Written by: Sahana G.
Cover design by: Zainab A.
As we all are coming to a stage in life, where we have to decide our career and make a decision of a lifetime. Such as, what groups/courses should we take? What in life exactly do we want to do? Most of us just go with the flow, meaning we look at which career could possibly pay us well, or choose careers that our parents/society wants us to pursue. But, are you REALLY passionate about it? Remember, do you want to do something that you don't like for the rest of your life?
Ikigai is finding purpose in life/ the life that is worth living. Now, how will you find your Ikigai? There are 4 steps that the authors of the book, Ikigai, talks about:
What You Love
What You are Good at
What can you be paid for/earn a living out of
What the world needs
And, the intersection of these 4 values is your Ikigai.
The intersection of what you love + what you are good at = passion. So, what's your passion? And here's the deal, if you ask any high schooler, some might exactly know what they want. But on the other hand, there's some (like most of the people), who aren't just yet sure about what they want to do or are passionate about.
But, how exactly do you find what you love? The author uses a term, called the "flow state," which means those are activities that you get immersed in and you get into this flow state, where you're so concentrated that it blocks all the other distractions. For some, this might be when playing their favorite video game, or watching a movie. Or, when they're coding/drawing. Think about this question now, what do YOU really love to do? If you still don't know an answer to it, it's completely okay and you are not alone in this. Just be open and try as many different activities as you can during your downtime.
Then, the second step: What are you good at? Many researches have proven that no one is good at anything at the start. Even the expert at that particular field was once a beginner. So, what do you love to do (which is our first step), and how can you become better at it(such as what skills you need to practice or spend more time on). Let's say that you love filming and making videos on YT. Now, you have to think about the skills that are required to become good at it, such as filming, writing skills, communication, etc. At first, it's going to be terrible, but overtime, with consistency, we definitely can become good at it (which is our goal).
Now to the third step, which is can you earn a living out of what you love and what you're good at? If yes, that's amazing. You no longer would feel your normal "9-5 job" or "12+ hours of learning/studying" boring or stressful. If it's a job/task that you love, you would no longer keep count of the number of hours you work, as you really love doing it and you are in that "flow state" now.
Side note: For some people, their Ikigai might be doing free volunteering service to others, as that's something they love + they're good at it. However, you can't really earn a living. So, what are we supposed to do then? In this case, instead of making this a profession, you can keep this as your top priority. For instance, you can commit to doing community service for at least 2-3 hours every week.
The last but not the least is thinking about whether the world needs this or not. If yes, then it's your mission. And remember, it's never too late to go after your Ikigai.
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