As part of promoting his upcoming book, The Way of Nagomi, Ken Mogi touches on the western interpretation of ikigai, known by many as the Ikigai Venn Diagram.Although he finds the diagram as a helpful tool for giving people motivation, Ken states some reasons why this diagram is completely wrong and that people shouldn’t take …
Ken Mogi on what makes the Ikigai Venn Diagram wrong Read More »
Then Venn diagram of purpose is a framework of doing something that you love, that you are good at, that the world needs, and that you can be paid for created by Spanish astrologer Andrés Zuzunaga.
If we really want to understand what ikigai means to the Japanese we should look at the work from the ikigai boom of literature in the sixties, seventies and eighties.
In her book Ikigai ni Tsuite, Mieko Kamiya references Viktor Frankl on several occasions and mentions his Will To Meaning, a concept based on the premise that the primary motivational force of an individual is to find a meaning in life. Questioning the existence of meaning in life once was described as a symptom of neurosis …
Ikigai is not a framework for you to find your dream job, and it’s not a framework that you can use to establish your company’s or organization’s purpose. So really, you need to unlearn what you’ve learned – there is not a framework.
To properly define the word ikigai we need to look at the work of Kamiya Mieko and her book Ikigai ni Tsuite. Tsuite means relating to, so relating to ikigai, but the title of this book is often translated as On the Meaning of Life.
What makes life worth living? It is ikigai, one’s deepest sense of social commitment, most often to one’s dream, family, work, or religious belief.
You find purpose by defining who you want to become – the most honest version of yourself. Who you want to become will ultimately dictate what you will do.
Pursuing your hobbies and interests may be both the easiest and most rewarding way to find and experience ikigai. In fact, for many Japanese, their ikigai is found in their hobbies and interests.
Find your own ikigai by asking yourself how you want to serve your community. If you are undecided, remember your dreams from when you were younger, maybe in your youth.
