Ikigai and Ubuntu

Worksheets for Download

Recording of the First Workshop

Ikigai is a method to discover one’s own meaning of life or work – the own purpose – and can help to reveal one’s own potential.

Applying Ikigai

Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced: ee-kee-gah-ee) comes from Japanese and means: «reason for being». It is similar to the French «raison d’être». According to this approach, every person has his or her Ikigai. Finding it often means a deep and long search for oneself. This search for oneself is important, not only according to Japanese conviction. Those who find their Ikigai create satisfaction and meaning in their lives. This meaning can be very different, but in the Western understanding it usually plays a role in the field of tension between belonging / security and autonomy / freedom.

The path to one’s own Igikai is accompanied by four basic principles:

1. The joy of the little things
2. Accepting yourself and letting go
3. Harmony and sustainability
4. Being in the here and now

One can approach these basic principles with the following questions:

1. The joy of the little things

• What would you like to rejoice in today?
• What would you like to be proud of today?
• What is the reason for you to get up in the morning?
• When was the last time you thought you had done something good?
• When was the last time you laughed heartily?

2.  Accept yourself and let go

• When was the last time you did something valuable for another person without asking for anything in return? What was it?
• How did you feel about it?

3.  Harmony and sustainability

• When was the last time you were in your flow?
• What happened to get you into this flow?
• What have you done more of, what less of, than usual in life?

4.  Being in the here and now

• What energy do you currently perceive?
• How coherent is this for you? What tensions do you perceive?
• Are these your assumptions or are they facts? Often we get in our own way with our own values or assumptions. What would happen if you changed your values or assumptions?
• So what do you want to do to reduce these tensions?

Fill in each box and determine the centre where all the circles intersect. When filling in, try to carry the energy from one field to the next. Ideally, you will manage to name the centre this way.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai (last visited on 12 February 2018)

Mogi, Ken (2017): The little book of Ikigai. The essential Japanese way to finding your purpose in life. Quercus.