The Best Opportunity Has to Fit You, Too

When we evaluate a business opportunity, we usually look outward.

Is there demand?

Can it make money?

How big is the market?

Who are the competitors?

All good questions.

But I think there's another one that gets overlooked:

Does the opportunity fit the person pursuing it?

I've been interested in this question for a long time.

Years ago, I came across the idea of ikigai, a Japanese concept loosely associated with having a reason or purpose that makes life worth living.

It got me thinking about the intersection between what we're drawn to, what we're good at, what other people need and how we make a living.

Because I've seen plenty of opportunities that looked good on paper but would have made terrible businesses for me.

A business might require managing a large team when you prefer working independently.

It might require constant selling when you love creating.

It might put you behind a desk when you need variety and movement.

Or it might make plenty of money doing something you simply don't care about.

None of those things necessarily make it a bad opportunity.

They may just make it a bad opportunity for you.

I think we sometimes underestimate this when choosing businesses—and careers.

We look at income, growth potential, status and what seems sensible.

We spend less time asking:

What kind of work gives me energy?

What am I naturally good at?

What problems do I actually enjoy solving?

How do I want my days to look?

What am I willing—and unwilling—to spend my life doing?

Those aren't soft questions.

They're practical ones.

Because even a great opportunity becomes difficult to sustain when succeeding at it requires you to spend most of your time doing work you don't want to do.

The goal isn't just to find an opportunity that works.

It's to find one that works for you.