# The 4 questions that start reinvention (ikigai)

- **Episode:** [187](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/187.md) (2025-04-10)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** ikigai, reinvention, career-change
- **Time:** 27:03–32:46 (start 1623s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/187?t=1623](https://truthliesandwork.com/187?t=1623)

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[27:03] Al Elliott: After this short break, we'll be back with more of John and Leanne. Do not go anywhere
[27:42] John Tarnoff: Seamless, seamless
[27:44] Al Elliott: Tell us about your latest episode, Phil
[28:19] Al Elliott: It can
[28:23] John Tarnoff: I am
[28:27] Leanne Elliott: But come back
[28:28] Al Elliott: Yeah, come back
[28:29] John Tarnoff: Definitely come back because Nudge isn't as good as this. So come back
[28:32] Al Elliott: I'll cut that out
[28:33] John Tarnoff: Keep that in
[28:34] Leanne Elliott: What a beautiful value proposition, by the way. Like, I'm, I'm buying from you, John, if that's, that's what you're saying to me. And I think it brings us perfectly on to my next question, which is in terms of that value proposition, in terms of that that pivot. If I'm hitting a point in my career where I'm, I'm not getting the job offers I used to, I'm not as fulfilled by the high-pressure hustle-type jobs, I am more than happy to be managed by someone younger because I want that different route. How do I go about navigating that transition and figuring out the roles that I'm going to be good at, I want to do, and I'm going to find fulfilling?
[29:14] John Tarnoff: Great question. And To me, it starts with 4 questions that you want to ask yourself. And these questions are not, they're not my questions. They are the 4 questions that are in this Japanese concept of the ikigai, I-K-I-G-A-I, this Japanese concept of life's purpose. And it's been translated in the West kind of colloquially into this Venn diagram that you'll see if you search for it, which Which poses these 4 questions. What do you love to do? What do you do well? What does your world need? And that's kind of my revision. The ikigai then says, what does the world need? I think that's far too lofty. I think you have to focus on your world, your profession, your industry. What does your world need and what can you get paid for? And at the intersection of those 4 questions is the beginning of your search for that revised value proposition that you're going to ease yourself into. You're going to explore, you're going to iterate, you're going to prototype it. You're going to look for opportunities to engage as this new person, this revised person, this updated person, this second act version of yourself. Which I think is actually who you are. It's really, it's really going for, it's really an integration of all of the stuff that you've been on the outside with who you've become on the inside. And I think to be able to integrate that and to express that, define that, and come from that totally integrated place as a professional is unbelievably powerful. So there are 2 concepts that for me underpin my whole philosophy about career. The first one is the career you want is already inside you. You know, on a certain level, deep inside you, who you are, what you want to do, how that expresses. You need to connect that inner knowing with your conscious mind. So self-reflection, daily journaling, conversations with close advisors, meeting new people, having more conversations to really figure that out. But then the second element is in order to create the future, you have to reconcile the past. We all have baggage. We've all burned bridges. We've had people do us wrong. We carry that baggage with us. And after 20, 30 years in the workplace, you know, you build up a lot of experience, things go wrong, right? You blow a deal, you blow a relationship, you get fired, you get betrayed. All these things happen. You gotta clear it because if you don't clear, forgive the bad guys, forgive yourself, Accept the reality. You're going to bring that baggage into every job interview, every client meeting, every engagement that you have. And people will say, hey, Leanne is great. Love that meeting. She was great. There's something, there's something about her. I can't quite put my finger on it. It doesn't all come together. Pass