Find your Life Purpose

IKIGAI

which means Reason of Living or Being

Ikigai is a Japanese word that describes an ancient Japanese philosophy that has enveloped the way Japanese people live. Some believe it’s even the reason for their happiness and longevity. 

Ikigai means your ‘reason for being.’ ‘Iki’ in Japanese means ‘life,’ and ‘gai’ describes value or worth. Your ikigai is your life purpose or your bliss. It’s what brings you joy and inspires you to get out of bed every day.

A diagram explaining Ikigai, a Japanese philosophy about life purpose. It shows overlapping circles with the categories: 'What you LOVE,' 'What you are GOOD AT,' 'What the world NEEDS,' and 'What you can be PAID FOR,' with explanations in Arabic and English.

How to find your Ikigai ?

It’s very easy to find your Ikigai with this method. The exercise consists in asking yourself different questions and to fill up each circle with different key words that come to you.
 

  1. What am I good at? Here you write down your skills, your experiences, and your gifts. In this circle, you will put all the stuff that you know how to do, that you master or are very good at.

  2. What do I love? Put here all of your passions and what you love to do, basically, all the activities that make your eyes shine bright and sparkle when you talk about them.

  3. What does the world need? It’s time to see big! What do you want to transform, bring, or improve in the world, to make it a better place to live for all beings? What do you think the world needs to change to be awesome, to evolve in a good way? Write down what you really think, there is no judgment.

  4. What can you be paid for? (Money, money!) It’s time to see what are your professional skills and experiences. Here, you will put everything that you can ask money in return.

AFTER FILLING UP THE 4 FIRST CIRCLES, YOU WILL SEE 4 INTERSECTIONS :

  • Passion

  • Mission

  • Vocation

  • Profession
     

In these four intersections, you will try to find what concept is in common between two circles.

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For example, if you put photography in the circle for things that you’re good at and taking pictures is also something that you put in the part for what you love, photography will be in this between circle that we call « Passion ».

Sometimes, it’s not exactly the same word but something very similar that you’ll put in two circles, so don’t hesitate to be creative and to find the relationship between the different words.


So let’s come back to the reason to get up in the morning …

WHAT IS YOUR REASON TO GET UP EVERY MORNING ?

Once you will have filled up the four intersections: passion, mission, vocation, and profession, look if there is something in common in the 4 different circles!

It can be a concept, a theme, or an activity. Again, try to be creative, sometimes the link can be a little bit hard to find so take time to reflect on it and see if there is a common subject in the different parts…

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This common subject is your IKIGAI! … Your purpose or path in life! 

Example:

A Venn diagram illustrating personal interests, skills, and activities, with sections labeled "What I love," "What I can be paid for," and "What the world needs." The diagram includes overlapping circles with various activities and values such as traveling, teaching, coaching, website development, helping people grow, exploring cultures, and promoting compassion, culture, and ecology.

IKIGAI Worksheet

(Download or Draw Yourself & Fill out)

A Venn diagram titled 'Find Your Ikigai' with overlapping circles labeled 'What I Love', 'What I'm Good At', 'What Can I Be Paid For', and 'What the World Needs'. The overlaps include areas labeled 'Passion', 'Profession', 'Vocation', 'Mission', and the center labeled 'Ikigai'.

Continue your Journey of Self Discovery by learning​

Meditation​

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