I’ll admit it’s been a minute. I’m actively trying to pursue a dream, one that I’ve had in the ol subconscious but never devoted much time to. It’s not to say my itchy feet don’t still ache for adventure, something wild, to leave the normalcy of ‘real life’ behind. They do, but in a different, more purposeful way. Now these soles tread with intention rather than just freely wandering all over the place (though that’s cool too). 

I’ve hit an obvious milestone in my life. It’s weird reflecting on your own maturity. My relationship is a large contributor, it’s something that tied me down to one location at the moment but kept me sane. While having time to reflect I’m hit more and more with this desire to feel useful. Wanting to be of use to the world at large, and wanting to take advantage of my abilities.

I’ve always felt this void in my adult life. My minds on auto pilot a lot of the time. When I took my latest bartending gig, I had this moment where I realize asking people whether they “wanted it to go” hurt my soul in a way it never had before. Knowing this isn’t some means to an end, that I’m not saving up for an imminent tropical getaway, and this was just ‘my job’, it sucked and I needed more. 

The thing is, I’ve been a little lost for solutions. People much more intelligent, with a much better education than myself, struggle to succeed financially, and is this even about the money? What it boils down to is purpose. It’s important to have PURPOSE, to feel like you’re built for something greater.

Not long ago, I stumbled across a picture with a Japanese term ‘ikigai’. Ikigai, to sum it up, is asking yourself ‘what is the thing that makes my life worthwhile, my reason for being?’ Then you take that question one step further, ‘what is something that involves my talents, something the world needs and is something that I can be paid for’? And that’s ikigai baby, the center of it all, the ANSWER. Seeing it laid out the way it was helped me prioritize my time and thoughts tremendously, and while working on myself, I’ve also worked to better understand the origin of the word and it’s intent.

Ikigai, you must say it with a smile to pronounce it correctly, is actually two separate words; Iki meaning life, Gai meaning purpose. To understand Ikigai you must understand the substantical difference between ‘a job’ and ‘your work’. A job is a means to generate income. A job helps you pay for your car, your house, your insurance and so on. Your work is something that involves mental or physical effort in order to achieve a purpose or a result. Your work gets your blood flowing, puts your brain to use, your works brings you great joy and a feeling of satisfaction. Once you understand this, you can begin.

Ikigai is a puzzle, picture the term in the center of these four statements; 

do what you love, 

do what the world needs, 

do what you’re good at,

do what you can be rewarded for. Take note rewarded can mean with money, or with good feeling. 

Maybe your ikigai isn’t about a career at all, maybe it’s all about a feeling of wellbeing. It’s time to get thinking, and there isn’t one simple solution. Tim Tamarshiro recommends starting Ikigai part time in the beginning, during those hours before your job and after. Start with a theme, something you love but know that beyond your own enjoyment and reward comes the ‘why’? Why am I doing this, and does the world need this or can I devote myself to something more meaningful? Then continue from there.

When I think of my own ikigai, for as long as I can remember I’ve worked a meaningless job to save for something I was passionate about, but travelling would always come to an end because of a lack of funds. This became a vicious cycle, one where I was in my opinion wasting more time than I was enjoying. Add in this unavoidable feeling that I could be doing more, that I am a person with a strong mind and that I have a great artistic skill set that’s been neglected and my journey had to begin. TO CREATE, TO PROVIDE, TO INFORM are my actions. The purpose here is to no longer work lifelessly in order to experience life and passion in small doses, but to work WITH passion. It seems relatively simple at first, but finding that sweet spot between something profitable that empowers you AND justifying it’s use-fullness to the world at large, isn’t the simplest task.

DO NOT GIVE UP, I know we each have our own struggle and it may seem like a tremendous feat to chase dreams at this stage in the game, but do it for yourself. Time passes quickly, and you have the ability today, to make a real genuine change to your tomorrow.