UNDERSTANDING IKIGAI

I watch a lot of anime as you may know. So in the content of anime I learn a little bit about Japanese culture. I learn philosophies, ways of living, food, types of politics, a lot of different things. I came across a video on YouTube where this guy was doing this keynote and the subject of the keynote was Ikigai. It was about how to find and do work you love. 

I watched about 13 minutes of the video and I turned it off. Not because the guy wasn’t making sense but I realized that everything he’s saying revolves around money and goals even when it’s unintentional. The guy wasn’t spreading bad advice or advice that you couldn’t utilize. The intention was good but I felt that a word that means reason for being/living being reduced to a venn diagram just didn’t make sense. 

Ikigai is all about being present. Enjoying the small things. This video attaches ikigai to goals. It made something that focuses on the mind and spirit and made it apart of “Goal Culture.” Everything doesn’t have to be a goal. It’s okay to have something that heals you and helps you build a happy life without asking an end result question of did it succeed or did it fail? 

These are the 4 categories of this Venn diagram. 

What do you love?

What are you good at? 

What are you paid for? 

What does the world need? 

Now the goal of this diagram is to do or create something that answers all 4 of those questions. For example I write. I love writing. I’m good at writing. I can get paid for writing. The world needs my writing. Writing answers all four of those questions so my ikigai has been discovered. Right? 

No. 

Ikigai has nothing to do with what I do for the world. Asking what the world needs from you is heavy and places a lot of responsibility on your shoulders that doesn’t need to be there in the first place. You’re not Spider-Man. Why is saving the world your responsibility? Instead of asking what does the world need. Ask yourself what does your family need? What does your friends need? What do they need from you as a human being? What does your community need from you? How can you connect better with the people in YOUR world and not the world as a whole? 

Instead of asking what do you love ask yourself what do you value? What are your values? If I ask people what they love, how many people do you think would say “Living” as an answer? You may hear music, photography, teaching, sports but you would rarely hear “Life.” Living daily is a huge deal and we take it for granted. That’s what I value. Living is where I find meaning. Living is ikigai. Some of you are stressing out trying to find your purpose like it’s a treasure hunt and you already struck gold by just opening your eyes at whatever time you were blessed to awaken. 

What you can get paid for and Ikigai just doesn’t mix at all. Associating money with ikigai is like associating noise with meditation. Now if you happen to get paid from your ikigai then sure but to have financial success or professional goals be the focus of it just sounds wrong and removes the meaning from what ikigai is. 

You do not have to be good at anything to discover your ikigai. Ikigai could just be you watering and talking to your plants everyday. Ikigai can be a hobby that does not revolve around you putting 10,000 hours into so you can become an expert at it. Ikigai is about growth, not becoming an expert. 

Those four questions and the diagram as a whole makes it seem that ikigai can only be discovered that way. It’s not this big goal. Ikigai is about little things that help you understand life more. The video just seemed like corporation talk with no spirit in it. 

Moral of the story, it’s okay to not know what you want to do professionally. It’s okay to not try to live life like a YouTube life coach. Just focus on the most important part.  Living. 

Peace