. Yeah. There seems like there's always so many competing interests between I wanna work hard and really give of myself. I wanna have impact I wanna have great relationships and I wanna thrive. I wanna.
Mike Parsons: Have means, and I need to build wealth and ugh. It's almost exhausting just thinking .
Mark Pearson Freeland: And then incredibly you get
Mike Parsons: and you get one going well, and then all the others fall over, don't they? ? Yeah.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Exactly. And to build on that train of thought, you wanna bes, you wanna be hardworking, you wanna have pride in the work that you are creating.
Mark Pearson Freeland: At the same time you wanna create a family. You wanna to have time for your loved ones. You wanna have time to pursue the hobbies in your life, whether it's running, swimming or otherwise. Suddenly when you start to ladder up all of that attention, all those things that require attention and time, that's when it gets a little bit daunting, Mike, and you think, do I have time?
Mark Pearson Freeland: How do people do this? How do those superheroes like Tom Brady make enough time in their day to go out and do this?
Mike Parsons: Think about it. If the average person needs eight hours sleep, That's one third of the day is gone . And then you have the other third is for work. So there's two thirds. So you gotta get everything done in that other bit where you are like paying the bills, eating food, like all of a sudden you.
Mike Parsons: You see where I'm going here. So let's talk about this diagram. I want everyone to visualize four circles overlapping and each of them represent this balance in harmony that you'll find in Hector Garcia's book, icky Guide. And if you're really interested in checking this out, head over to our show notes, we'll have a link to the icky Guy diagram and that'll show you how that'll be helpful in guiding you through this conversation.
Mike Parsons: But stick with us. For those of you who have just got the headphones on and maybe you're walking, running, commuting, tune in cuz we'll describe it to you. At the heart of this Icky Guy framework is the intersection between four things. Here we go. It is doing what you love. That's number one. It is doing what you are good at.
Mike Parsons: That's number two, what you can be paid for. That's number three. And the fourth is what the world needs. So you can see that the harmony that is found within Ikigai is when those four things, what you love, what you're good at, what you can be paid for, and what the world needs. When all those things are working well together.
Mike Parsons: Now don't hold yourself to such a high level that you have to have this perfect harmony and vibration between all these things. Think of this as like worst case scenario. You know what bit is a, is not working, what bit is feeling a little bit out, why you might feel a little bummed out, a little tired with life.
Mike Parsons: Said differently. These areas could be the intersection between what you're passionate about, what's your profession, what's your mission in life and your vocation? What are you going out there to provide the world? I think the interesting thing here is that this instantly Mark works as a bit of a checklist.
Mike Parsons: It am I doing what I love? Am I doing something that I'm good at? Am I doing something that I can be paid for, and am I doing something that the world really needs these? Using it as a checklist, I think is a very good, practical way to start entertaining or questioning or evaluating yourself.
Mike Parsons: , am I doing the right thing with life? Overall? What do you think of these questions like, as a bit of a checklist Mark? Do you find it helpful to check in and make sure you are on track? The
Mark Pearson Freeland: key. Benefit that I see from this framework, what you love, what you're good at, what you can be paid for, and what the world needs is.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It helps me understand and differentiate myself from the second clip that we heard today, which is around freeing itself. And if I am in a position where I'm constantly bombarded with comparisons to other people and so on this framework, which either I can work on in a vi Venn diagram, or maybe I use it as a structure when I'm approaching my journaling, a approaching my reflection of an end of a year on what I want to go out and accomplish in the next year.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It's going to be something that I can build around. This is the foundation and the structure that I can apply my thinking towards in order to have a little bit of a narrative that then helps me make sense. And what I think is so powerful about those four areas that's for considerations is just how personal they are.
Mark Pearson Freeland: If I was to ask, let's say Matthew McConaughey, Tom Brady, what they love, what they're good at, what they can be paid for, and what the world needs, it's going to be naturally very different to me. That's right. Which I find very empowering because sudden, I'm not looking at writing. What am I good at?
Mark Pearson Freeland: I'm a great actor. I'm not, therefore, I can disregard or stop comparing myself to those individuals who've become great. Let's say through that potential method. If anything, I find that this icky guy process is quite freeing. It really helps bring to life my uniqueness, doesn't it?
Mark Pearson Freeland: I would
Mike Parsons: say that there are some simple, recognizable signals in life, things that we can observe to know if we're on track. So let's try and make it personal and unique for each of our listeners and our members. And let's brainstorm some what to go looking for in each of these four buckets. Are you
Mark Pearson Freeland: ready, mark?
Mike Parsons: . I'm ready. Okay. Let's start with identifying things that you are good at, okay? Because we're gonna try and look for the evidence that we're getting our purpose together. And the first is doing things that you're good at right now. To me, I think something that I'm good at is when I do something that I feel when I am in the act of doing it, that it just feels very natural.
Mike Parsons: And I notice that when I do it and I produce this thing or conduct this activity, I notice that for others it's much harder or it takes them longer, for example, I've always just had a natural capacity to try and break down problems and ideas, and I'm very excited about it. And it seems insanely logical to me that when someone says, here's an idea, I'm like, how do I break it down?
Mike Parsons: It's like I, I'm almost like I gotta put it into its component parts in order to understand it. That's just something that even when I was a very young kid, that just seemed to come to me easier than others. There are plenty of things like math, finance that don't come naturally to , but I think it's when you just notice, oh, this just comes easier.
Mike Parsons: It doesn't mean it's like easy, but it comes easier, more naturally. And I just notice that when others are doing the same thing, it seems to cost them a lot more time, energy and effort. I think that's a really good way to. Look for something that you're good at. It just, it comes naturally, right? Yeah.
Mike Parsons: And you just don't seem to have the frustrations or the fear that maybe others have of doing that same thing. Are there any other signals you think, mark, of identifying something that you just, you know, naturally good at that just comes naturally? I
Mark Pearson Freeland: think I totally, first of all, I totally agree with your insight there, the things that aren't, that are causing other people frustration, but actually you enjoy, or that you are good at is definitely a first step.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think what's been helpful for me as well is gathering. Getting feedback from Hello. Yeah. Colleagues people, leaders, mentors and in importantly, I think impartial individuals. Because then that helps me understand or notice things that perhaps I didn't really appreciate. Yeah. That through the busyness of life you put in the back of your mind, but actually your ability to maybe cope with something.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Maybe it's finding solutions, maybe it's being calm under pressure. Those things that you are good at, that perhaps you don't actively notice, you can hear from others. And that, I think is a great place to start as well. Going out and gathering that feedback, those reviews, and making a note of what is said and then reflecting.
Mark Pearson Freeland: What's been said against perhaps the things that you know that you're good at as well.
Mike Parsons: Yeah, I like it. That's a really good build. So there's two practical starting points for finding what you're good at. I think let's move to the next bucket. The what you love. . And I've got a really good way to know if you really love doing a thing, mark.
Mike Parsons: Okay. I wanna hear it. I wanna hear it. I'm totally stealing this idea. It's, you'd be happy to do something even if you weren't paid to do it when you, for example, when you noticed that you are doing something on the weekend that is work related, but it just draws you, you're just like, I really want to do that.
Mike Parsons: Yeah. You and I are often working on the show. Outside of work hours on the weekend. Because I love doing the show. Like I think that's the greatest tell that when you do something, whether you are paid or not, you are just drawn to it. That's a signal that you really love doing it.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Something that you are willing to do without payment. I like that a lot. Because I think, again, there's that attachment to only doing things where you think you're getting something back from it. But actually what I think you are speaking to there is the enjoyment being so valuable, the passion that's coming through.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Yes. That love that the area that you love, the build I would do on that would be something that you are willing to do despite it being a little bit uncomfortable. So for example, that might be going for a run in the rain. Maybe it's waking up at waking up before anybody else to go out and do that training.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Maybe it's a swim. Maybe it's. Doing something that you don't have time to do in the rest of the day, you just want to do it because it'll put you in a good mood. I think that's the only build I can do there, because you're totally right. Something that you can dedicate yourself to, even on weekends and in your free time is something that you truly love.
Mike Parsons: Totally. Now let's go to the third bucket. All right, so we got what you're good at, what you love. Next one is what the world needs. And Mark, I'm interested to know how do you know that your contribution is actually, and it matters and it's important, are there any signals you think we can look
Mark Pearson Freeland: for?
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think this one's probably the hardest of the four from a traditional perspective, because you've got the love, you've got what you're good at, what the world needs is obviously a little bit more outside of perhaps your own understanding. So I think the build. And the focus that I would apply for this third circle what the world needs is reflecting with others, I think.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think it's writing down and thinking, how can I help people? What can I do that is an intersection perhaps with what I love that makes people maybe feel better? So when I'm out about in my day, how am I influencing those individuals? Maybe on the bus, maybe on the street, how am I helping them have an okay day?
Mark Pearson Freeland: Am I smiling at them? Am I making them laugh? What, in a small way, and I intentionally am I come going quite small here, you know what the world needs. Let's go back to step one for Ikigai. Let's start small before we go and talk about world peace. , it's . Just simple things that maybe I reflect on. A dog walk that.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I can see how I interact with others and doing so start to understand, okay, that me being grumpy, that doesn't help them, that doesn't help them have a nice day. What they need is a good day. Like me, there's probably somebody on the other end of meeting or somebody in on the street on the other side of the road might be doing the same as me trying to figure out their own guy, their own reason for being.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Having a little bit of patience and let's say humor when it comes to this third circle, I think is quite valuable. What about you? I think
Mike Parsons: that the, to know what the world needs, there are some simple things, which is if you are a business, Return customers. That shows you're doing something right, , if people come back a second time, I think that's a great signal.
Mike Parsons: More deliberate expressions, I would say. If you take the show for as an example, which is the unaided unprompted feedback that we get. For example last week we got daily Doe boy from the US went into our back catalog, listened to a Frank Lloyd Wright show, and wrote us a really fantastic review that, that fuels me, that, that reminds me, oh, a show from over a year ago.
Mike Parsons: Someone deeply appreciated, so much so that they wrote feedback. I think that's a great way to know that the world needs something like this or if you do something, if you conduct an activity or work with someone, and you can tell there is on their side. Gratitude, satisfaction, fulfillment, or just a smile.
Mike Parsons: These are all little bits of evidence that what you are doing really matters to the world. All right, mark number four, what you can be paid for. So to, to me, I think whilst this might appear somewhat transactional, can you offer a service or a product? Can you get a job, a career, a project, whatever it is.
Mike Parsons: But I actually think to take this to the highest order, this idea of what you can be paid for is about finding the greatest value in what you do and capturing the value. For example, someone might be, have some great thoughts and they put, they might choose to give a speech, but could they write a book?
Mike Parsons: Could they do a television series? Could they create an academy? Like to me, these are all concentric circles around what you can be paid for. And I think where we find real fulfillment is individuals is way beyond like this idea of being rich and having a fancy car in a fancy house. I think it's when we feel that what we've given to the world is fairly and justly compensated back to us.
Mike Parsons: So I think a lot of people suffer from the inequities of feeling like they contribute a lot, but they don't get a lot back. Think about all the bitter bitterness you hear people talking about on a Friday night after work, , I do all of this and I'm paid pays, right? Yes. So I wanna go beyond do you get a paycheck, yes or no?
Mike Parsons: I'm like, do you feel valued? Do you capture enough of the value that you've created? And I think that having the capacity to be fairly compensated for the value that you've created, I think that's it really at the heart of what Icky guy is doing and the build and the, and what I want to get your feedback on Mark, I think it becomes much easier to get paid when you're doing something that you love, that you're good at, that the world needs.
Mike Parsons: Getting paid for. It just got a whole lot easy
Mark Pearson Freeland: slam dunk. I totally agree. I think where, if I'm identifying that fourth circle what I can be paid for, it needs to be personal. So again, going back to this idea of comparing yourself to others. Yeah. I'm sure Mike, I could go and get paid to be an actor.
Mark Pearson Freeland: If I was Mike Matthew McConaughey, but I'm not Matthew McConaughey. So instead, this idea of effort and what you can be paid for, I think needs to be sustainable and in order to understand and fill out that particular. Area of the Venn diagram. I think you're totally right. You need to work through all four of these concentric circles.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And in doing so, maybe more than once it gets richer and richer. , you start realizing what can I be paid for? Oh the work I'm doing that is pretty good is maybe working with others. It's collaboration. Okay. What do I love? Yeah, it's talking to others. It's creating products that the world needs.
Mark Pearson Freeland: What can I be paid for? It's working with others. And then you start to see this. , repeating reassurance. I think the word might be this purpose that continually feeds into what I can be paid for is something that I'm good at. And what I'm good at is something that I love. And suddenly, as we were hearing from Asai, as well as the work of Hector Garcia, you're starting to really understand that.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Delight. I think it's the word that can come from landing in that sweet
Mike Parsons: spot, don't you think? I would say I would build on that mark and say it's about three letters, j o y, and we have got a great clip that explains if we get these things working for us, if we deal with these four questions and at the end of the rainbow.
Mike Parsons: Is joy.
Seiiti Arata: The fourth step is not to condition your happiness to the fulfillment of great goals. One mistake that many people make when they're designing life plans is to set up crane projects and condition their happiness to the fulfillment of these projects. For example, let's say that one of your big goals is to complete a post-graduate degree.
Seiiti Arata: Very nice. This can be a largest task that will take years of dedication and study. If you only allow yourself to joy when you graduate, you're gonna have years of suffering for just a few moments of joy , because soon after conquering your graduation, soon will start looking. For other goals, your joy will pass in.
Seiiti Arata: You'll set new and greater goals to reach you. Again, condition your happiness one more time. This is an endless cycle. There is a smarter way to live your life. Learn to have joy in the little things. Have joy every time you have to sit down to study for the tasks in your post-graduate program. Be happy with every little mistake that you make when you're writing your final paper.
Seiiti Arata: Be joyful even when you find yourself conditioning your own happiness to the fulfillment of a goal. Our life has so many ordinary moments, more than great moments. If you only allow yourself to joy. When you accomplish great deeds, you're condemning yourself to life full of dissatisfaction and just a few moments of.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Life is full of ordinary moments. Oh my God, I really like
Mike Parsons: that . Yeah. And I just had this big bell ringing in my head then. Yeah. Growth
Mark Pearson Freeland: mindset. It really is speaking to growth mindset, isn't it? Embracing those small mistakes that you make as you're making that paper. The obstacles you run into
Mike Parsons: Gross.
Mike Parsons: Yeah. It's oh, I made a mistake. Oh good that I did that cuz I don't have to do it again. , I know not to do that another time. Yeah. Rather than
Mark Pearson Freeland: bad. Mark. Bad. I think this is, again, speaking to our first show in the, in our current series on Japan with Mary Condo, isn't it Mike?
Mark Pearson Freeland: Finding joy in the things that you are perhaps conditioned, either consciously or subconsciously to dislike with Mary Condo, obviously organization, cleaning, keeping an ordered desk. When you and Mike actually, I must admit, I have spent the last week sorting out my office. It's minimalist versus where it was in the last show,
Mark Pearson Freeland: And the reason why I share that is because it has actually brought me quite a lot of joy. It has brought me a level of calmness and serenity and that build that we just heard from cti, finding joy in those little things is something we can take ownership of, we can celebrate. And when we then reflect upon what we heard in the third clip, those.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Concentric circles in the Venn diagram. The joy comes from starting to understand and appreciate the things that help you get outta bed in the morning. The things that you do really enjoy. And the things that you can provide to, people in the world that have value. This one for me is a big.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Aha moment. Mike, how are you interpreting that fourth step? This fourth clip that we've heard in today's show?
Mike Parsons: Yeah I think, we got our Venn diagram, a Vicky guy working well, which gives us the capacity to experience joy, and it comes back to the first clip, which is starting small and the little things.
Mike Parsons: But if we expand upon that, what we're really talking about is enjoying the ups and downs and knowing that it's part of a process. And when you have those bigger questions about what the world needs and what you love and all that kind of thing, it affords you the luxury of having a bit of a giggle, a bit of a laugh at yourself when things aren't quite working, or if you get really into it from a growth mindset, knowing that it's tough and it's hurting and you're even in sometimes suffering.
Mike Parsons: But for the right things, huge amounts of purpose. Fulfillment, feeling pr proud of yourself for putting in the work and getting through the problems if you get on the other side of this harmony, it's not only the joy, I think there's a level of mindfulness that comes with that. And that kind of really brings us to the last step of icky guy, which is being in the here and.
Mike Parsons: Finally, learn
Seiiti Arata: to be in the present moment, learn to enjoy the whole journey, and not just the final goal, the ultimate goal right now, just as you're here with me, are you enjoying the journey? Are you thinking that you're not one of those lucky people who can find a great purpose, a great living reason?
Seiiti Arata: Many Eastern philosophies warn us about the risk of abandoning them. Now, failing to live in the present moment, and when we focus on desire, when our focus is well, what we want, or what we don't want, we're no longer living in the now. When, so we open the door to suffering. The reason we suffer is the untimely desire, the habit of always wanting to anticipate the future, wanting more and more, or remember in the past without ever enjoying the present moment.
Seiiti Arata: If we are never satisfied with the present moment, right now, we're always wanting something else and this is the main cause of suffering. If we are present, live in the present moment completely. There would be no wanting or not wanting, it would just be
Mark Pearson Freeland: in fullness. Oh, Mike, suddenly we're getting into in that last clips a treasure trove of moonshots.
Mark Pearson Freeland: In sights, moonshots individuals, two people that immediately come to mind is obviously Eckhart with the power of now, but also victory. Frankl's man, search for meaning. Yeah. This idea of. In the moment enjoying or at least appreciating the journey that you're going on, the highs, but, or more importantly, perhaps those lows as well all ladder up towards carving out your character, don't they?
Mark Pearson Freeland: The things that you seek out in your life, the things that you share with others, the stories you tell, as well as the things that motivate you to go out and create products, create experiences for others and build in the world. What a, what an interesting extension and reminder of how important it is that we need to be present
Mike Parsons: and enjoy.
Mike Parsons: Just think about it now. Your house is tardy. Now. Your mind, body, and soul will be tidy and in good order, mark. And that's all thanks to the wonders of Japan and in this case of icky guy. So my question for you is, What is the job to be done now? What is the homework assignment for yourself?
Mark Pearson Freeland: Good grief.
Mark Pearson Freeland: All five steps are intrinsically linked, aren't they? . I think for me, I'm gonna choose the joy and little things. I know it's a little bit familiar because of last week's show as well, but I really like this idea of appreciation and gratitude. In the moments that don't just exist in the final culmination.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Yes. So I love that society story of the graduate celebrating those moments, no matter whether they are quick or long-winded. I think that for me is the takeaway for today. What about you? Which of those five important steps are you really gonna reflect on?
Mike Parsons: I'm definitely gonna do enjoy the practice of just being in the moment and experiencing that joy.
Mike Parsons: I, I love that Mark. So I'm with you on that one. I would say probably navigating the harmony and the sustainability is probably where I've gotta do my greatest work. And, making sure that I serve those full quadrants, get that Venn diagram spinning in the right way. I think that's where I can do some work.
Mike Parsons: I've got that diagram and you two can have it at at the show notes on moonshots AO if our listeners are keen to go deeper. We referenced a ton of books though. And I told Carol Dweck, Elizabeth Gilbert, ah, the list goes on and on. So you can find shows on each of those@moonshots.io as well.
Mike Parsons: But Mark, I just wanna say thank you to you for joining me. Journey into Ikigai, a book by Hector Garcia for show 215. And a special thank you to our members and listeners too. We came together to study this great practice of finding purpose called Ikigai. And thanks to Hector Garcia, we had five very simple, yet very important steps.
Mike Parsons: Start small, free yourself, seek harmony and sustainability, have joy in the little things. And lastly, be here and be now. These are great thoughts, great steps to take on the pursuit of learning out loud together, of being the best version of yourself. And of course, that's exactly what we're about here on the Moonshots podcast.
Mike Parsons: Okay, that's a wrap.