If you have ever wondered what is it you were meant to do for your time on this earth, don’t fret cause you are not alone. Most of us go through life and wonder what is it we are supposed to do – what is our purpose for being?
The new year brings forth so much hope and happiness for the future. It is as if we have been given a clean slate and a chance to start afresh. But sometimes we run into a roadblock on figuring out what exactly to start. We are trying to find purpose – that sweet spot where life becomes meaningful and more importantly, purposeful. This is particularly true when we want to start a business. What do we focus on?
In Japan, this concept of finding your life’s purpose or meaning is called Ikigai. Japanese culture is translates roughly to a reason for being, encompassing joy, a sense of purpose and meaning and a feeling of well-being.
This word is derived from its literal translation of iki, meaning life and kai, meaning the realization of hopes and expectations. Even in the business world in Japan, the incorporation of the elements of ikigai to an employee’s position is thought to yield the highest levels of employee engagement and productivity while also fostering job satisfaction and loyalty to the organization.
According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai. An ikigai is essentially as basic as a person’s reason to get up in the morning and a reason to enjoy life.
Image credit Paper Sea Horse on Pinterest
You too can find your ikigai i.e. your reason for being and for finding your purpose by answering these questions.
Here’s how to
- What are you good at?
- What is it that you love?
- What is it that the world needs?
- What can you be paid for?
To have an effective ikigai session, don’t over analyze or over think these questions. Go with your gut and just jot down the answers.
These answers essentially help you figure out the following
- Passion – which lies at the intersection of that what you love to do and that what you are good at
- Mission – which lies at the intersection of that what you love and that what the word needs
- Profession – which lies at the intersection of that what you are good at and that what you can get paid to do
- Vocation – which lies at the intersection of that what the world needs and that what you can get paid to do
At the intersection of these 4 elements lies YOUR IKIGAI
We have created a PDF visual graphic for you to download and create your own ikigai. Click below to download.
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