Would you agree that all success and all failure originate in the mind?
Every thought, every feeling you ever experienced, every decision you ever made, was all generated by your mind/brain. One of the concept generated by the Japanese mind that is extremely useful is the principles underlying the idea of ikigai, as explained by Ken Mogi in his book “The little book of Ikigai”
The Japanese word “ikigai” means “reason for living” or “reason for being”. It comes from the word “iki” which means “to live” and “gai” which means “reason”.
What has been popularized about ikigai is the notion that we can find ikigai in the intersections of 4 circles, which are “What we love to do”, “What we’re good at”, “What we’re paid for” and “What the world needs”, as shown below
The Japanese concept of what constitutes ikigai is however quite different. It has nothing to do with income, or what one can be paid for. Ikigai is actually seen as a way of life, a life philosophy that guides how to live our lives in order to find our “reason for being”
Mogi describes the 5 key pillars of ikigai as:
- Starting small
- Releasing yourself
- Harmony and sustainability
- The joy of little things
- Being in the Here & Now
Starting small is about taking personal pride in performing or producing something to a personal standard or quality, taking care of the small details
Releasing yourself is about focusing on one’s task and being in flow, forgetting about self (or ego) in the process. I love this phrase from Mogi – “You are not the master, the work is the master”. It’s also about not tying your self worth to social definitions like your profession, your social status, your body weight/shape, etc.
Harmony and sustainability is about living in harmony with nature, the environment, with people around you and with society at large. This is achieved by moderating desires and ambitions (e.g. over-consume, over-build or overdo stuff) so that there is sustainability in the overall ecosystem and in the long run. This is actually a systems thinking orientation in my opinion.
The joy of little things means taking pleasure and joy in every little thing that you do. It could be the most mundane thing like ironing your shirt or folding your clothes, but if you cultivate ikigai, you would focus on every little detail of the act and take joy in it.
Being in the here and now is about being present and mindful, being curious and noticing what is happening in the moment, within yourself and others, not rushing to make judgments.
A very critical point (Mogi calls it the greatest secret) about finding your ikigai is “to accept yourself.” Every single one of us is unique – there is only 1 you in the whole universe – there is none else like you. True happiness comes if you accept yourself.
Therefore, I would add 2 more “subpillars” to Mogi’s 5 pillars :
1. Accept yourself (your uniqueness)
2. Express your uniqueness
Finding our own ikigai is certainly something that all of us can strive to cultivate and achieve. It’s less about finding that intersection of work that we love, work that we can be paid for, doing work that the world/society needs and doing work that we’re good at. Instead ikigai is about accepting your unique self, finding your own purpose in life and self expression and integrating the 5 pillars of ikigai into your daily life.