Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being." The word "ikigai" is usually used to indicate the source of value in one's life or the things that make one's life worthwhile. The word translated into English roughly means "thing that you live for" or "the reason for which you wake up in the morning."
Your ikigai is at the intersection of what you are good at and what you love doing. Just as humans have lusted after objects and money since the dawn of time, other humans have felt dissatisfaction at the relentless pursuit of money and fame and have instead focused on something bigger than their own material wealth. This has over the years been described using many different words and practices, but always hearkening back to the central core of meaningfulness in life.” — Hector Garcia
The concept of ikigai says that there are four essential elements that when present and aligned, contribute to you feeling most fulfilled:
- What you love (your passion) — Feeling passionate about your life and work
- What the world needs (your mission) — Understanding what others need
- What you are good at (your vocation) — Fully utilizing your talents
- What you can get paid for (your profession) — Knowing what others are willing to pay for
When these elements are balanced, you are living your purpose and doing what you were born to do. However, even when only one part is absent, you will feel that absence.
Ikigai is personal
It is specific to our lives, values and beliefs. It reflects our inner self-creating a mental state in which we feel at ease. Activities that allow us to feel ikigai are never forced. They are often spontaneous, and always undertaken willingly, giving satisfaction and a sense of meaning to life.
Discovering your ikigai is said to bring fulfillment, happiness and make you live longer. What you genuinely care about can unlock your ikigai.
Follow your curiosity
Many people stop being curious about new experiences as they assume responsibilities and build routines. Their sense of wonder starts to escape them. However, you can change that, especially if you are still looking for meaning and fulfillment in what you do daily.
Don’t think about why you question, simply don’t stop questioning. Don’t worry about what you can’t answer, and don’t try to explain what you can’t know. Curiosity is its own reason. Aren’t you in awe when you contemplate the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure behind reality? And this is the miracle of the human mind — to use its constructions, concepts, and formulas as tools to explain what man sees, feels and touches. Try to comprehend a little more each day. Have holy curiosity.” — Albert Einstein
We are born curious
Our natural creative genius is stifled from the time we are born.
At TEDxTucson, Dr. George Land dropped a bombshell when he told his audience about the shocking result of a creativity test developed for NASA but subsequently used to test school children (see the full video).
NASA had contacted Dr. Land and Beth Jarman to develop a highly specialized test that would give them the means to effectively measure the creative potential of NASA’s rocket scientists and engineers. The test turned out to be very successful for NASA’s purposes, but the scientists were left with a few questions:
- Where does creativity come from?
- Are some people born with it or is it learned?
- Does it come from our experience?
The scientists then gave 1,600 children, between the ages of 4 and 5, a test that looks at the ability to come up with new, different and innovative ideas to problems. The results were astonishing, so they decided to make it a longitudinal study.
Results, the percent of those children fell in the genius category of imagination
- Between ages 4 and 5 — 98 percent fell in the genius category of imagination
- Ten years old — 30 percent of the children fell in the genius category of imagination
- Fifteen years old — 12 percent of the children fell in the genius category of imagination
What about us adults? How many of us are still in contact with our creative genius after years of schooling? Sadly, only 2 percent.
Our insatiable drive to learn, invent, explore, and study deserves to have the same status as every other drive in our lives. Land says we can be at 98 percent if we want to. We can rekindle our creative genius.
When we are actually looking inside the brain we find that neurons are fighting each other and actually diminishing the power of the brain because we’re constantly judging, criticizing and censoring. If we operate under fear we use a smaller part of the brain, but when we use creative thinking the brain just lights up.” — George Land
We need to find that five-year-old again. That capability that we as a five-year-old possessed never goes away.
Discover your Ikigai
Research from IBM Institute of Business Value says Millennials (20%), Gen X’s (21%) and Baby Boomers (23%) see doing work they are passionate about as an important long-term goal.
To discover you Ikigai, you must first find what you’re most passionate about. Then, you find the medium through which you can express that passion.
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard W Thurman
Steve Jobs is a fantastic example of this idea. It is easy to think of Jobs as a titan of technology. However, that would be inaccurate. Jobs was a lover of excellent craftsmanship, first and foremost. Whether it was a matter of collecting handmade Japanese teacups or obsessing over design details of various products, he wrapped himself in his passion for finely made items. Apple and Pixar were merely his chosen mediums of expression.
Finding your Ikigai is a journey
Your journey might take years. Along the way, we will be leaving behind our old selves and our old limiting beliefs. Take a moment to draw your version of the overlapping circles of the ikigai symbol and consider the following:
- What do you Love? What aspects of your life bring you into your heart and make you come alive? Passion built on commitment, mastery, and pride is the key to a satisfying career.
- What are you Great at? What unique skills do you have that come most naturally to you? What talents have you cultivated and what do you excel at even when you aren’t trying? Discover your Behavioral DNA: The 23 and Me of Predicting Career Success
- What Cause do you believe in? What breaks your heart or pulls at your gut? What change would you most love to create in the world? What would you give your life for?
- What do people Value and pay you for? What service, value or offering do you bring, or could you bring, that delivers real value to others? Something people need and are happy to pay for or share some value in exchange? This is your career capital.
Ten rules to find your ikigai
In their book Ikigai, The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles break down the ten rules that can help us find our ikigai.
- Stay active and don’t retire
- Leave urgency behind and adopt a slower pace of life
- Only eat until you are 80 percent full
- Surround yourself with good friends
- Get in shape through daily, gentle exercise
- Smile and acknowledge people around you
- Reconnect with nature
- Give thanks to anything that brightens our day and makes us feel alive
- Live in the moment
- Follow your ikigai
Fulfillment is fast becoming the main priority for most of us. People struggle to find what they are meant to do. What excites you? What makes you lose the sense of time? What brings out the best in you?
Our intuition and curiosity are very powerful internal compasses to help us connect with our ikigai.” — Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
Start Today
Write whatever keywords, phrases, and ideas come up for you in each circle and the ten rules. Look for areas of natural overlap. Reflect on these elements and how they may relate to each other. What is the one simple thing you could do or be today that would be an expression of your ikigai?
Find your ikigai and pursue it with all you have
There is a difference between the things that are important in your life and your life’s work.
Ikigai is about finding joy, fulfillment, and balance in the daily routine of life.
It’s all too easy to fall victim to siloed thinking, that our job, family, passions, and desires are all separate and unrelated aspects of our lives. The fundamental truth of Ikigai is that nothing is siloed. Everything is connected.” — Chris Myers
This realization will change your outlook for the better. It is possible to be true to your passions, live a life of consequence, and still use business as a medium of expression. At the intersection of all of this are feelings of peace and lasting happiness that can sustain us throughout our entire lives.
Challenge — What's Right For You?
Solution - Leverage Your Talent Stack — Build Your Career Capital
Identify your unique behavioral strengths, build your career capital and leverage your unique talent stack for lifetime success.
- Grow your leadership potential by targeting your key developmental needs
- Determine your key career success factors, allowing for more focused efforts
- Discover your best and most successful career direction
- Find out about your strengths and interests in different career areas
Knowing yourself is the first step to being happy. And staying happy is an ongoing process of regrounding your long-term goals within your current objectives. When those align, you’re on the path to a job you can adore. Know when to find a better job as your best option may be to fall in love with your job (again) We also offer a personal development plan to help you achieve career success and satisfaction.
