Ikigai // your reason to wake up in the morning
There are few feelings sweeter in life than looking at your plan for the day and feeling quietly excited for what awaits you out the door.
Well, the Japanese have a word for this: ikigai.
Iki (life) and gai (value/worth) mean ‘things that you leave for’ and translates to ‘the reason to wake up in the morning’. 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 inhabitants of Japan’s Okinawa island are best known for representing ikigai — for their harmoniously long lives. It’s oldest citizens can still be seen exercise, gardening, laughing and contributing to the community. In Japanese, there is no word for retire.
Only staying active will make you want to live 100 years — Japanese proverb
Ikigai covers all aspects of life; from starting the day with healthy morning rituals, keeping up a hobby, finding flow and purpose in your job, having no ego or stress, living constantly in the present moment and being a member of a thriving local community. Easy, right?
For those not ready to drop everything, move to Okinawa and do morning aerobics with 110-year-olds, then keep reading. We will share the first steps to start uncovering your ikigai from the comfort of your laptop.
Connecting with your Ikigai //
The steps below are a way to put YOU down on paper and see what comes out, hopefully giving you hints or clues on how to live a more conscious and meaningful life.
Connecting with your ikigai requires honest inquiry and is not achieved overnight. We are not looking for one epic answer. Rather than being something that you magically discover, your purpose unfolds and will evolve. It will be challenging and full of ups and downs, just like in life itself.
Step 1: Discovery
The Japanese believe we all have an ikigai and revealing it requires a willingness for deep self-exploration and experimentation. Thoughtful reflection combined with action-taking can help you to uncover how your values, strengths, and skills can be brought to the foreground to help you find more meaning in your life and career — and the balance of ikigai.
“Our intuition and curiosity are very powerful internal compasses to help us connect with our ikigai” — Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
Start by asking yourself:
1. What are my passions and drives?
- What you like doing (or liked as a child) or are interested in knowing more about it. What makes your eyes light up?
2. What are my talents and skills?
- Activities and tasks that you perform naturally without much effort; Something that people ask for your help or your opinion. What are your personality strengths?
3. From your perspective, what does the world need?
- What would you like to see changed in the world? What bothers you or brings a feeling of discomfort and injustice?
4. What can you get paid for — or something that could transform into your future hustle?
- Within your professional activity, what types of tasks do you perform? Your acquired skills in courses, university, professional or volunteer experiences.
Step 2: Map it out
After you’ve answered those questions thoughtfully, start to look for patterns. What kinds of themes are apparent? If clear links aren’t evident, don’t worry — that’s normal. The map is simply there to help you understand all the parts of YOU interact more harmoniously. And this process can take time. We are just looking for clues.
Step 3: Take action
From what you now see in front of you, what changes might you consider? It could be as small as painting for 30 minutes before work, volunteering at a community garden or going back to study architecture. Your ikigai acts like a compass to help you navigate the challenges and opportunities that life presents. You can rely on it to steer you in the right direction.
“Purpose is not something we find, but something we grow into” — Roman Krznaric
Research shows that humans suffer from focusing illusion, which is when we think that focusing on one aspect of life will make us happy e.g dream job, holidays, awards, kids, marriage, etc.
Participants of the exercise often start with a stuck feeling and that they are just like everyone else. They finish feeling surprised (and also are reminded) of their unique qualities, skills, and interests:
“Wow, my love of animals shows up in all sections and combines with my strengths of being organized and my will to help the planet.”
“I’m amazed to see how my love for food and my strengths of community building come together — it’s crazy to think I could turn that into a job, like running a local market.”
“I see that I just love doing outdoor sports, but I actually prefer to keep it as a hobby and to keep building my career as a designer, maybe working with more outdoor brands — that was nice to map out.”
There is no optimal way to connect with your ikigai or to have 100 well-lived years behind you. Each one of us has to do the work. The change will be gradual and modest, like life itself.
But don’t forget to have a good laugh at yourself while you do it — today and every day!
If you are interested in going deeper to connect with your ikigai, then check out our Purpose in Action workshops or join our Dream Facilitation process.
