Finding your ‘reason for being’ – your ikigai

There comes a time for each of us when we seek answers to those difficult questions: What is it that makes us happy? What is important to us? What gives our lives true meaning and worth?

For me this time came when I recently took long leave from work to spend more time with my family. It gave me a chance to pause and reflect – an opportunity to step back from the immediate pressures and ask some fundamental questions about what really mattered to me and my reason for being. That’s when I remembered reading about ikigai a couple of years ago.

The beautiful philosophy of ikigai

I was intrigued by this exquisite Japanese word (rather a way of living) – ikigai, which loosely translates to ‘reason for being’ or ‘something to live for’.

This beautiful philosophy—deeply entrenched in the Japanese culture, and cited as one of the main secrets to happy longevity for the Japanese people—encourages us to reflect on what gets us up each morning and keeps us going.

I started reading about this philosophy. The more I explored it, the more fascinated I became. Ikigai is unique to each person; something that each of us must discover for ourselves. This process of discovery can often take time and effort, but it can also be very liberating and empowering. This is because it will help you understand yourself in a better, more profound way than you may realise.

I realised that this was a lingering gap in my life. While I was busy and doing well, there was ‘something’ missing. To find true fulfilment, I needed to find my personal reason for being. I needed to find my ikigai. The very thought of this became a source of joy and infused lots of energy in me.

Going through the process of finding my ikigai immensely helped me clarify my thoughts, and made me realise that this was building on some long-standing ideas. More importantly, it helped me answer some of those fundamental questions that I had already been seeking answers to for a while. I certainly started to understand myself, and my strengths and unique contribution potential, in a way that was completely new to me. I started seeing myself in a new way for the first time.

How you can find your ikigai, your centre for cohesion, your balance your purpose?

But what really is this Ikigai? The work ikigai comes from iki, meaning life, and gai, meaning the result or effect of a particular action. In its most primal form, it is a way of achieving harmony in life, by integrating its four key elements:

1. Passion – What do you love? 
2. Vocation – What you are good at?
3. Mission – What does the world need?
4. Profession – What can you get paid to do?

To find your ‘reason for being’, you need to reflect on, and tick off all these four dimensions. It must be something that:

1. You love to do:

What is it that you truly love to do that makes you forget your worries, even if it’s momentarily? What is it that gives your energy, such that exerting hard effort on it doesn’t tire you out, but instead refreshes you; something that causes you to be present in the current moment?

2. You are good at:

Each one of us is really good at something. Some of us may not see it straightaway, but you definitely have a skill/talent that you are good at, compared with all the other things you could be doing (think research, communication, cooking, finance, creativity, sports, tech, customer service, teaching, arts, etc). You do not necessarily need to be born with this skill. As long as you are willing to put in the time and effort, you can improve this skill.

3. The world needs it:

It is so wonderful when we find out what it is that we love doing and what we are good at. But that might not be enough. It must be something that the world needs; something that helps or contributes to the society in any shape or form. This is not about idealism, it is about achieving a sense of true fulfillment. Our activity should have a positive impact for those around us. If it doesn’t, it is simply a passion. We need to ask ourselves: how can we make the world a better place through the things that we love and are good at?

4. You can get paid for:

Money is a huge incentive and plays a strong role in fuelling our interests. We need to generate an income from what we do, otherwise it is more of a hobby. There is nothing wrong with a hobby, of course, but it will not pay your bills, or let you live comfortably. We need to make enough money to live without stress. I mean this is a reality of life; it is okay to embrace your monetary ambitions.

Now let’s see how these dimensions relate to each other:

When we do what we are good at and what we love, we have ‘passion’. But passion is not enough to be ‘something to live for’. This is because it could be something that the world may not need or it may not be good for the environment. It may not generate money. If you are in this category, you need to figure out how to make money doing this and how it benefits the society.

When we do what we love and what the world needs, we have ‘mission‘. But mission alone can not be your ‘reason for being’ as you may not be good at it or you might not be getting paid for it. If you are in this category, you need to work on getting better at your craft.

When we do something that the world needs and what we get paid for, we have found ‘vocation‘. But does that mean that you like doing it or you are good at it? Not necessarily. That is why your vocation might be something that the world demands and you may be doing it as a sense of duty, but you absolutely hate doing it. So, vocation alone is not your ikigai. If you are in this category, you need to constantly challenge yourself to get better at the job.

When we do something that we are good at and what we can be paid, we have ‘profession’. Does that mean that you love your work and/or it’s making a real difference in the world? Some people absolutely hate their jobs. Profession alone cannot be your ikigai. If you’re in this category, you need to try out new things and find out something that you truly love doing.

Your ikigai is a balance of Passion, Mission, Vocation and Profession:

It is the combination of all these dimensions that could engage us in a worthwhile pursuit—one that we love to get up for in the morning. When we love what we do, it is easy to immerse ourselves fully into it and be in a ‘state of flow’. That means you just glide through your pursuit so smoothly that it becomes effortless.

Also please remember, what we are looking for may not be set in stone. I mean we live in a constantly changing world. So, it is alright to continually adapt and fine tune our position.

To be able to experience the joy one feels when they completely immerse their heart and soul in doing something that’s truly fulfilling is the most liberating feeling. That’s when you will know you have found your ikigai—your reason for being.

Related: You may want to read other posts under Living well category here.