Ikigai-A Japanese Way "To Find Purpose Of Life"

We all need to find purpose in our life which has been linked with longer and happier lives. Ikigai has no direct English translation but is understood to mean 'a reason to live' or 'having a purpose in life'. It comes from Japan. Ikigai also means a reason to get out of bed every morning.

How to find a purpose in life

According to this concept -to find purpose in life you have to answer four questions-

1. What do you love? (your passion)

2. What are you good at? (your mission)

3. What does the world need? (your vocation)

4. What can you get paid for? (your profession)

Finding a balance between the four areas may be the route to having a life that one looks forward to living. To find your purpose in life you must go on a journey of self-discovery. For that, you have to follow the four questions mentioned above.

How to find answers to all question

First, write down job/skills you love doing: when you love doing something, it may give you excitement even if you're not getting paid to do it. For example Reading books, travelling, dancing, signing etc. Write down all the things you love to do.

Second, write the things you are good at: to understand if you are good at something try to get honest feedback from the people around you. The second step is to list down all the things you are good at like writing book reviews, writing a blog post, editing, speaking etc.

Third, what does the world need: Does your passion help you to contribute to the world? Your passion is for you, but once you figure out how to use it to serve others, it becomes your purpose. For example, suppose your passion is signing then the world needs good singers or if writing then world need the writers to write for them.

Fourth, what can you get paid for: Now it's time to figure out which of your passion will pay you. For example, you can get paid for writing book reviews, Editing videos, writing a blog post etc.

After you answer all the four questions take out the common things from these answers like - if you love reading book and good at writing book reviews and its a help to the world through your review about books and also you will be paid for that.

So your answer should like this-

1. Reading books(your passion)
2. Writing book reviews (your mission)
3. Writer (your vocation/purpose)
4. Writing book reviews, blog post. (your profession)

To find your Ikigai follow the same step mentioned above. Initially, you may not be able to do the job you love full time. However, you can start working on it in your spare time.