What is Ikigai?

 What does Ikigai actually means?

Do you consciously take time to consider your happiness? Do minor things make you smile? Do you believe that you have a reason for living, something that motivates you to persist even in difficult circumstances?

You're on the right track if you said "yes" to these questions and already have an ikigai. If not, perhaps it's time to start implementing it into your everyday life.

Where does this word come from?

I am pretty sure that a lot of people at least once heard this word in their life. But how many of us know what it is?

The word Ikigai formed by combining two Japaneese words, iki which means "life"or "alive" and gai, meaning "benefit" or "worth". This concept refers to one's purpose in life or reason for being.

Let's examine this "diagram" in more detail to gain a better grasp of it:

As you can see, it consists of four overlapping circles, each set of circles come together to describe one's passion, profession, vocation, and mission. And each circle contains a question which asks whether or not you are doing:

• Something that you love
• Something you are good at
• Something you can be paid for
• Something that the world needs

After answering this questions you can find your ikigai/ motivation.

Is this what the Japanese mean by ikigai?

Actually, no. You can not find it only by answering to theese questions mentioned above. Above diagram was created in 2014 by Marc Winn. He thought it would be better to merge Purpose Venn diagram with Ikigai and posted on the Internet. 

To find your Ikigai, you just need to listen to your feelings. They will tell you what makes your life worth living.

As a Muslim, what I said above was only about success in worldly affairs. You can not find a real purpose of life from these questions. If we want to find it, the questions in Venn diagram should be changed.

Visit here to get more information about Ikigai.

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