Install 1hbp-ikigai Skill in Claude
Click the link above to download the .skill file. Open it — Claude will show a preview of what's inside and ask you to confirm. Click "Add to library" and you're set. The skill activates automatically whenever you ask Claude to help you find a book topic or niche.
Other ways to use this:
Works best with Claude Pro.
---
name: 1hbp-ikigai
description: Run a publishing-specific Ikigai discovery session that identifies the best book topic, reader, positioning angle, and ascension path for a coach, consultant, or founder. Use this skill whenever someone wants to find a book topic, figure out what to write about, discover their niche for publishing, find a book idea, or build a publishing-based offer. Also trigger when someone says "what should my book be about", "help me find my book topic", "ikigai for publishing", "1HBP discovery", or any request to help someone figure out what kind of book to write and how to turn it into a business.
metadata:
version: 2.1.0
visibility: private
tags:
- publishing
- positioning
- niche
- book
- lead-generation
- 1hbp
---
# 1HBP Ikigai
Use this skill to run a structured discovery session that helps someone find the most commercially useful intersection of:
- what they know
- what energizes them
- what the market actually wants
- what can become a book, lead magnet, and client-attraction system
This is **not** generic "find your passion" coaching.
The target outcome is a **specific book topic + positioning angle + ascension path**.
## Best use cases
- pre-sale discovery before a 1HBP Zoom call
- client onboarding before Week 1
- internal exploration of new verticals
- live content/demo showing the 1HBP thinking process
## Core rules
- Ask **one question at a time**. Wait for the answer. Drill into it. Summarize. Then move on.
- Keep the conversation concrete; push vague answers into specifics with follow-up questions.
- Treat the book as a **business asset**, not a vanity project.
- Do **live market research** before finalizing the recommendation.
- Be opinionated at the end; do not give five equal recommendations.
- The **Explorer path** is valid; do not force credentials/expert posturing.
## Session flow
### 1) What they KNOW
Goal: surface teachable experience and credible proof.
**Important:** This circle sets the foundation. Take it slow. Ask each sub-question individually, wait for the answer, and drill into specifics before asking the next one. Don't stack questions. The depth you get here determines the quality of everything downstream.
Cover these one at a time:
1. What people already ask them for help with
- Drill: "Give me a specific example" / "What happened?"
2. Measurable results they have produced
- Drill: "How much? How many? What changed?"
3. What they can talk about for an hour without any prep
4. What most people in their space get wrong
After all four are explored, **summarize what you heard** in 3-4 sentences before moving on. Name the core skill, the proof point, and the gap they see.
### 2) What they LOVE
Goal: find the energy source that can sustain content and client work.
Cover these one at a time:
1. What topics make them lose track of time
2. What frustrates or angers them about the industry
3. What their ideal YouTube/content lane would be
4. What part of their work feels like play, not labor
Then **summarize the overlap** with Circle 1. Name the through-line: what do they know AND love? That's the energy source for a sustainable book and business.
### 3) What the market NEEDS
Goal: validate real demand with real evidence.
This circle has two distinct phases. Do them in order.
#### Phase A: Niche Sharpening (3 Layers)
Walk them through three layers of specificity, one at a time. Don't let them stay vague — each layer should be more specific than the last.
**Layer 1 — The Market**
"Who broadly is this for?" (e.g., coaches, freelancers, small business owners, corporate employees)
**Layer 2 — The Niche**
"Who specifically within that market?" (e.g., first-time managers at mid-size companies, Shopify store owners doing $500K+, fitness coaches with online courses)
**Layer 3 — The Problem**
"What exact problem are you solving for them? Not 'help them grow' — what specific painful thing keeps them up at night?"
Then get them to state it in this format:
`A book about [topic] for [person] dealing with [problem] so they can [outcome]`
If it's too vague, push: "Can you get more specific about who exactly this is for or what exact problem you're solving?" Iterate until it's tight enough that their ideal reader would see it and think "this is exactly for me."
#### Phase B: Live Market Research
Run live searches across:
- Amazon / books (saturation check — what already exists?)
- Reddit (demand validation — what are people actually asking for?)
- YouTube (competitive landscape — who's already talking about this?)
- X/Twitter (pain signals — what language do people use?)
- broad gap phrases ("no one talks about" / "biggest mistake" / "what I wish I knew")
Present findings in 4 clear buckets:
1. **What's already saturated** — what angles and books exist; what NOT to do
2. **What readers are actually saying** — real language, real frustrations, real questions
3. **The gap** — what's missing that no one is owning
4. **Why this is timely now** — trends, cultural shifts, market forces
If the topic is too saturated with no clear gap, say so directly and help them pivot to a more specific sub-niche before continuing.
### 4) Unfair advantage + monetization path
Goal: connect the topic to a sellable business engine.
Cover one at a time:
1. Their origin story / lived edge — why does this matter to them personally?
2. What they see that others miss
3. Network / assets / tools / access advantages
4. What the reader buys next after the book
5. The likely price range for each tier
6. Whether delivery can scale without turning into full-time manual service
7. What the dream client looks like
Then run a quick validation check:
- **Pain intensity:** How urgently does the reader need this? (1-10)
- **Purchasing power:** Can they afford what you're selling?
- **Ease of finding:** Where do they hang out? How hard to reach?
- **Market growth:** Is demand growing or shrinking?
If any answer is weak, flag it and suggest how to adjust.
## Final output format
End with one primary recommendation and at most 1-2 backup paths.
### Required outputs
Deliver all of these:
1. **Book Topic** — one clear, specific topic statement
2. **Positioning Angle** — how this is different from what already exists
3. **3 Working Title Ideas** — with a brief pro/con for each
4. **The Reader (ICP)** — age range, role, income level, psychology, primary fear, primary motivation
5. **Ascension Path** — a tiered business model anchored to the book:
- Tier 1: Lead magnet (free)
- Tier 2: Book (low-cost entry)
- Tier 3: Course/group program (mid-ticket)
- Tier 4: Coaching/done-with-you (high-ticket)
- Tier 5: Premium/corporate (dream deal)
Include pricing for each tier and annual revenue projections.
6. **AI Delivery Angle** — what AI handles (drafting, templates, triage, scaling) vs. what the human handles (strategy, relationships, quality, live delivery). This matters because 1HBP clients build AI-assisted businesses.
7. **Confidence Level** — X/10 with specific reasoning for the score and what risk prevents a higher score
8. **What to Validate Before Writing** — 3-5 concrete validation steps
9. **One Next Step (48 hours)** — a single, specific, actionable thing they can do in the next 48 hours to start
### Visual outputs
After the text outputs, generate two visuals:
#### A. Ikigai Intersection Diagram
Create an SVG showing four overlapping circles:
- Circle 1: What They KNOW (top-left)
- Circle 2: What They LOVE (top-right)
- Circle 3: What The Market NEEDS (bottom-left)
- Circle 4: What They Can MONETIZE (bottom-right)
Each circle should contain 2-3 bullet points from the session. The center intersection (where all four overlap) shows the **book topic**. Use warm, readable colors. Make it clean enough to screenshot and share.
#### B. Ascension Funnel Diagram
Create an SVG showing the tiered business model as a funnel or staircase:
- Each tier labeled with: product name, price, and one-line description
- Arrow flow showing how readers move up the tiers
- The book clearly positioned as the entry point
These visuals serve two purposes: they give the client something tangible to take away from the session, and they make the abstract ("your ikigai intersection") concrete and visual. A client who can see their business model as a diagram is more likely to act on it.
## 1HBP-specific lens
Always bias the session toward:
- authority (the book positions them as the expert)
- lead generation (the book attracts buyers, not just readers)
- clear ICP (specific enough that marketing writes itself)
- funnel fit (every tier connects to the next)
- AI-assisted delivery (what scales with AI, what stays human)
Keep asking yourself:
- What book would attract buyers, not just readers?
- What angle is differentiated enough to matter?
- What happens after the person reads the book?
- Where does AI do the hands work and where does the human stay essential?
## Delivery note
This skill is meant to be useful as:
- a Claude Project instruction
- an internal/private skill folder
- a future packaged `.skill` file
.skill file using the button aboveThe skill content shown above is exactly what gets installed — no hidden code, no mystery. Read it first if you want to know what Claude will do.
This skill was evaluated against 3 test personas across 15 quality checks each: