Hey everyone !
I am introducting a new format to my personal development journals. Now, I decided to try a video content along with footage that I gathered from my travels.
Today, I'd love to talk about Ikigai.
What even is Ikigai? Ikigai in its simplest concept can mean having a sense of purpose in life. But around the self-improvement niche, that word is attached to the idea that you find a thing which overlaps between your passion,getting paid, a mission and a skill as well as something you love to do. It all started with the book under the same title Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles that in my opinion popularized this Japanese way of living.
Ikigai is something a lot of people pursue these days due to the notion that if you find the middle ground of everything, it would be a lot easier to wake up in the morning and live your life.
However I find that there is somehow no Ikigai to me because mixing what I love to do and my hobby as well as something I am getting paid for, did not really work. Again, It’s not that I tried, I definitely tried.
It all started when I was back in my hometown. While I was home, I was observing how people around me who work in a corporate environment run their life. “Wagie” as I like to call it among my friends. They lead a good life. They go on a vacation once every few months, they truly enjoyed it. They go somewhere nearby once every two weeks, they go to a coffee shop every now and then.and On top of that, they have a hobby that doesn’t really make them think, “ how do I make money from it” which adds a lot more stress because a hobby is really something you do for fun. Emphasizes on the word for fun.
So,after a while and realizing that my current way of living is no longer suitable and sustainable to me, I decided to separate everything.From my passion that I couple with something I professionally make money from. A hobby standalone, and a vocational skill that I like to do once in a while to support my professional life. Perhaps, Ikigai works but to me, it just doesn’t fit into how I ideally want my life to be. Now that I have a standalone hobby, I thoroughly enjoy every bit of it and don't really stress out about monetizing my hobby. And that restores a lot more enjoyment and offers the benefits that a hobby should have.
That’s all for today’s journal and see you around soon.
Let me know what you think of ikigai in the comment section.
▶️ 3Speak
Very cool to listen to this reflection upon the idea of meaning in life. It seems that it usually doesn't to try to monetize everything we do. It brings stress and more often than not we could end up disliking something we loved to do. It has happened to me before.
I guess my choice for separating things in life went on the same direction. I do have a hobby that gets me money, but that isn't actually the whole objective of the activity as it isn't breaking even. Maybe it'll never do, but that's fine as it keeps my busy and enjoying my time away from technology.
When people mention ikigai, it sounds a lot like the horoscope thing. Looking for meaning in the stars' alignment and a purpose are very weird ideas. Seems like it tries to take off from your shoulders the weight of the responsibility of existence. It is a dreadful thing, yes, but it is there and our lives go about whatever we make them to be.
By the way, cool thing. I didn't know you were making vlogs. Nice listening to you.
Hahah yeah, I mean I make a good separation of everything now and I feel a lot better about it. I used to make vlogs but I recently upgraded my gear, so I'll be making a lot more video content 😊. Thanks for checking out!
Great to see the video journal. Your voice is excellent. It takes skill to do this. I cringe at the idea of hearing my own voice on recording because I sound like an over-excited howler monkey.
I like the idea of ikagai, it's very Japanese. Find harmony and balance in what you do.
hahaha I actually cringe too hearing my voice but I used to be an MC and works as radio jockey when I was 15. I am just trying to get back into these thing again hehe. There's a channel where I learn how to improve my vocal and it's part of my daily routine now and trying to make it a goal to improve my voice.
There are a lot of japanese concept that I think very helpful and I think it should be explored a lot more.
That's fantastic! I was wondering why you sounded so calm and natural.
I think you are looking at ikigai at a too surfaced angle.
Ikigai helps you to find the core of your character, which links to your hobby, work, passion and mission.
Like your friends who enjoyed life and work and kept thinking "what can I make money out of it", I may not be 100% accurate, but their Ikigai is to constantly being creative.
If they go to all different vacations and also love to keep innovating new businesses that eventually generates income and doesn't mind sharing and caring with their findings, then yes, creativity could be the ikigai.
So you need to ask yourself: what makes me motivated when I play, work, help and look further? Find the common ground of feeling / action that relates to all of them and then you will find your ultimate ikigai; which for me, is God's calling.
That being said, if you are on survival mode, consistently worrying how to survive, enough food to eat and bills to pay (for yourself or family) will block your search for your ikigai because it kills it.
I encourage you to keep journaling, especially highlight out the key things that spikes your happiness, then when you are much more relaxed, reread your journals and see if you can find a common ground.
Hope that helps.
I guess so. Maybe I should reevaluate again and maybe I can find a common ground between them all but for now, that's the conclusion I have came across.
You should, because there's no way you can find a job that covers all areas. haha. Even my ikigai doesn't cover the same job (that makes money) but does influence the things I do in life, on HIVE and on my job
I came across this concept before and I struggled to find that kind of job. My job is not my passion but pay me good money. I also have a good relationship with my team so it is a quick win. It actually made me nervous more than helping with the idea of finding something to do that paid well and is my passion. I think I am like you, my ideal lifestyle would be doing my job that paid good money for like 3 days a week and then the rest of my time would be for hobbies and things that makes sense in my life, showing me my real purpose why I come to this world. Thanks for sharing Mac
I'd love doing that too hehe. But sometimes I became too workaholic that I didn't even want to stop even when I want to. regardless like you, I strive to have a day off whenever I can and enjoy doing my hobby which is gaming lately and sometimes catching up with my friend.