Ikigai : Living a happy and purposeful life.

Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to live. The modern lifestyle is filled with stress as we chase money every day. Our society measures success based on our material possessions which leads us to live in the rat race. Every day we are so busy chasing money and material possessions to keep up with the Joneses that we forget to live.  The irony of our life is that we spend money that we do not have to impress people we do not like and who do not even care. In our competitive world is that it is considered normal for a new mother to live the newborn baby with the baby sitter and go to work so that she can pay the baby sitter even though the mother is the best teacher and the caregiver for her child. We spend our health chasing the wealth and then try to regain health when it is too late by spending the wealth we have gathered. We take more care of our tangible commodities like our expensive cars, houses, and other material possessions at the cost of intangible commodities like our health, relationships, time, and joy. Stop trading intangibles for tangibles.

More we chase money; more it eludes from us. Our chase for money has led us to a point where our professional life is filled with competition and stress. The stress and competition at the cost of our health and relationships are considered to be new normal. Happy hours at a bar after work to forget the stress is acceptable. People succumb to Alcohol, smoking, and substance abuse to forget the stress. All these factors have a detrimental everlasting effect on our emotional, physical, mental, and social wellbeing. When you find a profession where you can replace competition with cooperation and collaboration, you will replace stress with calm and bliss.

A True definition of success is not our material possessions but it is to live a life of significance. Ask yourself am I adding value to anyone? As a human, we are not just supposed to live to earn a loaf of bread. We are supposed to help other human beings, bring smiles and comfort to others, add value to them, and empower them to live better. We are supposed to serve others, be a leader who leads by example, and be a blessing in the lives of others.

True happiness and satisfaction will come from living a purposeful life. A life where we have time for ourselves and others, where we have time to develop nurturing relationships, A life where we are serving others, helping others, and being a reason for joy to someone else. We do not even have to work hard to find someone who we can serve. The easiest way to spread hope and cheer is to say kind words, give a compliment, be grateful, do a small act of service, give a smile to a total stranger without expecting anything in return. Anyone can make money but very few can create wealth. Wealth comes by serving others and living a purposeful life. When we serve others unconditionally, we earn blessings. Wealth is generated by earning blessings.

Have you heard about a concept called “Ikigai”? It is a Japanese concept which means our reason for being. It is a field of unlimited potential, 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. In other words, it can be explained as Our Purpose or Our Dharma. In short, it means that when there is alignment between our strengths, values, what world needs, our passion, and our vision, work does not feel like work. Work becomes fun. There is no stress or competition. We do not feel the need to take a vacation from our work. At this point, a legacy is built. When we are living a purposeful life, there is no stress, we have developed long-lasting nurturing relationships and we are living a healthy and happy life. Most of the people are so busy trying to make their ends meet that they do not have time to identify their purpose. If they can take money out of the way, they can live their passion.

Here are a few steps to find your Ikigai:-

1)   List your strengths / What am I good at?

2)   List your passion or make a list of what makes you feel alive or what do I love?

3)   How can I convert my strengths and my passion for something which can bring a living? What can I be paid for?

4)   Research and identify what the world needs or how can I use my strengths and passion to serve others?

As your life and productivity coach, I can help you identify your Ikigai. Feel free to click here and schedule a free discovery call.