IKIGAY
IKIGAY
IKIGAY
What’s your reason for waking up in the morning? Just trying to answer such
a big question might make you want to crawl back into bed. If it does, the
Japanese concept of ikigai could help. Originating from a country with one of
the world’s oldest populations, the idea is becoming popular worldwide as a
way to live longer and better.
a) what activities are you good at doing? What do you LOVE doing in your
life?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxj3P0enJNQ
a) What are the four components of Ikigai? Explain each in your own words.
b) What differs the time of the hunters and the gathers from nowadays?
c) According to the video, is 30,000 USD a year a good salary?
d) Define passion, mission, profession and vocation.
4. Read the following article that explain how we can discover our ikigai
and answer the questions that follow.
How to find your Ikigai?
According to Japanese culture, everyone has ikigai. Detecting our
strengths is not always easy. There are four questions that can help us
find our path. If you write them down somewhere where you come
across them regularly, you can use them as a compass bringing you
closer to your purpose.
To find your Ikigai, you must ask yourself:
1. What do I love? (passion)
2. What am I good at? (vocation)
3. What can I be paid for? (profession)
4. What does the world need? (mission)
Ikigai is the union point of four fundamental components of life:
passion, vocation, profession and mission. In other words, where; what
you love meets what you are good at, meets what you can be valued
and paid for meets that which the world needs. Ikigai is only complete
if the goal implies service to the community. We feel more satisfied
giving gifts than receiving. The next step, once you’ve identified these
components, would be to start following your compass. Start working
on your questions, and see how your answers fit in the Ikigai
fundamental components.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive
and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have
come alive.” ~Howard Thurman
What the world needs, and what people will pay for are the same.
An economist wouldn’t really see a difference between what the world
needs and what you can be paid for. If somebody needs something,
then they would be willing to pay for it. If somebody is willing to pay
for something, then they necessarily want or need it.
Even if we consider social problems like poverty and homelessness,
those with resources are willing to pay to help alleviate these
problems. We economize on the use of resources to alleviate social
problems through voluntary donations from others. Thus, somebody
with a need who cannot pay for that need to be met is still covered by
the blue-red total eclipse.
“People have the potential to create your environment. Your
environment then determines your mindset, and your mindset
determines your future”. ~Myles Munroe (The Principles and Power
of Vision)
The law of association guarantees you a spot in the division of labour.
Furthermore, the law of association guarantees that everyone has a
comparative advantage. Using the language of the Ikigai graphic above,
everybody has a guaranteed spot in what you are good at and what
you can be paid for overlap. And since the blue and the red circles are
really the same, what this means is that everybody has the profession-
vocation combination.
Everybody has a comparative advantage because even if somebody is
really good at something, it means they incur a high cost by doing
anything else. Said another way, if somebody is really good at
something, then somebody else can produce something else at a
relatively lower cost. The law of association is based on this logic. One
man’s relative productivity in A is necessarily another man’s relative
productivity in B.
Individuals find their comparative advantage by interacting with others
in the market. It is only by surveying existing producers, goods, and the
prices of those goods that one can make an informed decision on what
to produce or where to apply for jobs.
What you love and what you prefer.
The economic theory guarantees everyone a job that satisfies three
out of four of the Ikigai criteria: what the world needs, what you can
be paid for, and what you are good at.
Unfortunately, the economic theory cannot guarantee the fourth
criterion: that you love what you do. That part is up to you and your
values. Economics can guarantee, however, that you will do what you
prefer, which might be considered a broader category that
encompasses what you love to do.
The 5 pillars that enhance your Ikigai.