Hey there,

Welcome back.

Here’s what I have for you this week:

• One big thing. A navigational tool to guide you through foggy crossroads or voyages gone astray.

• You have to check this out. Genes versus joy, the rematch. A note from the year 49.

• Tools & Tech. Organize your digital brain.

Ready. Set. Go.

1️⃣ ONE BIG THING

Navigating with Ikigai.

Last week, I discussed getting out of your comfort zone and doing hard things, mentioning an upcoming 25k trail running event in Florida.

I struggled in this event. My legs became decidedly uncooperative around mile 13. I finished.

Running through northern Florida forests, among dense palmetto bushes and between pine and cypress trees, the trail forward was not always clear. Diverging paths presented multiple compelling options, and it was hard to see far enough down the trail to know which way to turn.

Navigating through life sometimes feels this way, doesn’t it?

A prime benefit of organized events is race planners “flag” the course beforehand. Knowing the trails and using GPS, they tie small red flags on bushes and branches, signaling which direction to turn. At particularly confusing crossroads, they lay the red ribbons on the ground to block the path you should not take.

“Those are not hurdles,” a race coordinator reminded us at the start line.

From astrolabe to GPS.

In the days before GPS, mariners used the sun and stars to sort out where they were.

Starting in the 6^th century, an early Silicon Valley start-up introduced the mariner’s astrolabe. This calculated your latitude (north-south position).

By the 18^th century, all the best inventors had moved to Austin. Here, they created the sextant. This simple device included an arc marked in degrees, a movable arm, two mirrors, and a telescope mounted on the frame. All of that (plus knowing the time accurately) was needed to find both your latitude and your longitude (east-west position).

It took 1,200 years to sort out that additional positioning data point.

The US military launched the first GPS satellite in 1978 and completed the full 24-satellite system in 1993, finally giving us a third data point (altitude).

The south-pointing fish.

Through all those centuries of “Where am I?” advancements stood the compass.

The Chinese invented the compass around 200 BCE for fortune telling—enabling wild spin the bottle party nights.

Mariners first used the compass for navigation around 800 CE. Naturally, it was called the "south-pointing fish." I have to assume that was an inside joke that no longer translates.

The compass does not answer: “Where am I?”

It points you directionally.

It allows you to chart a path forward into the future, answering the question, “Where am I going?”

You would think most people know where they are going in their lives. Most do not.

I certainly didn’t when I tried to figure out my career path in my 20s. In my late 40s, my compass started to quiver again.

The problem we face is the enormous temptation to take the first wide-open turn at a crossroads, without using any navigation tools. No compass pointing north.

If you are at a crossroads now, or you see one coming, let me introduce you to a compass.

Your ikigai is that which makes your life worth living.

Ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) is a combination of the Japanese words ikiru, meaning "to live," and kai, meaning "the realization of what one hopes for. " As one word, it describes your reason for being or that which makes life worth living, even in the face of adversity and suffering.

Discovering your ikigai involves four data points:

1. What you love: activities that bring you joy or fulfillment. What do you never get bored doing? What would you do with your time if you were not worried about money?

2. What you are good at: skills or talents you are excellent at. What do you excel at without trying? What things do people turn to you for help? What skills have you refined over time?

3. What the world needs: actions positively impacting the world or others. How can you help or teach others? What changes would you like to bring about? (It helps to think of this at more minor scales, not where you will get a Nobel prize or reach sainthood.)

4. What you can be paid for: contributions valuable in an economic context. What problems do you solve for people? Is there evidence or good reason to believe people would pay for this (today and in the future)?

Here is what this looks like as a navigation tool:

What you will notice in the design is the four circles overlap. This is where things get interesting:

• What you love + what you are good at: Doing things you enjoy where you also know you are good at them produces feelings of satisfaction. At its best, this creates that flow state where time flies by.

• What you love + what the world needs: This is your mission and gives you a sense of purpose and feelings of fulfillment.

• What you can be paid for + what the world needs: Here, we find that magical combination of feeling like you are doing work that matters and getting paid for it. You’d think this would also mean you love what you do, but this is a common trap (that I have fallen into). Reflect on the distinctions between the positive feelings you get from helping and those you get from doing something you enjoy.

• What you can be paid for + what you are good at: This is where many professionals end up. You feel pride in a job well done and your bank account thanks you, but perhaps your heart isn’t in it, or your days resemble stacks of trivial tasks.

How to navigate to your ikigai.

1. Fill in each of the four circles. This takes time and reflection. At your age, you have giant advantages here. You have experience and perspective.

   Fill in the circles one by one. The same answer can show up in multiple circles. So, don’t think of ideas and then find the best circle for them (that will lead you astray).

   Fill in the circles, considering your entire life. Remember, ikigai is: What makes life worth living? It is not: What job ads should I start focusing on?

2. Find overlapping ideas. Scan for topics or ideas that are in two or more circles. Look for ideas that may be similar concepts worded differently. Jot these down in the overlapping sections between the circles.

3. Examine what is missing. This is a less obvious but sneaky-helpful step. Take the ideas from step 2 and write them down. Make note of which circles they appear in and which are missing. Perhaps you have something you love, are good at, and the world needs, but you are not sure you can be paid for it. You now have an idea to research or re-frame for that missing circle.  

   I have found “what you love” to be the hardest to re-frame and easiest to self-deceive. Listen to yourself here. Find something where your curiosity is endless, where you think: If I could do that every day, I would burst out of bed, raring to get started.

4. Find the one thing that sits at the intersection of all four circles. This will be real work unless you have been sleeping on a perfect-for-you idea this whole time. This is not a single, 90-minute exercise. But this is your life. This is your remaining 1,300 weeks. It is worth pausing, reflecting, and doing some hard work to filter the signal from the noise.

Gorillas use sticks to get ants out of logs.

Gorillas know how to use tools.

People are smarter than gorillas. Our brains are three times bigger.

But life comes at us fast. We fly down the trail, looking for the next red flag. But all trails have crossroads. The decisions we make at these crossroads define our lives.

When you are at a crossroads or feel like you took a wrong turn at Albuquerque, take a deep breath. Gather yourself. Examine all of your options. Compare and contrast.

And use a tool. Write things down. Get stuff out of your big fat head and out where you can see them, move them around, and use them to navigate toward a life of enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose.

Don’t spin the bottle and spend your life where it lands.

That’s all for this week.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Enjoy your Sunday,