Why Do You Need Ikigai?

You probably don’t get asked that question very often, do you? Why do you need ikigai?

First, let me explain what it is so you can better contemplate why you need it. Ikigai is Japanese for “your reason for being” or “why you get up in the morning”. It further expands to your reason to enjoy life.

Or, it is your passion.

You frequently hear that to be successful and happy you have to follow your passion. I “knew” that to be true because so many successful people repeated that sage advice. The problem for me was that I couldn’t figure out which passion to follow!

I’m lucky because I have had several satisfying, enjoyable careers, each feeding the next, each adding to the next. I’m lucky because that fits my style and my temperament. I feel I have given more, and will continue to give even more, by virtue of all the knowledge and experiences I’ve had. My awareness is more expanded, which means to me I get more from the world too.

Having one passion, as it seems we’re counseled to have, doesn’t work for me. That de-energizes me. Does it work for you? What’s it do for your energy level?

When you have a bumblebee personality, like I do, and want to experience the entire field of flowers, and the surrounding fields as well, the idea of have one passion to be successful feels like prison. That kind of limitation can put you into inaction, frozen by uncertainty or indecisiveness. That’s counter-productive to success. That’s the recipe for unhappiness. Where’s your energy then?

Asking you what your passion is doesn’t help you, if you don’t already know the answer. Perhaps asking you “what is your reason for being” might help. Or, maybe, more fitting, you better know “why you get up in the morning”. Which of those questions lifts your spirit and generates energy for you?

Long-lived people, as found in the Blue Zones (traditionally, five communities around the world where people are exceptionally healthy and long-lived), have vital reasons for getting up. Generally their reasons are so they can make a difference or so they can serve others in some way. Having that purpose, that passion, does many things for those people. The big thing it does for them is add to their longevity, while helping keep their vitality and health strong.

Your ikigai may translate to what you do for a living or you career. It could be your hobby. Your reason for getting out of bed each morning could be for spiritual or personal development. Or, your ikigai could be for service. Ideally it’s a compelling need you have to make a difference to some one, somewhere.

Without an ikigai you can fall prey to things that drain your health, your energy, and your longevity. Starting the day with the right outlook is the beginning of a bountiful day. This is what gives your life meaning and brings satisfaction. If you don’t have a sense of purpose or a right outlook you don’t eat in a healthy way, you don’t move often as part of your lifestyle, nor do you connect with others in personal and meaningful ways. Without an ikigai you can waste away, and not even know it.

There’s an article by Kobayashi Tsukasa entitled “Ikigai: the process of allowing the self’s possibilities to blossom”: the title says it all, in my opinion. The concept explored in that article is that people proceed toward self-realization after they have satisfied various desires, when they have a sense of life’s value, they have love and happiness, and have a basis of personal maturity. To me, that means it’s valuable in finding your purpose that you experience as much of life as you can and follow your passions where they take you.

Ikigai’s venn diagram looks like a beautiful flower of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. That blends your passion, mission, profession and vocation with ikigai as the center. Being a bumblebee at heart, I’m attracted to that flower, to that approach to the world.

 

Bring your interests, natural and developed abilities, and your heart together to create a diverse and full life. From that emerges the unfolding flower of your ikigai where you’ll find those things you want to contribute to the world.

It seems to me that if you focus on finding the passion without considering the full spectrum of what you bring to the world, without building the support and breadth of diverse life experiences, you will feel stuck and unsatisfied.

Maybe you are lucky and were born knowing what your calling is. I hope you still live a full life and experience a multitude of opportunities so that you can give more fully to your calling.

And maybe you are lucky enough to seemingly have no clue as to what your calling is. That means you can explore the world and develop yourself with no expectations, with only pure bliss.

I think that’s what Joseph Campbell means when he says follow your bliss. He’s telling you to break away from conventional paths, follow your bliss — your diverse interests — and develop that you-ness that adds to the world. The world needs you, not another cookie cutter robot.

Why do you need ikigai? So you can live the bountiful life you were born to, and to do it with passion. Ikigai is part of your energy generation system, and that is what gets you through life.