What is Ikigai?

Good morning everyone,

I hope you’re keeping well 🙂

When it comes to wellness concepts from around the world, Japan has a wealth of deeply fascinating and inspiring ones to choose from, one of which is a term called “Ikigai”. We’re going to be exploring the term “ikigai” and its role in your life in today’s blog!

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

Ikigai is a traditional Japanese concept that permeates every aspect of life throughout Japan. There are some that believe that it is the reason for the Japanese’s happiness and the longevity of its culture. The term originates from two Japanese words: ‘iki’ meaning ‘life’ and ‘gai’ meaning ‘value’ or worth.

To put it simply, your ikigai is your life’s core purpose and motivation, it’s what truly brings happiness to you and inspires you to get out of bed each day. For a lot of people, they solely associate the concept of ikigai with their career and their working professional life, however, I believe that this extends far further than they give it credit for.

Whether it is your job, your family and friends, your materialistic possessions, your memories and life experiences, a combination of all of the above or something else entirely, it all comes down to what genuinely motivates and inspires you, there is no right or wrong answer here.

You may find that your ikigai evolves over time, as you go through life and experience more of what the magic of life has in store for you. This is completely natural and, in my opinion, is something that you should actively embrace. As people, we are in a state of constant evolution, and with this comes a vast set of new goals, aspirations and ideals, what those are is entirely up to us and the pathways that we take to accomplish them may end in success, or they may not, such is the nature of life.

If you find that your ikigai stays the exact same throughout your life, this is not a bad thing necessarily, and it by no means reflects that you have not experienced any growth or that your horizons have expanded over time. It could just be a case that your initial purpose for life has stuck with you and it is something that you channel your entire life into achieving, which is completely fine too.

Taking the time to truly uncover what your ikigai is is so important. It holds the key to your happiness, to finding purpose in your life, to inspiring you to maximise your life, in whatever way that may be for you. Understanding and appreciating your ikigai will help lead you to a future of prosperity, of happiness and one where you feel fulfilled for all that you have accomplished, as well as the things that you have yet to achieve.

No matter what this week has in store for you, don’t forget the power of ikigai and the difference that it can make to your life and to your future, you won’t regret it 😉

That’s all for today’s blog, what do you think? Had you heard of the word ikigai before? Are you going to try and incorporate it into your life going forward? Would you like to see more blogs like this in the near future?

Be sure to let me know your thoughts and answers to the above questions, either in the comments below or through our Facebook page!

Thanks for reading & I hope you have a lovely day!