We at IKIGAAI are extremely happy to have come across “ikigai” philosophy, which has given us a simple, structured way to look into our life purpose in an honest manner. It has led to our apparel brand through which we dedicate to help build a more inclusive and connected world by helping empower local artisans from developing countries like Nepal and to help enrich the lives of all our customers and fans we interact with so that everyone can feel excited about getting up every day.
Ikigai (pronounced as E key guy) is a life philosophy that originates from Okinawa, Japan. Literally “iki” means life, and “gai” means purpose. Ikigai essentially represents our reason for living; it’s the reason we feel excited about getting up in the morning. But how do we find out our ikigai? To make it simple, we need to ask ourselves the following 4 questions in the following sequence. The intersection point is our ikigai.
What you love? (Passion)
What you good at? (Profession)
What the world’s need? (Mission)
What you can be rewarded or paid for? (Vocation)
You might know what you love and what you are good at but are they contributing to making our world a better place? Are they being rewarded? As an example, there may love 100 different things, but good at 10 things. 5 of those things may make the world a better place, and 2 or 3 may also pay you. So, that's a reflective exercise you can do to reflect on your "ikigai". One thing to realise is that your ikigai is a reflection of your current situation and at different point in time, these 4 elements may weigh differently. Ultimately the goal is to find delicate balance between the 4 elements so you feel more at ease. Next thing to realise is that your ikigai evolves as you move through life.
Sometimes if you feel like you don’t know where next to take your life or you’ve been going down in one direction and now you’d like to pivot- we hope this concept serves as the treasure map for you to lead a meaningful life this year and beyond.