Finding Ikigai, Your Reason for Being
In Japan, there is a word that represents the combination of our mission, passion, profession and vocation. You achieve a state of ikigai when that which you love merges with that which you are good at merges with that which the world needs merges with that which you can be paid for. To find this is to find your reason for being.
I first saw this diagram (at www.filmsforaction.org) on the very same day that I discovered tribe-building as my reason for being. I thought about this in relation to my other passions, my profession, my vocation...and by using this illustration I knew where the other areas of my life fell short. Knowing this doesn't mean that I completely abandoned everything else, but it did mean that I was able to put my ikigai front-and-center.
To find your ikigai is to feel no conflict, no doubt, and no resistance. Before I became aware of my ikigai, my attention was scattered, my priorities were difficult to balance, and motivation was sometimes lacking. All of this changes when you are able to merge the various parts of your life into one thing.
I believe that, once you find your ikigai and fully accept it as your reason for being, you will naturally begin to act in ways that will enable you to walk the path of your reason for being. If you find that you are moving away from loving that thing, you will re-adjust. If you are beginning to do things in a way that the world doesn't need, you will make adjustments to fix this. If nobody is paying you for it, you will naturally make adjustments and then seek out people who will. If you find out that you aren't good at certain areas, you will either find others to do those pieces or you will become good at it.
Finding ikigai can take years or decades, and if your experience is anything like mine, you may find that it is something that completely surprises you. When you do find it, you will be filled with energy, certainty, and courage like you never felt before. That doesn't mean you won't still have doubts and fears, but the knowledge and certainty of your reason for being is something that will give you the strength to persevere.
