Find Your Ikigai
Find meaning, purpose and happiness in your life.
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that you can use to enjoy your day to day activities, find clarity and purpose in your life and achieve your goals. It can also help you live longer and give you motivation and resilience in times of hardship.
In the environment we now live in, we face a world of constant pressure. We are so distracted and energy depleted that each day we forget to take the time to enjoy the small joys of life.
All that can change if you find and live your ikigai.
How Can I Help You?
Ikigai Misunderstood
THE ABOVE VENN DIAGRAM DOES NOT ACCURATELY REPRESENT IKIGAI
What is Ikigai?
The concept of ikigai has been greatly misunderstood outside of Japan with many people, millions of people actually, believing it is defined by the ‘Purpose Venn Diagram. This is not what ikigai means to the Japanese. All those life coaches on Youtube and all those bloggers explaining ikgai using this framework have got it wrong.
Ikigai is not the pursuit of an almost unattainable life goal, but rather the pursuit of day to day purpose and happiness.
Why Ikigai is not the Purpose Venn Diagram
Your ikigai would most likely be something you love, but you can find it in areas of your life you wouldn’t normally expect.
Ikigai isn’t something you have to be good at. For example, it could be in the practice of a new hobby.
Rather than what the world needs from you, you find ikigai in the role you fulfill in your local community.
And while you may find ikigai in your work, it wouldn’t be for the pursuit of money.
‘Ikigai translated into English as ‘life purpose’ sounds quite formidable, but ikigai need not be the one overriding purpose of a person’s life. In fact, the word life aligns more with daily life. In other words, ikigai can be about the joy a person finds living day-to-day, without which their life as a whole would not be a happy one.’
– Akihiro Hasegawa, from the book IKIGAI – Giving Every Day Meaning And Joy, by Yukari Mitsuhashi
How do I find my ikigai?
If you can answer the below question, then you are on the way to finding you ikigai.
What are the things that make your life worth living on a deep personal, emotional, social and spiritual level?