To find purpose in life is something I’ve thought a lot about during the last years. Many of my friends have worked their ways up in the corporate world and have gotten good and well paid jobs. However very few feel like they are in the “zone” and have discovered the true purpose of their lives.
It can be very hard to determine what the necessary components to get to this point are. Recently I discovered though that the Japanese have word for this concept; “ikigai”, which translates to “a reason for being”. Check in the picture below to see what I mean.
It feels like the majority of people tend to get stuck in the “What you can be PAID FOR” zone. Some way or another you get into a career that pays for your bills having educated yourself in order to get paid. This can be a quite comfortable situation but also give you the feeling of “Was this all?”. This was definitely the case for me!
Ideally we should start in the other way instead. Identify what we love and spend a lot of time at it, this is a very good formula to become good at something. Should it also bring value to others and help the world it’s possible to get paid for it. Something that was very trick a few years back ago but now much easier due to the Internet and the online world.
The major thing preventing us from doing this however is that society is structured in a way that we really need to start with getting an income in order to afford to live. This leaves very little time and energy left to explore the other fields, especially if you’re working as an employee trading away your time for money.
So what to do to get closer to your Ikigai?
Well the first thing is to just become aware of this concept and start reflecting on which of the areas you want to be in.
If you’re just trading away your time to an employer and working for their vision instead of your own and want to get out of this, try to find a way to create some extra income streams that you can use to free up more of your time to spend on what you love.
These are the steps I’ve taken myself. I’m not in my Ikigai yet, but I’m on my way there. Everyone’s journeys are different. For me the extra income stream has been my online business that I started in parallel with my ordinary job and have been growing ever since.
My goal with this is to become self sufficient and not be depending on someone else than myself to provide a living. This will create a lot of extra time, freedom and flexibility to let me spend time on what I truly love and help people around me. Hopefully when all these pieces are stable and connected together I will be in Ikigai.
Should you wish to try this approach for yourself I’m more than happy to assist and guide you on the way.
In that case start by checking out the same system and education I’ve used to build my online business with. -> Check it out here
It will of course require you to put in some time and effort in the short term. But if it will get you closer to reach your Ikigai in the long term I definitely think it’s worth it!
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