July 7, 2022
Discover Your Ikigai: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Your Purpose
Struggling to find your reason for being? Explore the Japanese concept of Ikigai with practical steps to uncover what gets you up in the morning. Start today!
July 7, 2022
Struggling to find your reason for being? Explore the Japanese concept of Ikigai with practical steps to uncover what gets you up in the morning. Start today!
Do you ever wake up feeling uninspired, unsure of what drives you? You’re not alone. The Japanese concept of Ikigai, your ‘reason for being’, blends what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for into a life of purpose and joy. In this guide, you’ll learn the basics of Ikigai and practical steps to start discovering yours today.
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means reason for being. The thing that gets you up in the morning. The main goal of finding your ikigai is in doing something that you love, that the world needs, that you can be paid for and that you’re good at all at once. The pursuit of finding your ikigai can be a long process of discovering yourself by doing meaningful work that “gets you up in the morning”.
Finding your ikigai is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have in life yet it’s a long journey filled with decisions, sacrifices, and actions that will require a commitment on your end. It has the potential to change the way you think about yourself, and it can change the way you live your life in a multitude of ways. However, many people don't even know what their ikigai is, let alone how to find it. When asked about their ikigai, many people respond that they don't know what it is or that they haven't found it yet. Our goal is the help you ask the right questions where only you can find the answer.
In finding our ikigai, the first step is to answer these questions:
If the questions feel too broad, try this exercise instead. Close your eyes and picture your ideal day. Where are you? What are you doing? How do you feel when you rest your head at night? Write it down, then connect it to the four questions. For example, if you see yourself gardening and sharing your harvest, your Ikigai might blend creativity, nature, and community.
You don’t need to quit your job or move mountains. Start small. Spend 10 minutes a day on something you love, like sketching or reading about a passion. Test the waters by volunteering for a cause you care about or taking a short course in a skill that intrigues you. Talk to someone living their Ikigai and ask how they got there; inspiration spreads fast. Small actions build clarity and confidence, guiding you toward your purpose without overwhelm.
Why invest in finding your Ikigai? Because it’s more than a feel-good concept; it transforms how you live, work, and feel. Here’s what it can do for you.
Picture waking up excited for your day because your to-do list reflects what you love. Take me, a graphic designer who turned his passion for art into a freelance career. Now, my work and life blend effortlessly. When your career mirrors your passions, balance becomes real, not just a buzzword.
Whether this is something you've been thinking about all along or something that comes as a surprise, it's important to identify what really gets you excited and gives you energy. If you find yourself doing something and thinking, "I could really do this forever," then that's probably a good sign. Incorporating your daily lifestyle (the one you actually want your every waking day to be) with it then comes easier.
An ideal lifestyle starts with small daily routines that help you reach your biggest dream. For example, becoming a well-respected painter requires you to practice painting every day. As the discipline keeps growing in your life, the opportunity to reach your goals will eventually manifest.
More than that, it will allow you to live more wholeheartedly and have a zest for life and joy in your work. People who live by their ikigai are found to be happier, healthier, more successful, and more productive.
You don't dread Monday mornings, and Friday nights are full of excitement at the prospect of another week exploring your passion. When you do what you love and love what you do, it seldom feels like work. Finding your passion doesn’t come in just one day. Instead, ask small yourself small questions: what part of my job do I love doing the most? What new thing or subject do I want to learn? The answer that you’ll come up will get you closer to the passion you’re looking for.
Most of the time, we focus on happiness as our end goal but happiness comes from living a fulfilling life and doing what you love. Finding your passion doesn't necessarily come from looking for work you're good at or finding a career you love—it also means finding work that fulfills you emotionally and spiritually.
It's not just about finding your ikigai in your career or your passions, but also in your life outside of work—which we don't often take into account when we're striving to define our careers. Ikigai represents more than just one activity; it represents your entire lifestyle and the things that make you happy within it. Finding your ikigai doesn't necessarily mean discovering something new—it could also be finding a deeper meaning in what you already love to do. Ikigai helps us understand what we have to offer the world and what makes us valuable as individuals. In that sense, determining our ikigai also lets us define what living a fulfilling life also means to us.
Your ikigai (way of life) will eventually become a daily lifestyle you build by asking the right questions, making sacrifices, and taking action.
Ikigai is something that each person needs to figure out for themselves, but it's not as simple as asking yourself 'what makes me happy?' and then going out and doing that all day long. In today's modern society, it's easy to get caught up in the fast pace and hustle and bustle of an ever-changing workplace. However, following your passions and working towards your sense of purpose, can be a way to live a happy and fulfilling life. And that makes everything worth doing just a little bit more fun. On Sundays, reflect: “Did I feel alive this week? What worked?” Keep an Ikigai notebook to track your answers to the four questions and any “aha” moments. Remember, it’s a journey, not a sprint. Let your Ikigai evolve with you.
Here are some of the questions we can ask ourselves to have more clarity on what we want to pursue in life. Some things to ponder upon as we end this passage:
We are sending a weekly email newsletter answering questions from the space in a condensed format.
You can almost read it in an eye glance.
