Are you in-sync with your IKIGAI?

Disclaimer: I am no expert on IKIGAI. Just a fan who wants to help.

Back in 2016 when I was struggling to find meaning and purpose in my professional life I came across this concept which completely changed my outlook and gave me a new perspective. I had a great run as a media marketer but somehow I didn't feel convinced about selling content for a living. I had lost that spark and became bored with what I was doing.

After an eventful 15 years in the media and entertainment biz, I had taken a sabbatical to hone in on what I really wanted to do. Something I was good at, which I enjoyed doing BUT could also pay the bills (kids tuition, home expenses etc) Luckily we had a decent savings cushion so I could take sometime to explore.

So with my wife's help, we created a course on Communication Skills for degree college students as I believed sharing my learnings and knowledge from my corporate journey with youngsters at the start of their career would help me get more satisfaction.

As I think back now, in college there was no clear career guidance given or the flexibility to find your true calling, you just jumped on the bus and went where ever it took you. But I was fortunate to meet some great seniors along the way who served as guide posts and I eventually ended up with a ton of memories and experiences.

I conducted the course for 3 consecutive years until it started to prove financially unviable.

However I was yet to find my IKIGAI which is a Japanese concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose & a reason for living. I chanced upon this concept through a WhatsApp forward which I think was shared on my school group and it intrigued me. I could see that my wife, who is a special educator and teaches Deaf & Deaf Blind children at the Helen Keller Institute for Deaf & Deafblind had clearly found her IKIGAI! So had my sister who had spent over 20 years in the music industry as a high flying sales executive, now re-calliberated to being a full time autism teacher! I wanted to find my IKIGAI!

I then learnt about the book by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles and immediately ordered my copy. They had travelled to Kyoto Japan to find out more about this secret by living with the natives (who's average age was around 101 years)

As Wikipedia explains the concept of ikigai has long existed in Japanese culture, it was first popularised by Japanese psychiatrist and academic Mieko Kamiya in her 1966 book "On the Meaning of Life" The book has not yet been translated into English

One of my key takeaways from the book, was that one should "never retire", but keep busy. As the old adage goes - An idle mind is a devils workshop. Another key input was to eat only till your stomach is 80% full. That ensures the body is able to adequately digest the food and you don't put on excessive weight.

Here are 10 key learnings or rules summarised in an Insta story by @MindsetSearch I came across just this afternoon which prompted this blog post:

I have since gifted the book to many friends and relatives and the feedback is always positive. Everyone connects with the teaching and it resonates deep within. One of the best outcomes was that I also got to know about Dr. Viktor Frankl & Logotheraphy & his book Man's Search for Meaning which I also highly recommend but which I will save for another post.

I now consult with an Ecommerce company which hits the bullseye on the IKIGAI Venn and I also freelance as a voice actor hoping to dub for my favourite OTT service sometime soon!

If you are feeling confused about where your life is headed or how to find your purpose, and need some help on how to decipher a way forward. I would highly recommend you give this book a read.