Backstory: I recently revisited a book I read late last year called “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life”. In Japan, there is a philosophy called Ikigai which Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia wrote a book about explaining wonderfully what it is, and how to apply it. The book cites that in the island of Okinawa in the south of Japan, residents live longer than people everywhere else. As well as a healthy diet, a simple lifestyle outside, green tea, and a subtropical climate (the temperature is like that of Hawaii on average), they believe that ikigai plays an important role in their way of life. Ikigai can translate into "reason for being”. This is broken into four elements:
What you love i.e. your passion and your mission in this life.
What the world needs i.e your mission and vocation.
What you can be paid for i.e your profession, and vocation
What you are good at i.e your passion and profession.
As you can see in the Venn diagram all of these are intertwined and all in balance with each other. One does not take up more space than the other, one is not more important than the other.
But why? Ikigai as a practice is intended to help us find what brings out the best in us to give to the world, but also to bring the most inward fulfillment we feel in our hearts. Humans, for the most part, all want to achieve similar feelings, we just go on different paths to achieve them. We all want to feel loved, needed, useful, smart, and at times, bliss in an activity we love. Each of us has to find our own ways to do this and we go to college, join groups, play sports, work various jobs, go through relationships, etc. If we’re lucky and if we’ve tried enough things in our lives when we’re young we can come closer to discovering our ikigai.
How? This can vary depending on your age, socioeconomic status, family situations, culture, experiences, and practically every other variable that makes us unique as a human. The only universal advice on how to fill in the blanks on the four elements of ikigai is to experience things and try things. If you work a job you hate, you know that is not your passion, your mission, or any sentimental value to you, thus it does not contribute to your ikigai beyond being your profession, and possibly what you are good at. If you try enough jobs and find one or find a field that you feel is filling in those blanks, then you know you’re on the right track. But only you can fill in those blanks. One tip from the book is to ask yourself: “What makes us enjoy doing something so much that we forget about whatever worries we might have while we do it? When are we happiest?” These questions can help us discover our ikigai. Something that everyone with a plainly defined ikigai has in common is that they seek their passion no matter what.
Practical Tips: The book shares some testaments on how to live a long life from the natives of Okinawa which help us understand why they have four times as many people over 100 people there than anywhere else on the planet. Here are some of them:
“The secret to a long life is not to worry. And to keep your heart young—don’t let it grow old. Open your heart to people with a nice smile on your face. If you smile and open your heart, your grandchildren and everyone else will want to see you.”
“The best way to avoid anxiety is to go out in the street and say hello to people. I do it every day. I go out there and say, ‘Hello!’ and ‘See you later!’ Then I go home and care for my vegetable garden. In the afternoon, I spend time with friends.”
“Talking each day with the people you love, that’s the secret to a long life.”
“My secret to a long life is always saying to myself, ‘Slow down,’ and ‘Relax.’ You live much longer if you’re not in a hurry.”
“Walk slowly and you’ll go far.”
Everyone’s ikigai looks different. I think if you are fortunate enough to have filled in all your blanks, then you’re likely to struggle is balance. As touched on earlier, ikigai is all about a balance between the different elements in our lives. Even if it's our dream job, too much of a good thing will in time become a burden. Find your balance, find your ikigai.