Have you heard of ikigai? It’s a venn diagram of one’s life purpose which can help you find out what to blog about. It’s helped me think of my blog contents.
You want to blog about your intersection of 1. What you ❤️ 2. What you’re good at 3. What you get 💲💲💲for and 4. What the world needs.
What is Ikigai?
The concept of ikigai urges us to think of the intersection of the 4 aspects personally unique to us, in order to sustain a purposeful and happy life. My interpretation of the concept is the answer to have a fulfilled, valued, comfortable and excited life. The more you you spend time on what matches YOUR intersection, the happier life you’re bound to have. The best part is, that everyone has an ikigai. The question is whether you have thought through hard enough to identify yours.
How do you find your Ikigai?
I spent about 15 minutes to list out each of the circles, in order to find the intersection. For some others who are new to questioning yourself, it might take months. That’s ok, just make sure you think of the 4 questions for about 5 minutes / day and list down any new things that come to your mind. Remember, the more detailed and specific, the better!
For those that are struggling to list down, here are some probing questions for each circle.
What do you love to do?
- What are the areas of interests from your youtube history? Who or what do you follow on social media?
- What kind of books or magazines do you own?
- What topics excite you?
- What is your role model, or someone you aspire to be doing currently on a sustained basis that inspires you?
- What do you pay with money or with your time to do when you know you don’t get paid in return for those activities?
What are you good at?
- What certifications or licenses do you own?
- What do people often ask for your views on? Do you have experiences where you have given advice to others on, what are those topics?
- Are you able to sustain a conversation on the above topics?
- What have personal tests or surveys shown as your strengths?
What does the world need?
You do not need to think too grandly of this question. You don’t need to think of something that everyone in the world needs, but just some.
- What are your biggest problems and challenges right now?
- How can you solve the problems listed in 1?
What can you get paid for?
- What activities have you been paid for in your life so far? List all activities in order of biggest amounts to lowest amounts
- Out of the values you own, what will people pay you for?
As I started listing down the answers to these questions, I found my ikigai. My ikigai is to create a community (world) where I share the knowledge (love) I’ve gained (good at) in aging well in terms of physical, mental, social and financial aspects with those that would find value in my sharing. Hence my blog site to share the message of becoming you own role model. Once the community realises that I am solving their problems, I believe that money will follow.
Through my own exercise, I learned that there is some order to the 4 circles. You should focus first on what you love, once you keep doing what you love, you’d get good at it. As you get good at it, you will find the world that values receiving what you are good at. Once that world grows, money will follow.
What can you do after finding your Ikigai? This is what I did
I love to share what I know that has been useful to me. For example, I learned the importance of applying sunblock. Especially where I live which perpetually has UV Index of >3 throughout the year between 9am to 6pm. My problem with sunblock was that I hated applying as they were either too sticky (my face is relatively oily) or they would leave a white cast. Then, I found Biore’s Aqua Rich Watery Essence. This was such a great discovery for me that I started telling those around me, letting them try the texture as I would carry it around everywhere so I could reapply as needed. I believe I have converted more than 10 people to use this sunblock. 😁
It’s your turn!
This is my call for your action now. Take 15 minutes with a piece of paper and pen. List down as many and as detailed as possible under each of the 4 circles. Remember, have confidence that everyone has an ikigai. If you can’t find yours, you haven’t thought through or listed down in detail enough. It could take you days or minutes, I think that depends on how much you know yourself and how much you’re aware of what makes you happy. Share your findings in the comments below, I’d love to find out and have this community share the thought process of discovering everyone’s ikigai.
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