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.

In your opinion, what is the secret to a long,

happy and meaningful life?

1. Answer the questions below

a) what activities are you good at doing? What do you LOVE doing in your
life?

b) What do you know how to do that could be a source of income?

c) How satisfied do you currently feel with your work life?

d) What services/knowledge can you offer to make the world a better

place?
 2. Analyze the Veen diagram below wich defines the concept of Ikigai.
Then, explain in your own words what it means.

While there is no direct English

translation, Ikigai is thought to
combine the Japanese words
ikiru, meaning “to live”, and kai,
meaning “the realization of
what one hopes for”.
Together, these definitions
create the concept of “a reason
to live”, or the idea of having a
purpose in life. Ikigai also has
historic links: gai originates
from the word kai, which means
shell. These were considered very valuable during the Heian period, adding a
sense of “value of living”.

3. Watch this video on “The Japanese Formula for Happines” and

answer the questions. Take notes while watching.

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.

In addition to answering those four questions about ourselves, there is

another layer to the Ikigai concept: It is much easier to feel Ikigai when
we create social connections. This explanation is perhaps due to the
 ingrained social connections that Japanese society promotes and is
conditioned to seek.
Ken Mogi, a neuroscientist and author of Awakening Your Ikigai,
advises us to focus on what he labels the five pillars, which are:
1. Starting small
2. Accepting yourself
3. Connecting with the world around you
4. Seeking out small joys
5. Being in the here and now
To make the most of the five pillar method, Mogi suggests incorporating
this mindset in the first couple of hours after you wake up to start your
day on the right foot and get your brain accustomed to this way of
thinking.

Time to find your Ikigai.

Keeping the five pillars in mind, take 10 minutes to ask yourself those
four core questions. Be honest in your answers and see what you come
up with.
Over the next several weeks, set aside time to ponder these questions.
You might even consider journaling your answer and thinking about
how your answers change over time. Revisit them a month from now.
Six months. A year.
We cannot expect to find our Ikigai overnight. Ikigai is an
understanding of our own unique life mission, and for most, that takes
many years and it often changes. However, the more determined you
are to find your Ikigai, the more quickly you will do so.
5. Let’s focus on some expressions you heard and saw in the video and
text you read. Write down their meaning on the space below.
→ Should we focus on making more money? Should we focus on
pursuing our passions?
→ Should we give up all our material possessions and become a monk
in the mountains?
→ But this is easier said than done because there are four components
that you need to check off in order to achieve ikigai.
→ Now, the interesting thing about this Japanese formula is that you
can tell where you are in life and what you need to work on by looking
at the components you have so far.
→ It’s normal for doubt, or negative thoughts to come up during this
time.
Find synonyms to define these phrasal verbs
a) focus on
b) give up
c) check off
d) work on
e) come up
 HOMEWORK
1. Complete the sentences with the correct phrasal verb:
a) I need to _____________my English pronunciation.
b) She decided to _______________ her job and travel the world.
c) Before leaving the house, always ____________ the items on your to-
do list.
d) In order to succeed, you must ____________ your goals and work
hard.
e) Can you ____________with a creative solution to this problem?
2. Write sentences using the phrasal verbs:
a) ____________ your math skills every day to improve.
b) He was so tired of the job, he decided to ____________ and find a new
one.
c) She ____________ all the items on her shopping list before heading to
the store.
d) In order to pass the test, you must ____________ studying and avoid
distractions.
e) The team had to ____________with a new marketing strategy to
attract more customers.
3. Match the phrasal verbs to their definitions:
a) ____________ - to think of or suggest an idea or solution
b) ____________- to mark an item on a list as completed
c) ____________- to spend time and effort on something in order to
improve it
d) ____________- to concentrate on something and pay attention to it
e) ____________- to stop doing something or trying to do something,
especially because it is difficult.