Ikigai for Indie Builders — Why the Intersection Test Triggered the 2024 Switch

TL;DR

Ikigai is the intersection of four questions: what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. I experienced it in Tokyo in the early 2000s, recalibrated it several times over 20 years, and used it in 2023/2024 as a decision test for my switch to indie builder. This post shows: how the test works in practice, what my concrete answers were, and under which conditions this is a useful tool for someone else (vs. esoteric buzzword).

Featured: the stylized Ikigai venn — four circles, one intersection.

Table of Contents

• What Ikigai actually is (and is not)
• The four questions
• My Ikigai test in 2023
• What changed — and what did not
• When the test helps (and when it does not)
• Three common misunderstandings
• FAQ

What Ikigai actually is (and is not)

The popular internet venn with four overlapping circles is a Western simplification of Ikigai, not the authentic Japanese concept. Ken Mogi, neuroscientist and author of “The Little Book of Ikigai” (Penguin 2017), writes: “Ikigai is about the small joys of everyday life and the personal meaning someone builds with care — not necessarily a lifelong purpose.”

The Western venn version (popularized by a graphic by Marc Winn in 2014) extends Ikigai with career aspects (what the world needs, what you are paid for) that are not central to the original Japanese concept.

For practice — and for this post — the venn version is still useful because it works as a decision tool. Whoever wants Japanophile purism should read Ken Mogi’s book. Whoever wants a structuring test for a career decision can work with the venn — as long as it is clear what it is and is not.

The four questions

The venn asks:

1. What do you love? (passion + mission intersecting with world)
2. What are you good at? (passion + profession intersecting with money)
3. What does the world need? (mission + vocation intersecting with others)
4. What do you get paid for? (profession + vocation intersecting with market)

The actual Ikigai lies in the central intersection of all four. If even one category is missing, you have something related but not Ikigai:

• Love + skill + paid, but no world need → Profession (good self-employment without meaning)
• Love + world need + skill, but unpaid → Mission (valuable but financially unstable)
• Skill + world need + paid, but loveless → Vocation (classic corporate path)
• Love + world need + paid, but not good at → Calling without competence (risky)

My Ikigai test in 2023

In summer 2023, after 8 years of freelance architecture in Hamburg, I went through the four questions. Honestly, without sugarcoating:

What do I love?

• Building. Watching functional systems take shape. Writing an idea into a repo, checking in 2 days whether it holds.
• Language and writing. Texts that say more than necessary feel like personal failure.
• Motorcycles and travel. 17,000 km across Europe on a CBR1000RR is still closer to me than any urban living-room atmosphere.

What am I good at?

• System software architecture. 15 years at PwC/IBM, 5 of those on the Zurich Vista project. Megaprojects with 80 participants across 4 time zones.
• AI application in production. Since May 2024 with Conductor across 8 parallel projects.
• Trading. In Zurich, 2,000 € once grew to 200,000 €. Continuously active since 2008.
• Northern German directness. Breaking down complexity honestly without offense.

What does the world need?

• AI for humans, not for models. The bridge between LLM capacity and real usability is the biggest gap right now.
• Indie products not destroyed by acquihires. Too many apps disappear after 18 months because a corporation buys the founder.
• Examples of late-career switches. Anyone wanting to switch after 50 has almost no role models in the discourse.

What do I get paid for?

• Freelance software architecture (2015-2023, averaging ~25,000 €/month, with Corona-era peaks at ~50,000 €).
• Moinsen consulting (ongoing retainer model, starting at 800 €/month net).
• Indie products — currently pre-revenue, but Bonblick and Food Designer are meant to change that.

The intersection

In the middle of all four categories, “software architecture for corporations” no longer stood — that had been my intersection in 2010-2014, not 2023. Instead:

Indie building with AI tools for underserved people (SMEs, NGOs), paid via Moinsen + own products.

That was the answer. It was not entirely new — the components were all there. But as an intersection it was sharp enough to legitimize a decision.

What changed — and what did not

What has changed since the 2023 Ikigai test:

• Switch from “I am a software architect” to “I am an indie builder + solo founder”. That is not just a business-card change; it is a self-image shift.
• Daily decision latency. When a new project offer comes in, I no longer ask “can I do this technically?” but “does this fit the Ikigai intersection?”. If no → quick no.
• Pillar clarity on this site. That four blog pillars and 8 hero projects are structured at all is a consequence of the Ikigai calibration.

What did not change:

• Workaholic tendency remained. Ikigai did not fix that — it just gave it a better container.
• ADHD did not dissolve (diagnosis only made in 2026). But that fits the Ikigai answer — hyperfocus on what lies in the intersection is not the worst symptom.
• Travel longing (Japan by motorcycle) is still open. Ikigai says: not everything has to fit today. Some components are future.

When the test helps (and when it does not)

The intersection test is useful when:

1. You have at least 10 years of professional experience — otherwise the “what are you good at” and “what do you get paid for” answers are not grounded enough.
2. You have a concrete decision ahead (switch, self-employment, pivot) — the test is a decision tool, not a weekend life-philosophy.
3. You answer honestly. Anyone who writes “I love networking” because it sounds professional — but actually loves motorcycle riding — has sabotaged the test.

The test is not useful when:

1. You are fresh in professional life (< 5 years). The competence and market answers are still developing too fast.
2. You have an acute crisis (burnout, financial pressure). First stabilize the crisis, then reflect.
3. You treat all four answers as equally weighted. In reality they are not — for me in 2023, “what do I love” was weaker than “what do I get paid for,” but stronger than “what does the world need.” The weighting shifts across life phases.

Three common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding 1: “Ikigai is the Japanese answer to meaning-seeking”

Wrong. Ikigai in the original Japanese sense (see Ken Mogi) refers more to the small joys of everyday life — the morning tea, tending a bonsai, a conversation with a regular customer. It is not life purpose, but life-enjoyment practice.

The Western venn version we used here is an adaptation — useful but not original.

Misunderstanding 2: “You must find Ikigai”

Implicit in the venn image is the assumption that Ikigai is a hidden object you have to discover. That is probably wrong. In most cases the intersection is already there — you just have to make it explicit.

In 2023 I did not find a new Ikigai. I just formulated more explicitly what had been implicitly there for years.

Misunderstanding 3: “If I have Ikigai, I will be happy”

That is the naive promise of self-help bestsellers like Garcia & Miralles (2017). Empirically shaky. Ikigai gives you better decision latency and coherence, not necessarily happiness.

I am not happier after the 2024 Ikigai switch. But my decisions have become clearer, and that is valuable enough.

Where this goes next

The test is not “do it once and you are done.” Life phases shift the four answers. My next planned re-check is 2028 — when the currently pre-revenue indie products are either in the black or in the archive. Then the “what do you get paid for” answers will look different, and that likely shifts the intersection.

If you are facing a switch and the intersection test sounds useful: reach me on LinkedIn. I trade experience happily.

FAQ

How long does an honest Ikigai test take?

For me in 2023: ~3 weeks with breaks in between. The actual writing per question is 20-30 minutes. But between questions are reflection phases — you have to let the answers sit for 2-3 days, then look again.

Which book do you recommend as an entry point?

Ken Mogi: “The Little Book of Ikigai” (Penguin 2017) for the authentic Japanese view. Garcia & Miralles is better known but more focused on longevity esoterica. For operational application, the venn diagram + 30 minutes of honest writing is enough.

Do I need Japanese language skills to understand Ikigai?

No. But anyone who has been to Japan understands the non-spiritual, very practical character of the concept better. It is not about meditation. It is about the continuity of small, precise actions.

Does Ikigai make sense for corporate employees or only for self-employed?

Both. But the test is easier to apply for the self-employed because they have direct influence over all four answers. Corporate employees often have “what do you get paid for” as a fixed variable — the test then gives you hints whether the other three can be balanced within the job, or whether a job switch is due.

How do I distinguish “I love X” from “I think I should love X”?

Rule of thumb: what did you do voluntarily and unpaid for more than 30 minutes last week? That is the honest “I love” answer. What you only do when you have to or when someone is watching does not belong in this category.

Written on May 17, 2026 in Hamburg. Personal experience report, not a universal guide. If you find this post useful, link to it.