Ikigai: Finding Your Life’s Purpose
Ikigai is a Japanese word that roughly means: “reason to live”. People usually search for their ikigai when they wish to decide on a career path. The following technique could be especially useful for university students or anyone unsure about which occupation to pursue.
Answer these questions and see if there is an overlap between any of them:
- What do you love to do?
- What would you do if you didn't have to worry about the money?
- What makes you excited?
- What do you like to do in your spare time?
- What are you good at?
- What is easy for you to do?
- What do you excel at?
- Which skill of yours do others most admire?
- What does the world need from you?
- Which problems do you think need solving?
- What would benefit others the most?
- What do you get payed for?
- What are the things you are currently getting payed to do?
- What are all the things that you have gotten payed to do?
- What do you think you could get payed to do?
If you find something that you love to do, are good at, is needed and you get payed for – that’s your ikigai.
As this may take a long time to find, a good start is to notice similarities between any of the four areas.
For example: Volunteering as an English teacher is something that you are good at and is needed. While this meets only two of the criteria, it is possible that you end up liking it and eventually get payed for it. Keep an open mind!
For illustration, consult this Ven diagram: http://www.performanceexcellencenetwork.org/pensights/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ikigai-768x726.jpg
For further reading:
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles
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Learning something new every day JulitaBonita contributed on 04-09-2018 11:00
The first time I hear about this concept :) Sound intruiging! Have you found your Ikigai yet? I'm still searching, though I do think that may not just have one purpose, but maybe several? There are so many things, that I love doing...
Still searching too Ilona contributed on 07-09-2018 14:10
It's entirely possible to have more than one Ikigai, I just think that's quite rare. I haven't found something yet that meets all 4 criteria, but there are definitely many things that meet at least 2 (such as writing these blogs). I hope to be a researcher one day, perhaps that will be my Ikigai.
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