Ikigai is a Japanese concept that translates as iki (life, alive, living) + gai (purpose, result, fruit) and more loosely translates to mean “the happiness of being busy” or “reason for being.” Ikigai is a verb, for those of you who are a little rusty, verbs are action words. Your life’s purpose (and highest potential) is what you must do in the world!
Ikigai describes the actions that make one’s life worthwhile, fulfilling, and creates a sense of meaning, balance, and satisfaction. Ikigai also meets other key needs because the framework helps you align seemingly disparate interests and focus on the areas where you can have the most powerful impact in the world. In the U.S., more often than not, this will refer to what you do (for a living) because that is where we have been trained to derive our sense of purpose. For a sense of satisfaction and joy, your career or vocation should include the following four key components of ikigai.
You should love it! I know they always say that when you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. It’s true. Think of how productive you are when you are in a flow state. Everything is pleasing and you want to keep working, sometimes to the exclusion of food or bathing.
It should be something useful. Ikigai comes from doing necessary work in the world. Ideally, doing a job in which you can see the big picture and understand the tangible results produces from your work will get you closer to ikigai than, for example, working on an assembly line or playing a small part in a larger, incomprehensible bureaucratic puzzle.
It should satisfy your material needs, you can be rewarded for it. This means at minimum, that it must pay you well enough that you can meet your basic needs and indulge in little luxuries. Ideally, it will pay you enough to allow you to travel and continue to better yourself and express yourself philanthropically.
You should be good at it! Additionally, it should be something you have an aptitude for but that also allows you the potential for growth and increased mastery. For example, a web designer can always learn a new programming language or study a new skill such as user experience or app development. A growth mindset keeps things fresh!
Find your sweet spot
The space where all of the above components overlap is your best shot at achieving the feelings that accompany doing your life’s purpose. An alternative approach is that your career may fulfill some of the components above, while a hobby covers the others. With ikigai, as with any framework for spiritual or self-development, you can and should be creative. One-size-fits-all solutions seldom suit everyone. As with all tools, use this if it adds value to your experience and helps you develop a more holistic and beneficial way of understanding what you’re meant to share with the world.
Now take some time to diagram your own sweet spot!