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Introduction

Have you ever wondered about a question inside your mind, what your purpose is ? because with so many different paths and opportunities it's tough to decide what we should do with our time that will make us fulfilled.

Worst of all, we're pushed to make this big decision at such a young age, we're led down the path of studying something then joining the workforce so fast that we barely have a moment to sit and think.

Is this what i want ? Is this what's going to make me excited to get out of bed every morning for the rest of my life ?

Unless you're part of the lucky few it's unlikely that you just stumbled upon the right thing, but lucky for the rest of us,

the Japanese have come up with an incredible way of finding out exactly what it is that we should be doing- it's called ikigai

It's a recipe that provides all the necessary steps to finding the answer to the age-old question what is my purpose ?

Ikigai loosely translates to a reason for living it's what makes life worthwhile and gives you a good reason to get up in the morning, and it originates from the island of Okinawa in Japan ,which also happens to be known for having the longest life expectancy in the world.

So not only does purpose lead you to living a fulfilled, life it may even lead you to living a longer one and the concept of ikigai is broken down into four parts

Number one is something that we're good at, number two something we love doing, number three something the world needs, and number four something we can be paid for.

So, first let's break down each element then we'll get into how they intersect with each other and then finally how they can help you find purpose.

The first thing we need to identify is something that we're good at

Everyone has a different skill set, some people are just naturally better at things or have a physical advantage and other things we train ourselves to get good at. So ,don't worry if you weren't born with talent but chances are you already have a few things that you have a knack for.

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What matters is that we double down on something that we have an edge on rather than focusing time and energy on something we're bad at, because there's no use in working towards becoming mediocre what we want is to become great at something.

Next we must find something that we love

We all have things that make us feel good so this one should be a little bit more obvious, but unlike a skill it can't be measured, it can only be felt many would suggest finding that thing that puts you into a state of flow. Something that when you're doing it makes you feel so happy or blissful that you forget about time and all your other problems.

Then we must find something that the world needs

Because helping others gives us a large sense of satisfaction, that doesn't mean you need to find the cure for cancer or the solution to global warming. It just means that you need to find something that helps others and even being a trash collector or a janitor is something that we all need for a happily functioning society, and being useful in the community goes all the way back to our hunter-gatherer days.

It didn't matter if you were the hunter the cook or the caretaker, everyone had a role in sustaining the tribe and everyone was able to see the immediate positive effect that they had on each other. But unfortunately today many of us work in large organizations that don't help the world in any meaningful way, and even if they do it's hard to see the direct impact of our efforts and we often think if we quit no one would really notice. So, it's important to find something that could benefit the world but also something that you could see the direct impact of your efforts.

And finally it has to be something that you could be paid for

look money is not everything but at the end of the day, we do need to pay the bills and while money will probably never make you happy if you don't have enough. You're gonna spend
a lot of your time stressed out and being stressed out is not part of a fulfilled life. Of course you don't need to make millions but you do need to make enough so that you can live stress free.

So it's important to find something that's valuable enough to both avoid the stress of being broke and also avoid the need to spend time doing something you hate in order to just get by.

Now how do all these elements interact ?

well, if you've identified something that you love and something that you're good at you've found what's called a passion, and many creatives and artists find themselves in this category. but what holds them back from being happy is that they're not being paid for their skill.

They're forced to spend their time doing something they hate in order to pay their bills or live a stressful life of being broke. So, if this is you, it's important to focus on learning how to market yourself or build an audience so that eventually you could reach financial independence.

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On the other hand if you've identified something that you love and something that the world needs, you've found a mission.

Many political or social activists find themselves in this category and these people genuinely want to see a positive change in the world. But unfortunately often lack the skills required to actually make a difference.

So if you find yourself in this category, it's important to focus on skills like public speaking, writing, and persuasion in order to get people to actually join your cause rather than to just keep stating your opinion repeatedly and loudly.

Now if you have something that you're good at and you get paid for you have, what most people in the world have which is a profession and what's stopping these people from being happy is that they often don't love their work, or they can't see a way in which they have a direct impact on the world.

So if you find yourself in this category it's probably time to start trying new things and finding out what you really love.

Lastly if you've identified something that the world needs and something that you could get paid for. You have what's called a vocation.

The problem with this one is that you might get comfortable in misery because the people around you are applauding you for what you do, you get rewarded for it, but you may not be very good at it and you probably don't love it.

So, a vocation alone is not an ikigai, Ikigai lies at the center of these four interconnecting circles and if you're lacking in one area you're not only missing out on your life's potential, but you're missing out on a chance to live a long and happy life.

So my question to you, is have you found your Ikigai ?

let me know in the comments