How Ikigai Can Help You Find Your Purpose in Life

How do you find your purpose in life?

This universal question is one most people ask themselves at least once or twice (or probably more) in their life. There are certainly no shortage of problems in this world that need solving, no cap on the number of people we could help and no limit on the number of passions we can pursue.

Even so, our life purpose often feels challenging to discover.

In our recent interview with Vicky Tsai, the founder of Tatcha, a modern skincare brand inspired by Japanese beauty rituals, she brought up the Japanese concept of “Ikigai.” Ikigai which translates to “the reason of being” is having a direction or purpose in one’s life. This is a concept which Vicky said changed the nature of her life.

We can think of this as the reason that one jumps out of bed every morning and what makes our life worthwhile. Finding and living in our purpose is key to having a life that is meaningful and fulfilling. Vicky suggests that in order to find your true fulfillment, it is important to “put aside your ego and not care what others think of you.” Let’s face it -- sometimes we put too much emphasis on what others and the outside world think of us and our actions can become the very reason that prevents us from living purposefully and meaningfully.

Vicky proposes a practice that will help find one’s purpose: Take some magazines (or print some random online news articles) and highlight/cut out some images and words that stand out, resonate with you, or you simply find interesting. She explains that there should be a common theme in the chosen photos which is a reflection of your authentic desires. These authentic passions should be innate and exclude your ego.

From this practice, you can find out what drives you, energizes you, and what you are willing to sacrifice for. Are these themes reflective of your family? Religion? Social justice issues?

Funny enough, Vicky wasn’t the first guest who discussed Ikigai. In one of our earlier episodes, Ashley Merrill, the founder of Lunya and the new Chair of Outdoor Voices, introduced us to the concept of Ikigai.

Ashley explained to us that the Ikigai exercise involves a few easy steps:

Draw 4 overlapping circles. Try to make them roughly the same size and shape. Additionally, leave some room between the left and the right circle (don’t let them touch each other!)
Make 4 lists and title them the following:
- What I love (Passion)
- What I’m good at (Profession)
- What the world needs (Mission)
- What I can be paid for (Vocation)
Fill in your lists (see below).
Identify the similarities on the lists and add them to the circles and name them Passion, Profession, Mission, and Vocation (see below).
The spaces where all your circles overlap is your Ikigai. The last step in the process is to craft your Ikigai by making it a verb and putting it into a sentence.

We encourage everyone to take steps to getting closer to discovering what “makes them tick.” Finding “Ikigai” - our life’s purpose - is a lifelong journey. It is absolutely okay to take this one step at a time; it is normal to take pauses and reevaluate. We will all encounter frustrations along the way, but we can come closer to living a meaningful and fulfilling life.