The Japanese island of Okinawa has been said
to have the largest number of centenarians
in the world, or people over the age of a
hundred, with the majority of the population
retiring extremely late and continuing to
have a deeply purpose-filled life.
In 2010, author Dan Buettner released a book
titled The Blue Zones in which he studied
areas of the world that are home to the longest-living
residents (including Okinawa). He mentioned
that the Okinawan population do not have the
desire to retire and continue to do their
jobs as long as they remain healthy because
of a concept called Ikigai, which loosely
translates to “reason for being”.
The word ikigai usually refers to the mental
and spiritual circumstances under which individuals
feel that their lives are valuable. It's not
linked to one's financial status. So, even
if a person feels that the present is dark,
but has a goal in mind, they may feel ikigai.
This is where this becomes so powerful.
That’s why today, I’m going to introduce
you to an age-old formula and illustrate how
four distinct components of your life can
overlap and lead you to the sweet spot at
the center, which is your Ikigai.
Before we get started, I’ve been doing a
lot of thinking and I’ve realized that my
source of my Ikigai comes if you hit that
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Alright let’s get started.
The first component is What You Love.
This is that feeling in your gut about the
things that you truly enjoy doing and can
enter into a state of flow with. For a lot
of people, this tends to be artistic or creative
endeavors like reading, writing, filmmaking,
etc. But it’s certainly not limited to that.
The second component is What You Are Good
At.
Now you may think that these are things that
you need to have a natural talent or gift
at, but I choose to think of it as things
that you can work at and develop your skills
so that you can eventually become great at
them.
The third component is What the World Needs.
Something the world needs means that you can
provide value through whatever you’re doing.
It means that there is a demand for your talent
or service. Leaning into this will allow you
to make a difference in some way and have
an impact.
And the fourth component is What You can get
paid for.
Let’s be real, if there’s anything that
you’re pursuing and want to exclusively
continue doing that, you have to find a way
to make it financially sustainable. By doing
that, you check off a major component to your
happiness, which is the freedom to do what
you want without worrying about how you’re
going to make ends meet.
So how does all of this lead you to Ikigai?
Well, each individual’s Ikigai is very specific
to that person and their own values and desires.
To discover your Ikigai, you need to identify
what the map to your happiness is and gain
awareness of the current status of your life.
I decided to put this to the test by listing
out items that fell into 4 buckets. You can
do this too by asking yourself these 4 precise
questions.
First. What do you love and are good at? That
is your Passion. If you find yourself stuck
here, you need to learn to promote yourself
better and find a way to market yourself and
monetize your passion.
Next. What do you love and is something that
the world needs? That is your Mission. For
someone in this area, your goal should be
to develop your craft and get better so that
you can make it financially viable.
Third. What is something that you are good
at and can get paid for? This is your Profession.
Most of us tend to live over here. This is
our job. It pays the bills but you may not
necessarily love it. If you are here, you
should aim to try new things. Stuff that interests
you so that you can find out what you are
passionate about.
Fourth. What is something that pays you and
is something the world needs? That is your
Vocation. In this zone, your aim should be
to challenge yourself to learn about areas
of focus that peak your interest more than
others and then lean into them.
The fundamental truth of Ikigai is that various
aspects of your life do not necessarily operate
in a silo. Instead everything is much more
connected than we realize. Far too often,
we tend to think of our jobs, relationships
and passions as existing completely separate
from each other and that our happiness is
only dependent on improving that individual
aspect of our lives that isn’t meeting our
expectations. The magic happens when there
is a harmonious overlap of the individual
parts of your life. What are the activities
that you do that can exist in multiple components
of your life? Those are the things that you
may need to dedicate more time to so that
you can eventually move towards the center
of your Ikigai.
In the book, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to
a Long and Happy Life, the writers Hector
Garcia and Francesc Miralles have said “Our
intuition and curiosity are very powerful
internal compasses to help us connect with
our ikigai.”
The problem for millions of people is that
they stop being curious about new experiences
as they assume responsibilities and they build
their routines. Their sense of wonder starts
to escape them.
But you can change that, especially if you
are still looking for meaning and fulfilment
in what you do daily. Finding your Ikigai
may take some time because this whole thing
is a process of discovery, but living a life
of purpose requires commitment and deliberate
action, and once you set out to find that
purpose, you might just find yourself in a
truly happy place in your life.
Alrighty my friends, I really appreciate you
being here. I hope that this video helps point
you in the right direction to find your purpose
and your reason for being every single day.
Thank you so much for watching. My name is
Vihan Chelliah. I’ll see you next time.
