Finding Purpose In Life2 min read

These past few days, I haven’t been feeling that energetic or motivated, despite the fact that enthusiasm is a big part of my personality and I usually like to move around a lot.

Ever since the pandemic, staying at home hasn’t been one of my favourite things to do. Although it has allowed for a lot of introspection and quality time with my family, sometimes, I feel as though I am losing sight of my purpose, which scares me.

And while it’s normal to feel disconnected sometimes, it also important to remember the reasons we do what we do. And to do that, I will talk about Ikiga: the Japanese way of finding purpose in life.

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means ‘a reason for being’. It is designed to help you find your purpose, hence allowing you to feel satisfied and accomplished with your life.

Ikigai has four elements:

That which you love

That which you are good at

That which you can get paid for

That which the world needs

So how can you find your Ikigai? Ask yourself these simple questions:

What do you love doing?

What are you good at?

What can you get paid for?

What does the world need?

Sometimes, it can feel overwhelming to have to know what you want to do in life, especially if you feel pulled by the social trajectory of society’s ideal timeline of your life.

However, the more you get to know yourself, your values, and your dreams, the less you will conform to an idea that you don’t agree with, but feel pressured to follow.

This is especially important when making important life decisions that align with your values. The truer you are to yourself, the less of a pull you will feel from society’s gravity of expectations.