Ikigai is a compound word developed in Japan.
The word ikigai is composed by:
ikiru, meaning life.
kai, describing value o purpose.
Ikigai can be translated in English as follows:
“The reason why you get up every morning”
Ikigai was born in Okinawa. This is an island part of the Japanese archipelago, located in the south of Japan. Okinawa is famous not only for the battle between the U.S. and Japanese Army fought in 1945, but also for a record that is now unbeatable. This record is about longevity.It seems that on the island live more than 400 centenarians in excellent health conditions.
Lately, Ikigai became a fashionable way of thinking also in western side of the world,developing detailed changes to the original concept so that it could be adopted by the western culture.
Ikigai’s main components remain unchanged:
- Passion
- Mission
- Profession
- Vocation
One of the main feature in seeking our own Ikigai, is that all of its components must be found. If only one of them is missing, we are still far away from it.
Let’s clarify a little what those components are:
- PROFESSION
What could you be paid for?
- PASSION
What do you love to do?
- MISSION
What this world needs, that you can offer?
- VOCATION
What do you do better than others, with less efforts?
Ikigai may be developed from the very bottom of our inner self. It is in there that we have the best chance to finding the key of our success. It is in there that our inner self is crystal clear without being handled by external influences such as education received or society.
Even though we do see many ways in front of us where each of them may seems completely different than all the others, each of them leads towards a common point: our inner self.
Let’s follow Ikigai in discovering our inner self. This is one of the best way to starting your long path towards Work-life balance.
