Find your purpose with Ikigai
How many times have you said to yourself: I’ll be happy once I am earning this much money. Or ‘Once X happens, that’s when I’ll be happy?
And then X happens, or you are earning that much money and you don’t even notice. You have temporary happiness only for your life to return to it’s normal state. Sometimes you don’t even notice the change.
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We are making a move as society to be less reliant on economic success as a measurement and more towards purpose, happiness and fulfillment. That’s likely one of the reasons you’re reading this blog post and others by Agoge Project.
In this blog post, we’re moving away from Ancient Greece towards the Far East, mainly Japan.
- Japan is known for the life practices that lead to the longevity of its people, reaching an average life of 83.7 years.
- Previous studies have shown Japanese longevity to be closely related to dietary and health practices BUT
- New studies on Japanese philosophy have shown life fulfillment through Ikigai as a key component to longevity.
Ikigai is your life’s worth. It’s the reason you get out of bed in the morning. It’s what you do every day that’s meaningful to you and to others.
Ikigai is a concept that comes from Okinawa, Japan which is said to be home to the largest population of centenarians in the world.
Could the concept of Ikigai contribute to longevity?
Dan Buettner, author of Blue Zones: Lessons on Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, believes it does.
According to Buettner, the concept of Ikigai is not exclusive to Okinawans: “there might not be a word for it but in all four blue zones such as Sardinia and Nicoya Peninsula, the same concept exists among people living long lives.”
It’s not just a concept but can also be seen as a map. A guide towards how you can live the best life and be fulfilled.
And we’re going to look at how you can go about finding out what your Ikigai is.
Figuring out your life’s purpose is a pretty daunting task. I know it took me a long time to first find it and then another few years to commit to it. And I’m still adjusting for accuracy to this day.
There are 4 simple directions that compose the Ikigai map.
Do what you love, do what you’re good at, do what the world needs and do what you can be rewarded for.
Sounds very simple right?
The good news is that Ikigai comes in two parts.
You’ve got a half Ikigai and a full Ikigai.
So the half Ikigai focuses on you:
Do what you love and what you are good at.
Then the full Ikigai completes the cycle and shows you how doing what you love and what you’re good at, provides for th world and flows rewards back to you.
What’s great is that as soon as you commit to your half Ikigai, you will begin to see benefits. Your half Ikigai will bring you a clearer understanding of your self and you can begin your work.
Eventually, you will begin to understand that Ikigai is more enjoyable when you share it with the world. That’s when the magic starts to happen. You’ll be on the path to realising your full Ikigai, and your work will be as easy to do as following a star in the sky.
Remember the Hero’s journey from my earlier blog post on change? Well this is a similar concept. Your Ikigai is your hero’s journey.
So there’s this great image here that gives you a visual representation of what Ikigai is.
You’ll find this image whenever you google Ikigai. I must stress that this image does not stem from Japan and has been criticized as such. However the Japanese don’t need a diagram to explain the concept to them. It’s just a way of living for them. This image was created by a westerner for westerners like me to better understand it.
As you can see, it’s got the 4 concepts of Ikigai and nicely shows us how the 4 sections interlink with each other.
So if you’re doing what you love AND what the world needs, then that’s your mission.
If you’d doing what you love and what you’re good at, that’s your passion.
If you’re doing what you’re good at and what you can be paid for, well that’s hopefully you’re profession.
And if you’re doing what the world needs, and what you can be paid for, that’s a vocation.
As you can see you can then even get an overlap with 3 out of the 4 which is great but it’s only once you hit that sweet spot in the middle that you hit Ikigai.
So how can we go about finding your Ikigai?
You’re probably thinking, well yeah, I’ve been pursuing this for years and I feel like if anything I’m further away then when I started.
So the order matters. It’s not a coincidence that they are in that order with the first being: Do what you love.
Remember this is a journey and you can take it one step at a time.
First you need to start doing more of what you love. What do you love doing? That’s a great journal exercise.
What do I love doing?
Take time and write it down. If you’re struggling. Think about what you enjoyed doing as a child, as a teenager. What sparks joy?
If you could wake up tomorrow, it’s your day off, you’ve got no responsibilities, no appointments and it’s not your last day on earth, it’s just a day where you can do whatever you want. What would you do?
Great, now try and do more of it.
Schedule it in to your weekly plan. Do what you love weekly. If you can, start doing what you love daily. Even if it’s just an hour.
Remember, it’s not just ONE thing. You likely love doing many things. Do them every day. I love reading and learning so I read daily. I love golf so I play golf weekly. I love sports and fitness so I go to the gym or do a sport daily. I love spending time with friends so I see friends often.
Do something you love every day. That’s the start.
Next we’re going to look at what you’re good at.
Everybody has gifts. Your gifts are the actions that feel easiest for you. It could be math and problem solving. It could be arts and crafts. It could be sports. It could be cooking.
What are your strengths?
Again, take time and journal about this. You likely know the answer.
Society tells us that it’s better to fix our weaknesses instead of focusing on our strengths however society is wrong.
Gallup conducted reasearch with their clifton strengths finders service and found that your strengths can be amplified and when you put energy into developing your strengths then your growth is exponential. If you’re trying to fix your weaknesses then growth is slow and uninspired. If you’re still struggling, I’d recommend trying out the clifton strengths finder 2.0 test which will give you a report on your strengths. It’s like an advanced well researched personality test and book which has served 19 million people so far.
So once you’ve got your strength, you’ve guessed, do more of it.
And just like with the do what you love, if you’re not currently doing what you’re good at as your profession, then start doing it in your free time. Although doing what you’re good at is a great route and recommded route for a job since if you’re good at it, it’d be good to be paid for it too.
Once you’re consistantly doing what you love, and what you’re good at, then you’ve got your half Ikigai.
This alone will be a great step in being happier and more fulfilled.
Now we’re moving away from the self and towards helping others. This is also the second half of finding your Ikigai.
This one can be a bit overwhelming if you think of the world as whole. That’s why we need to shift our mindset to just other people.
Doing what the world needs doesn’t mean you solve world hunger or poverty. It can and it does for some people. For most though, it means leaving the world in a better place than when you joined it. And that can be as little as acts of kindness.
So what can you contribute to others? This can also be closely related to doing what you’re good at. Maybe you’re good at juggling? Does the world need juggling? Well probably not. Does the world need joy, happiness, fun, skill, coordination? Yes, I’d argue it does. So if you created a juggling tutorial or a 30 days to juggling challenge or even just juggled for your children. If that is helping others with joy, fun, de-stressing and bringing people together, then I’d say you are doing what the world needs. The world may not need juggling, but it needs happy stress-free people.
So have a think. What can you do what the world needs? Make a list. And then start doing it.
It could be that the world needs more recycling. Well, make sure you’re on top of your recycling. It needs volunteers for a local kids football team. You can help out. It needs more smiles. Remember to smile.
Think about what you can contribute. Then find the overlaps with doing what you love and doing what you’re good at. Once you find that sweet spot, then the final part of your Ikigai should come natually which is.
Do what you can be rewarded for.
The likelyhood is that you are already doing something that you can be rewarded for. It’s likely your job.
But remember, your work or your job is not you. If asked, what do you do? Do you state your profession (aroo) or do you light up with passion and talk about what you do.
So to get the full Ikigai, you get to be doing what you love, what you’re good at and what the world needs and in addition to that you’re getting rewarded for it.
This can seem like the hardest part and in a way it is. It’s what everybody wants right?
However if you focus on your half Ikigai and the first three parts, this will usually manifest itself. Maybe not in the most obvious way.
Clarity will follow action. Most people are waiting for Hagrid to show up and tell them they’re a wizard. Well I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Hagrid isn’t coming.
Take the concept of purpose off a pedestal and start interacting with it in your everyday life. You will receive clues along the way that will lead you to your purpose. A bit like an easter egg hunt. Start looking for meaning and purpose where it already exists and you can build more of it. Bring these concepts back down to earth and brush off the pressure that we need one all defining purpose.
This is why we use tools such as the journaling, and asking yourself these questions. We’ve also been buidling up to this in all previous blog posts. It takes a lot of time of looking in the mirror and figuring out what kind of magic we possess.
That said, there are a few nice rules that have been laid out to us and if we follow them, they can help us find our Ikigai.
These are the rules that the Okinawans live by and look like a pretty good list to me.
What you’ll find that your Ikigai is in constant battle with forces from within and as I mentioned in a previous blog post, fear is the enemy of Ikigai.
It’s logical that you might be fighting one or more manifestations of this enemy.
Studies show that the fear of the unknown is the root of all fears. It’s likely you are feeling antsy about moving closer to your Ikigai and consider that fear is holding you back.
Here’s are the top fears that hold people back from their Ikigai.
Failure: what if my Ikigai leaves me broke and unable to make payments? Is that fear rational? If you’re happier and more fulfilled, then failure will lose it’s power.
Success: It’s quite a common one and is crazy. What if i’m successful? Are you scared?
What will others think: Hey, remember the Stoics. We care about what’s within our control. If anything, they’ll be jealous since you’re happy and living with purpose.
And finally discomfort: I’ve covered this in previous posts too. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I hear a phrase once that said we can measure success by the amount of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have. That might just be true.
What’s the real fear? The real fear is the fear of not finding your Ikigai.
And what I’ll say is this. It’s already there. You just need to uncover it. Keep looking. It’s like those Where’s Wally or Where’s Waldo books. Your Ikigai is in front of you and once you see it, it’ll be so clear and obvious. You may also already know what it is but you’re being held back by those fears. I know that’s definitely true for me.
And remember. This is a journey. This is a process. Enjoy and embrace the process. And remember to always be curious.
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This article was written by Stuart Munnich. If you’d like to know more or receive notifications for future articles, please head over to the Agoge Project Website or subscribe to updates right here!
