Do you feel that your current job does not really suit you? Or are you looking for new work, but you don't know exactly what makes you really happy? Then the Japanese method Ikigai can help you.
When I was in Japan a year ago, I noticed how much the Japanese care about everything they do. When you buy something in a store, it includes all kinds of hand gestures and the things designed in Japan are often of very good quality. Attention is the key word, and that also applies to how the Japanese view life.
The Japanese believe that every person has a so-called ikigai: a reason for existence. It is what makes you get out of bed in the morning with enthusiasm and which gives you a lot of energy. Finding that Ikigai is therefore an important key to real happiness at work.
You can find the ikigai by first answering the following four questions:
- What am I good at?
- What do I like?
- What does the world need?
- What am I paid for?
Combinations
Once you have answered all four questions, you can start combining. What you are good at and what you love is your passion. What you love and what the world needs is your mission. What you are good at and what you can be paid for is your profession. And what you can be paid for and what the world needs your calling.
The four questions each form their own circle. If you put those four circles on top of each other, the centerpiece is your ikigai, surrounded by your passion, your mission, your profession and your calling. Your ikigai is something that is linked to all four questions: you are good at it, you like it, the world needs it and you get paid for it. This does not necessarily have to be one thing, but it can also be several things.
The big advantage of the Ikigai is that this model goes beyond what you are good at. It looks at the bigger picture of what you want to achieve in your life and what makes you happy. In this way it helps you to make sustainable choices for work that really makes you happy.
Would you like to find your Ikigai with me? Then contact me!
