How to uncover your own IKIGAI, or “a reason for being”.
How to uncover your own IKIGAI, or
“a reason for being”
Do you know what your Ikigai is?
Maybe you are asking… “What even is IKIGAI?!”
The Ikigai definition… “(生き甲斐) (pronounced [ikiɡai]) Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being". The word refers to having a meaningful direction or purpose in life, constituting the sense of one's life being made worthwhile, with actions (spontaneous and willing) taken towards achieving one's ikigai resulting in satisfaction and a sense of meaning to life.”
- Wikipedia
I believe everyone has their own Ikigai or reason for being. You are here on this planet to share your individual gifts with the world. This is a fun self expression activity that anyone can easily do and should do!
By engaging with figuring out your own Ikigai you will get in deeper touch with the things that light you up. Even if you don’t discover your perfect blend of all of these elements, your effort will definitely will inspire you positively no matter what.
I know it can feel overwhelming when thinking about huge ideas like this. But I promise you if you just engage with this Ikigai concept with honesty it will touch you deeply!
Even if this just gives you permission to engage with the things that light you up
!
When I first discovered this process I made it my mission to figure this out for myself and that is one of the reasons why Catherine Rose Design was created!
This concept allows a really simple and beautiful explanation for what we all want out of our lives.
I know that when you prioritize what you love you can never go wrong in life.
When you listen to your heart, value your natural gifts, and marry that with what you do on a daily basis this is a recipe for true success.
Taking responsibility and engaging with your life from your values first, instead of listening to the world’s values first you WILL be a happier human being no matter what your current circumstances are.
I think a lot of what is wrong with society today is that we don’t empower people to learn about what makes them unique. Because we have told everyone what the path to “success” is everyone basically just falls in line and keeps re-writing the same story over and over again.
Sounds like a bunch of robots, and guess what its 2020, and we have robots for that…
But I have done this with my own life too, we all have in our own ways.
But I want, in my own little way, to introduce you to some deeper self discovery activities so that you can free yourself from this, as I am trying to do along side of you!
So how do we figure out our own Ikigai meaning?!
First off I’m just a human who loves this concept. Any and all “figuring this out” Is going to come from YOU… not me.
But this is how I engaged with my own Ikigai…
*First off if you read the definition and felt as if this whole concept seems a little out of your depth at the moment you may want to start with some of my other articles like,
How to Vizualize your dream life
How to discover your design aesthetic
All of these above concept links pair beautifully with this Ikigai activity and could be something you may want to start with… or better yet, pair with your Ikigai exploration!
But if you are ready for some Ikigai Deeper Self Exploration here we go!
* Grab your Ikigai Worksheet Here
Or
*Grab yourself a journal or piece of paper and a pen… Draw and list these four interlocking circles and label like this…
Make sure to leave room for you to make some lists below this diagram!
WHAT DO YOU LOVE
– What you you spend your time doing when you have free time?
– What actually brings you joy to do?
– What did you do as a child that completely lit you up?
– If you like most humans is just on their devices all day… what are you looking at?
– What are you doing online? There is a lot of inner wisdom there too.
Do you see any parallels between all of these things?
Make a big huge list of these things, this is the most important step!
WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT
– Sometimes this is a hard subject because all of our egos are so sadly huge and compliments are way too rare.
– But what do people compliment you on out of nowhere?
– What do your friends say about you when you are three glasses of wine in and being sweet to each other?!
– How does your boss brag about you to others?
– How did your parents use to describe you to their friends?
– What stories do your relatives share about you?
– What comes so easily to you that when people don’t act in that way you really wonder about their IQ?
This can be hard because often those things that you are good at you’ve never had to think about because… they come easy to you!
A great ikigai quote would be this one… “What is obvious to you is amazing to others.” - Derek Sivers
Ask those around you who know and love you, it will be the first thing on their lips.
See what common thread these things have…
Make a huge list of these things too!
WHAT CAN YOU BE PAID FOR
Now this is where a lot of us get messed up in today’s culture. For story time: I loved art in kindergarten and when everyone said what they wanted to be when they grew up I said artist! But thanks to cultural programming I knew I had to shift into something that was more likely to make me money, so interior designer… here we are!
So the things that you think you can be paid for have been super solidified by the world around us. Often if you aren’t a doctor or a lawyer or a CEO of a company it can feel as though maybe you aren’t as “successful” as you should be. But this is TOTAL crap. We don’t need any more doctors or lawyers, or CEO”S.
But we do need better doctors, lawyers, and CEO’s that hopefully reached their goals by studying their own deeper self and not followed the rules dictated to them by society…
People are unique and wired differently! *
If you want some more information on some inner self exploration check out this article here.
Same goes for you and what you do to make a living. Question what you are currently doing, more importantly question why you are doing it!
– If your current career doesn’t line up with the rest of your Ikigai are you missing something?
– Is there a way you can do what you do in alignment with these other aspects of yourself?
– Or can you turn some of the things that you love into something that people would pay for?
There is deep wisdom in these aspects of yourself. The world needs you to show up fully as you. Dig deep and think creatively about what your natural gifts and personality are trying to tell you. Often there is hidden monetary potential within.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS
– What are you always worried about?
– What do you think are some of the biggest problems facing the world?
– What charities do you support?
– What are you always ranting to others about?
Another good way to think about this is to look at your “what your good at” list… What problems do you see that the world needs solved that could also be helped by what you are naturally good at?
I find that there is usually some sort of correlation here…
NOW:
You have your four lists!
•Play around with your lists.
• When you look them over what stands to to you the most?
• If you went with purely your intuition how would you fill out your IKIGAI from your lists? Try it! See if you can construct a direction from what speaks the deepest to you.
• You may figure out a couple at a time!
• If you are stuck ask your loved ones what they think, they can help flush out your blind spots!
The other aspects of your Ikigai, Where some Circles overlap and leave others out…
A. Passion:
The intersection of what you love and what you are good at constitutes your passion.
B. Mission
The intersection of what you love and what the world needs constitutes your mission.
C. Profession
The intersection of what you are good at and what you can be paid for constitutes your mission.
D. Vocation
The intersection of what you can be paid for and what the world needs.
If you feel as though you have some circles figured out in your life but not others look at these intersections above.
• Try combining your list words in their spaces to create new outlets for yourself that may have a place outside your “career” for the moment.
• We all deserve to feel fufilled and maybe combining some hobbies with your job will help to balance out your energy for the time being.
I thought this article was a beautiful representation of one woman’s search for balance ending up showing her a new path that she didn’t realize existed!
Keep the following phenomenon in mind as well, this could explain where you currently are in your life if you haven’t fully rounded out your Ikigai!
Where your Passion and Mission Meet… NO MONEY BUT HAPPY
Where your Passion and Profession Meet… HAPPY BUT FEELING USELESS
Where your Profession and Vocation Meet… COMFORTABLE BUT EMPTY
Where your Vocation and Mission Meet… UNCERTAIN BUT STABLE
If you followed me down the rabbit hole thus far…
YOUR IKIGAI Has been revealed!
-Or at least some creative paths to try and round out your life’s experience!
This is how I was serendipitously forced to figure out my own…
In my own experience of life this has been a journey for me, as I suspect this is a journey for everyone. I have been fortunate to follow a life path that on the basis of what I can make money at and what I love combined within the design industry. Which is why a little girl who loved art and pottery as a child decided to get her BFA in interior design in college (and is grateful to have had a family that supported this). In my first design job I was also extremely lucky to work with supportive and creative people that allowed for real growth and confidence in myself and my design career.
However, a massive move from California to the East Coast upended this job (and most of my support systems) and introduced me to a couple of new design jobs that didn’t allow for me to inject my other two circles into my process, what I’m good at and what the world needs (and sometimes what I love was also sacrificed). Now at this point because of the nature of these two circles they were a little more amorphous for me and harder for me to pinpoint when i was in the middle of this experience.
These couple of years really threw me for a loop, getting up and going to work everyday literally became torturous and soul sucking. As a creative human being I felt stifled even though I was still often doing design. I got to my absolute darkest in my life and realized that I needed to change how I interacted with my existence. This Ikigai concept (as well as figuring out what a perfect day looked like for me,) really helped me to center my values and look at my life in a new way.
It gave me the strength and vision to create my perfect job for myself.
Catherine Rose Design is a real life representation of the things that matter the deepest to me and the things that I want to share with the world. Although being a business owner is a completely terrifying concept for this creative, I have never felt more aligned and I am so excited to continue to see where this beautiful uncharted path takes me.
My mission statement and how it aligns with my Ikigai…
The Catherine Rose Design Mission Statement:
“I balance authentic design (what I can do for money) with intuitive insight (what I’m good at) to help my clients connect to their deeper selves (what the world needs) by empowering their own creative self expression (what I love).
I create space for my clients to follow their desires and depth of feeling (what I’m good at + what the world needs), into a new environment that supports them, mind, body, and soul.” (what I can do for money + what I love)
• Another great way to apply your Ikigai is to create a mission statement for yourself…
Follow this framework to fill in your your strengths for each circle you discovered earlier. See what these sentences end up saying to you!
(WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR MONEY) + (WHAT YOU ARE GOOD AT) + (WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS) + (WHAT YOU LOVE).
You are going to be overwhelmed with the beauty and intelligence inherent within yourself that is begging to be shared with the rest of the world.
Let me know if you guys liked this awesome concept!
I would also be honored if you did this activity and figured out your own Ikigai please please share it with me.
I love hearing from you!
Stay tuned for more interior design tips and deeper self concepts!
Here for inspiration I leave you with the best Ikigai Quote by Joseph Cambell…
“Follow your bliss.”
Hi I’m Catherine,
“I balance authentic interior design with intuitive insight to help my clients connect to their deeper selves by empowering their own creative self expression.
I create space for them to follow their desires and depth of feeling, into a new environment that supports them, mind, body, & soul”
Love,
Catherine Rose
Love,
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Welcome to Catherine Rose Design!
I also have the following blogs and resources to help you with your holistic interior design goals if you are looking for more!
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