Ikigai, the Formula for Happiness?

Ikigai, the Formula for Happiness?

Much like the Danish snuggle-fest of ‘Hygge’, ‘Ikigai’ is a lifestyle trend borrowed from another nation – those notorious long-livers of Okinawa, Japan. Ikigai, (i-key-guy)is slightly easier to pronounce and much more important than a few artfully-draped blankets and a festive candle.

Variously translated as ‘a reason for being’, ‘life’s purpose’, ‘why you wake up in the morning’, ‘life’s enjoyment and substance’, ‘expectations and hopes for life’, or even ‘the formula for happiness’; the French probably come closest with raison d’etre. Discovering ikigai brings a state of inner peace and makes your days feel worthwhile.

Since we spend much of our time at work – often doing things that we don’t particularly want to do – it is here, for most of us, that ikigai would be most welcome.

We have the ikigai diagram on display at Boo HQ, and we give it out on postcards as part of our coaching, mentoring and wellbeing programmes. However, I’d not considered it beyond a nice theoretical concept until a conversation with a friend a few weekends ago. She told me that she’d been asking herself an emotive and powerful question of late, a question full of wistfulness but also of possibilities. The question was ‘what is my reason for being?’.  How many of us have asked ourselves this? How many of us can answer it?

Our reason for being – our Ikigai –is found at the intersection of four things.

 Something you LOVE.

When we do something we love, we feel good, we feel present and we tend forget our problems for a while. We know it when we feel it.

Something that the world NEEDS.

Humans are sociable animals, and when we have a role in helping our communities to thrive, when we know that we are needed by others, we feel useful, important, and full of purpose.

Something you can get PAID for.

This is arguably the trickiest one, as you’ve got to be paid enough to live comfortably, or the stress of having to meet your basic needs might overtake any contentment you might be achieving by contributing to a better world.

Something you’re GOOD at.

This doesn’t need to be innate talent; it can be experienced, practiced, learned. In fact, greater satisfaction may be achieved in the struggle to become good at it. Getting good at something makes you more likely to be paid to do it.

If one or more of these elements is missing, you’ll feel like something isn’t quite right. If you’re doing something you love that you’re good at, then you have a PASSION. To achieve ikigai you need to figure out how to make your passion useful and necessary so that you can earn and income from it. When you’re in this situation, you experience a feeling of satisfaction but also perhaps uselessness.

If it’s something you love that the world needs, then you have a MISSION –  but you need to figure out what you need to get good at in order to make that positive change and be meaningfully employed to do so. If not or you’ll have delight and fullness, but no money.

A less obvious problem is when you’re doing something you’re good at that you get paid well for. Lots of people have this it is a PROFESSION. Those in this group are often most confused about why they’re not quite happy. They are comfortable, but perhaps feeling a bit empty. It takes a brave step to leave this comfort zone and seek something you truly love, that makes you feel like you’re making a difference.

Those with a VOCATION – such as a doctor or a teacher – are paid to help people and can see themselves making a real positive impact. That’s no good if you don’t love it, and if you’re not constantly getting better at it.

How do we reach the perfect balance? The search for ikigai is a hallowed introspective process, involving sincere investigation of some deep questions: What am I passionate about? What do I strongly believe in? What would I like to see different in the world?

In his Ted Talk ‘How to Ikigai’, Tim Timashiro describes it in relation to karate – another Okinawan export. He advises us to start by finding what we love, and then phrase it as a verb. That might be to create, to entertain, to nurture, to teach, to spend time in nature – you know it when you feel it.

Once you’ve answered this, he says, you have your ikigai ‘yellow belt.’ Congratulations! However, much like with karate belts, it’s takes a little more effort to get to black. You need to work out what you need to get good at in order to be paid to do what you were born to do….

 

Need some support in reaching ikigai? Coaching can help. Contact hello@boo-consulting.com

How much of your time is spent doing things you don’t particularly want to do?

At the confluence of four things; something that you love, that you can get better at, that the world needs, that you can get paid for, is ikigai.