Ikigai - Your Macro Alignment
Please watch for context of this post.
Your understanding of your purpose in life, and what is meaningful to you have done throughout your existence.
Your passion (what you love)
Understanding what your passion is takes time. Some people find it earlier in life, and that is great. Some do not seem to find it until decades into their lives. In either case it is a matter of FINDING it.
When you start working on this action, then it is as if time stops. You're fully immersed in this action.
Your vocation (what you're good at)
This is something that you come across in your career, that you somehow got really good at. Either through natural talent, or simply you put in the reps and got good at it.
When you do this action, the moves are automatic, as if your muscles know exactly what to do. I'm including your brain as a muscle in this too.
Your mission (what the world needs)
When you are remembered in your memoirs or simply to your family. This is what you are known for doing.
The world needs you to do this action, and you can't stop or else you'll be letting down the whole planet.
Your profession (what you can be paid for)
We live in a capitalistic society. I wonder if this quadrant in the venn-diagram would change if that wasn't the case. However it is, and you must earn a living to pay for your home and needs.
This is what you might drag yourself out of bed for, in order to put food on the table.
Find Your Quarterly Alignment
Whether you are chasing Ikigai, Eudaimonia, or the Sublime. The point remains that this is a major factor of your existence. Hence why I felt it was important enough to include via the PIOS - Quarterly layer.
Every quarter, or few months, you check whether or not your actions are aligned with your reason for being. The reason you want to get up in the morning. Alongside the Four Pillar philosophy, this alignment check allows you to refocus going forward.
How you do that check we'll talk about in a later post, but for today I want you to explore what YOUR Ikigai truly is, not just what comes to mind first.
Dig deep.