When - What you love and What you are good at - meets, it is your passion
When - What you are good at and What you get paid for – meets, it is your profession
When - What you get paid for and What the world needs – meets, it is your vocation
When - What the world needs and What you love – meets, it is your mission
An Ikigai is in the middle of all these.
According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai. An ikigai is essentially ‘a reason to get up in the morning’. A reason to enjoy life. (http://theviewinside.me/what-is-your-ikigai/)
A balance between - (1) What you love (2) What you are good at (3) What you get paid for (4) What the world needs - leads to long, healthy and happy life
ikigai is about the feeling how your work makes a difference in people’s lives.
Today we have more comforts than what our parents had, just 50 years back. Our parents used to walk or at the maximum use bicycle. We use two Wheeler and cars. They used to write letters and we use Whatsapp and Facebook to connect and communicate. They used wood to cook were as we use electricity for air-conditioning. Life has changed a lot. But are we more happier? If we think they were happier, it means, they found their ikigai.
To find happiness we need to find balance. We need to find our own Ikigai.
Ikigai is not outside. But inside. It is in our minds and in our thoughts. Examine them daily, at work and at home and see if you can find your own Ikigai or balance. I am going to examine and find my own Ikigai
To find Ikigai – let us think about What we love, What we are good at , What we get paid for and What the world needs - and find a via media , a middle path and a balance -without going to one of the four extremes!
Wishing you, all our colleagues, all our family members, friends and contacts balance and Ikigai!
Balancing is fun, by the way!