Ikigai
A reason for being
What is Ikigai
• Pronounced as ee-ki-guy is a Japanese concept
meaning reason for being i.e. what gets you out of
bed in the morning.
• Everyone has ikigai, the challenge is discover it -
finding the reason or purpose for living.
• The basis of ikigai is not only to enrich your life,
but to also enhance the lives of others.
• Ikigai is very useful in finding contentment in life,
and in everyday tasks.
• You can have as many ikigais as you like,
throughout your life.
Ikigai – Book highlights
• “Our ikigai is different for all of us, but one thing we have
in common is that we are all searching for meaning.
When we spend our days feeling connected to what is
meaningful to us, we live more fully; when we lose the
connection, we feel despair.”
• “The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the
most. They are the ones who spend more time than
others in a state of flow ”
• “One thing that everyone with a clearly defined ikigai
has in common is that they pursue their passion no
matter what.”
• “Our ability to turn routine tasks into moments of
microflow, into something we enjoy, is key to our being
happy, since we all have to do such tasks.”
• “Artists, for example, who carry the torch of their ikigai
instead of retiring, have this power. Art, in all its forms,
is an ikigai that can bring happiness and purpose to our
days. Enjoying or creating beauty is free,
and something all human beings have access to ”
https://www.sloww.co/ikigai-book/
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What’s your ikigai? Finding your sweet spot
1. What does the world need? (mission) 2. What are you good at? (vocation)
2. 3.
• What are your top three core values? • What are your strengths? What do you find easy
• Are there any social/ environmental or economic to do?
problems you want to help solve? • With what activities do you experience flow? i.e.
• If you were to ask the people around you, what when does your time fly.
would they say you are an advocate for? • What it something you could spend hours actively
• Are there causes in your community or in the doing? This is an activity in which you will feel
world that touch you emotionally? fully engaged and won’t be thinking about
• Are there any volunteer originations that seem to anything else while doing.
fit in and align well with your values? • What did you like doing when you were a child?
3. What do you love? (passion) 4. What can you be paid for? (profession)
3.
• What would you do if money wasn’t an option? • Do you feel that you are doing enough in your
• If you had some spare time, what would you current career path?
spend your time doing? • Is there any overlap with your career and your
• If you were asked to present to a room full of other aspects of Ikigai?
people on a topic, what would it be? • Do you use your talents and passions in what you
• What gets you really excited? do for a career?
• Did you study or can you study further to develop
your career? What professional development do
you have planned?
“Excellence, then, is
not an act but a habit.”
(Aristotle)
