Have you found your Ikigai?

Continuing our series from the book by Dr Chaterjee (‘The Stress Solution’) we are looking this week at Ikigai.  Now I know that I risk losing half of you now – try to hang on !

Ikigai is a Japanese word – Iku means ‘to live’ and gai ‘ reason’. 

Have you found you rikigai?   Does your life meet these four criteria, do you have in your life;

·         Something you love

·         Something that you are good at

·         Something the world needs

·         Something you can make money from

Why am I asking?  The chances are that if you have this then you are happy and healthier.  I realise that we are expecting a lot to tick all four of those boxes and those of us who can are very lucky.  If you are in a job that you don’t particularly like then getting up (especially on these cold dark mornings) can be a struggle.  (I love early mornings).

If you don’t feel particularly good at anything then your feelings of self worth can suffer.  Can you do a course, read a book, do something on line to improve a skill that you have?  I started a master’s degree this week – let’s push the boundaries! 

Do you do something that the world needs?  This is a big challenge, my daughter is an anaesthetist – I think the world needs good doctors – but we can’t all be doctors.  But can we all do something that the world needs?  Your job might not be an imperative for the world – but the way you live your life can be.  The world needs kindness – we can all be kind.

And of course, we do need to make money.  Lucky are those people who can make money out of their hobbies but lucky too are those who do a job they enjoy that pays the bills.  And if you don’t love your job?  Well, is it time for a change?  Would you feel happier, healthier and more fulfilled?

So – if you don’t have these lovely four things in your life what can you do about it?  It might just make a difference to your life and your health.