Choosing Personal Success Before Professional Glory - E617

"It's important for you to be a personal success first and then a professional success because that will give you career longevity and health. It gives you perseverance to make it over the long term and succeed as a person as well as an executive. I'm not a perfect person on these dimensions, but I warn myself repeatedly about those sacrifices. That ties into Ikigai, the Japanese word for the reason for being. In your career, you should think about four major dimensions: what you love to do, what you are good at, what you can be paid for, and what the world needs." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"The sweet spot can move. Just because you're aiming for something doesn't mean that when you get there it's actually what you want. I said to myself I want to be a social entrepreneur and a founder. I got there. It was a good spot for many years. Then I said I want to do something else. The spot moved. When I was an MBA student I said I want to do this. I became a founder again in the US. I paid for it. Then it changed. I decided I want to come back to Southeast Asia because that's where my family is. I want to raise my kids in Singapore. So that's my choice. The Ikigai can shift. Don't look at this as static. The world is changing tremendously in terms of what you can be paid for. Two years ago you could be paid for marketing and creating a Facebook post. Today ChatGPT does it. The world will no longer pay you to write a Facebook post." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au spoke about the dangers of chasing only professional success and why it can lead to emptiness despite external achievements. He explained the importance of balancing career ambition with personal happiness, introduced a shifting framework for finding purpose, and shared stories that highlight resilience, injustice, and the values that truly define a meaningful life.