The Japanese concept of Ikigai (‘ee key guy’), from the island of Okinawa, is about finding the reason for one’s being. It is about attaining happiness in doing what you love and living a long, happy and purposeful life.
Certainly, it is not that simple to achieve. For example, the combination of what you are good at and what you can be paid for usually becomes your profession. However, if you do not like your job, there will be a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction. Ikigai is accomplished when one is able to fuse the four following requirements:
Do what you love
Do what you’re good at
Do what you can be rewarded for
Do what the world needs
According to Tim Tamashiro, the author of “How to Ikigai: Lessons for Finding Happiness and Living Your Life's Purpose”, this can be achieved by starting small and doing it part-time. Keep doing your regular job, but also invest time in learning and doing things that fulfill the above essentials. This will give you an opportunity to convert that part-time ikigai to a full-time one down the road.
Image compilation: Bing Creative Commons
