Ikigai and finding your purpose

In the past week we have covered why you should start and how to deal with your fears. But many of us are still stuck at the beginning. What actually is my purpose in life?

So today, we talk a little about Ikigai, or better known as the reason for being.

The are many ways Ikigai can be interpreted. Often people speak about Ikigai without knowing about it. It is the art of doing something with supreme focus and joy. What makes your life worth living, what makes you tick. Once you know what makes you tick, it becomes easier to go all-in on it.

Basically, lkigai is a combination of four things.
1. You love what you do
2. It is your strength; you are good/great at it
3. People pay you to do it; you earn from it
4. The world needs it

Being able to do something in which all 4 are aligned makes everything flow easier and makes life so much more enjoyable. In most cases, we have a combination of 2 or 3, but not always all four things.
* When you love it and you are good at it; it is often considered your PASSION
* When you are good at it and you get paid for it; we usually speak of your PROFESSION
* When you get paid to do it and the world needs it; it is often connected to your VOCATION
* When you love it and the world needs it; it clearly becomes your MISSION

In Personal Development sessions, these concepts often become intertwined, which in essence is not a big problem. We sometimes just get stuck, as we mistake our passion or mission for our purpose. Many young adults head to their perfect study or dream job, thinking that is their purpose, while they are preparing themselves for their profession or vocation.

The issue is that your purpose is rarely a specific thing like a job, but rather something you love doing what the world needs, you get paid for, and are good at, whatever way that is. For those searching, I’ve decided to make the slides to one of my first talks on my passions in life public, where I first try to identify my purpose in life. Feel free to have a look at it and download it or clip a slide. It’s been 4 years since this presentation and I might do an updated version somewhere this year.