Our journey within and through the world can feel like a complicated one but is also pretty simple in many ways. Every day we make many choices. We make choices about what we do with our time, who we spend our time with, and how our choices collectively work towards what we want to achieve or more importantly, who we want to be. All of these choices are more informed and more enriched if we have a clear sense of purpose – a core understanding of why we do what we do.
The Japanese concept of ikigai invites us to engage with our sense of purpose as a being. Ikigai centres on a core sense of our purpose enriching our happiness, and our happiness being bound to our sense of purpose. It suggests that we lead our choices with our values, our integrity and our sense of true self.
There are 4 key principles: What do you love? What are you good at? What does the world need from you? And the more practical – can you get paid for doing this? If your life choices can lead you to a “yes” in each category, you have found your ikigai.
