Sarah Seeking IKIGAI 2.0
Upgraded Quest: Now with less Venn diagram singular focus and more rounded understanding = even more complicated processes to try and simplify *grin*
I’ve read, listened to and watched a *lot* of ikigai related content since embarking on this adventure.
Most of it has been pretty fleeting, a piece from a content creator who isn’t focussed on this topic, but features it in one of their blogs or vids. Similar to me, someone inspired by the concept and wanting to learn more, but often not going any further than the surface level understanding I once had. Great to see it inspiring others, but I wasn’t necessarily adding any new insights or tools to my arsenal.
I love the serendipity of being so attuned to this though, I have met so many amazing people online as a result, and there are so many beautiful communities out there you can connect to.
I can’t tell you enough how happy I am that I stumbled upon Nick Kemp’s IKIGAI TRIBE. He has accumulated a vast amount of research on this topic and as his site states;
Ikigai has become one of Japan's most misunderstood words and culturally appropriated concepts. Ikigai is not a term from Okinawa. It’s not the Japanese secret to longevity. It's not a Venn diagram showing you how to find your bliss or become a successful entrepreneur. And it’s not the pursuit of a single life purpose.
I was initially dubious, I’m not going to lie, Nick is Australian and I wondered what made him so confident to assert his authority on this. I love his self awareness that he has clearly recognised he may raise some eyebrows;
I am sure I come across as an unlikely source to be teaching a unique Japanese cultural concept. However, I would not be teaching the ikigai concept had I not lived in Japan, where I lived 10 years of my life, met the woman I married and started my family.
Once I delved into his extensive back catalogue of free content (podcast and blog) I realised that Nick collaborates with, and is highly respected by, leading Japanese researchers, scientists and authorities on ikigai, including my personal favourite Ken Mogi!
So I decided I should take the plunge and invest in myself to purchase his course, 150 dollars equates to not much more than 100 pounds in today’s money.
Aside: Why don’t we invest in ourselves more?
Maybe you are already someone with a reasonably comfortable amount of disposable income and you do invest in personal training? You are for sure ahead of most of us then, I am only now realising that the return on this investment is so much better than me buying myself flat whites every day!
I don’t find that to be very common though, and I certainly didn’t used to feel that I ‘deserved’ to spend money like that on myself.
It was quitting vaping that first unlocked this for me. I stopped last June, and part of the journey of making that good habit stick, was to reinvest the money I was saving into myself. I upgraded to paid for tools online that were helping me learn and develop, and I also decided that it was worth it to take some online courses as they save a lot of time and effort having the material curated carefully, rather than spending hours just trying to find the gold amongst the dross.
I don’t think I’ve even written about this yet online, but I am doing One Year No Beer, and that too is saving us a LOT of money (ahem, yes we may have had a teeny tiny wine problem in our household, a topic to be explored another day no doubt!).
Maybe you are already cleverer than I was and don’t smoke/vape/drink alcamahol so can’t make a saving that way. All I’d say to you is to really compare the value you gain for the things in your budget, especially questioning those that are really luxury more than necessity. I know for example taking a little time to food prep on a Sunday can easily save you £5 - £8 a day in terms of not being tempted to buy lunch from a cafe or shop. Usually also healthier of course, that’s a double whammy right there peeps hehe!
So yeah, sorry for sidebar preaching, but just wanted to plant a seed that spending money on yourself is a fantastic return and usually affordable given the context of other things you may be perhaps being a little frivolous on at times.
Please forgive me and feel free to ignore me if you are living hand to mouth, I’ve been there for a significant chunk of my life and it’s not nice. You may be surprised though, a lot of the new breed of online entrepreneurs selling courses are really purposeful and caring people so have lower priced tiers or even pay it forward/charity type options available, worth an ask, the worst someone can say is no!
Testimonial for Nick’s Find Your Ikigai course
Taking this course has been hugely helpful for me, I’ve learned so much and I thought I already had a reasonable understanding! It is well structured with a logical flow from giving you a much deeper understanding of the concept through to practical steps you can weave into your life, to help you find yours. I especially valued the approach of introducing measurement (psychometric tools) alongside diverse scholarly insights, and practical exercises. I have broadened my understanding of ikigai and have new tools and ideas to try out in my quest.
It is hard to pick out only one new thing I learned as my favourite. However if pushed I would choose the revelation of how important it is to analyse the different types of roles you have in life, and how you can more consciously ensure that you are expressing your values in each of your different roles.
Nick has a calm and clear approach and distils complex concepts into accessible and actionable insights. Whether you're new to ikigai or looking to deepen your existing knowledge, this course is a treasure trove of wisdom and guidance. I wholeheartedly recommend the IKIGAI TRIBE course to anyone eager to understand the depth and breadth of ikigai and look forward to engaging with future cohorts in the online forum community.
Summarising some of what I learned;
Clearly I don’t want to give away all of his secrets, mind you having said that I’m pretty sure every single sub module or concept is covered in amongst the wealth of free content. That’s the point though, finding the nuggets you really need to know in amongst longer form essays, podcasts and videos takes more time than some of us are willing to invest (not me mind, I’m hooked, life long ikigai researcher and experimenter here I’m pretty confident!).
Nick introduced me to a new tool, the VIA Values In Action survey, as a way to help you surface what matters to you - I found the results to be similar to those in the paid Gallup Strengths one that I wrote about previously.
Weaving my strengths and values in amongst my roles as worker, volunteer, wife, mother, friend, daughter and beyond is easier to map out when you have tools like this to help you.
I’ve learned to appreciate ikigai as a deeply personal and evolving pursuit of fulfilment. Nick's use of the ikigai 9 scale as a starting point allows you to quantitatively assess where you stand in your journey, providing a baseline for growth and exploration.
The Ikigai-9 is a psychometric tool published and validated in 2012 by Tadanori Imai, Hisao Osada, and Yoshitsugu Nishimura, Department of Psychological Counseling, Faculty of Human Sciences, Mejiro University, Tokyo.
It offers a means of measuring ikigai across the dimensions of:
- optimistic and positive emotions toward life,
- active and positive attitudes towards one's future, and
- acknowledgment of the meaning of one's existence.THE IKIGAI-9 SCALE (Please respond to each statement indicating what degree from a range of 1 to 5 the statement applies to you, with 5 = 'applies a lot to me' and 1 = ‘doesn't apply to me.')
- I believe that I have some impact on someone
- My life is mentally rich and fulfilled
- I am interested in many things
- I feel that I am contributing to someone or to society
- I would like to develop myself
- I often feel that I'm happy
- I think that my existence is needed by something or someone
- I would like to learn something new or start something
- I have room in my mind
The diversity of perspectives on ikigai presented by seven Japanese scholars added depth to my understanding, highlighting its role as a spectrum of experiences that contribute to a rich, quality life. I've learned the significance of balancing work, play, and community service as components of ikigai, and the distinction between work worth doing (hatarakigai) and play worth doing (asobigai). The exploration of values, personal missions, and the encouragement to identify multiple sources of ikigai in my life have been particularly transformative.
The course has further strengthened my resolve of a mindset of proactive engagement with life's many roles and the endless possibilities for growth, satisfaction, and contribution to the greater good. It's not just about finding a reason for living; it's about continuously creating and nurturing those reasons through intentional action and reflection.
This course has not only deepened my understanding of ikigai but also equipped me with the tools and mindset to actively pursue and cultivate it in my daily life, making the journey itself as rewarding as the destination.
Why work can so often become de facto ikigai
I was introduced to Gordon Mathews through this course, someone else who isn’t Japanese, he is an author and professor of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has written several books including: What Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds.
He introduced the concept that that work can become de facto ikigai because let’s face it you are either there, or preparing to get there for about 9 hours a day for most of us, if not more!
I’ve always wondered why more people don’t take work as seriously as I always had naturally. Why people seemed to look down on those that made it a huge part of their identity?
Clearly in an ideal world we would do less of a percentage of our awake time at work… but until we find ways to; completely change our working structure or build multiple income streams or find a benefactor or win the lottery… most of us would do well to make sure work is as fulfilling as it possibly can be.
I guess this is why I was so very drawn to the Venn diagram, but that I now know should really be about helping you find hatarakigai (work worth doing). Still an important component of ikigai, but not all it is.
This is why I get so passionate about work though, both specifically the roles I am in, and more broadly, the changing world of work. You spend a lot more time with the people you work with than the other people in your life, how aren’t more people demanding more from their work; the environment, the purpose, the methods, the efficiencies?
I’m excited to more clearly define my personal mission;
I believe in the importance of using my one wild and precious life for the greater good. I am refining and defining what it is that is unique, that only I can offer the world. I know it doesn’t have to be huge. I know it’s important to reflect on how I may discover it? That it can be a serendipitous blend of what I am naturally drawn to via personal interest, it can be a conscious choice I make, and sometimes its fate… I believe in making your own luck though. This process, and using ikigai as a compass or lodestar, is an excellent way to gain clarity and forward momentum.
At the end of the day, none of this should make your life harder. Life is hard enough for most of us, especially GenX women *grin* I am still working in the background to simplify and come up with methods to weave the tangible actions you can do into daily life in as easy and cheap was as possible!
Happy Sunday beautiful souls, I’ll leave you with a song… it was chosen collaboratively with my friend ChatGPT-4 who described it as;
"Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield - This song is all about the potential of the future, the unknown ahead, and the power we have to shape our destiny. It aligns with your message of actively engaging with life, exploring new roles, and the importance of personal growth.
PS: I’d love to hear your thoughts about investing in yourself, what are your top tips or tools/courses/coaches/communities you especially recommend we know about? xxx