What is my life purpose? This question is asked frequently during psychic readings. If it’s about life direction, my guides and higher beings look at the person’s path to the present moment to discover answers. If the question concerns a new career, my higher beings will look at the person’s gifts, interests and desires and provide clarity. Usually, they help pinpoint the career choice the person has always had but never entertained as being possible.
Ikigai
The Japanese have a word for life purpose: Ikigai, pronounced EEE-KEY-GUY. Ikigai is more than having a career you love. It’s doing what you love to reach a state of fulfilment by living a life of value and purpose. Everyone’s Ikigai is personal and specific to the individual. Best of all, it doesn’t have to be just one thing. For example, a person may enjoy helping others, but the person may also enjoy immersing himself or herself in art, music, photography, quilting or helping out the local little league team or cub scouts.
Tim Tamashiro is a Canadian Jazz Singer and radio star. Tim discovered over the course of multiple careers that Ikigai can be both simple and challenging: https://youtu.be/pk-PcJS2QaU.
“Ikigai is a lifestyle. It’s focused on you and how your gifts can help others. If you do what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs and what you can be rewarded for, you are able to complete countless cycles of giving gifts and receiving appreciation every day.” – Tim Tamashiro, author and musician
Take the First Step When Determining Who You Are
Ask yourself: what motivates you? What excites you? What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Oprah Winfrey in her book The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose, says your job is to determine who you are meant to be and how you can honor it as quickly as possible.
“Whatever your calling, it’s already rooted within you, and those roots can be trampled or tugged at but never removed. They grow stronger only when tended, nurtured, and most important, shared with others.” – Oprah Winfrey
What works for you may not work for someone else, so comparing yourself to others can cause frustration and move you farther away from where you need to be. After all, Ikigai is more than doing what you love, it’s a way to give your life a sense of purpose.
Take time to analyze where you are now. Realize a new way of being takes time so give yourself small, achievable tasks and steps to help you achieve your goals.
To begin, ask yourself some questions, and really think about the answers:
- What brings you happiness?
- What do you appreciate about yourself?
- How do you spend your time now? Are there any habits worth eliminating?
- Who do you spend your time with? Are you comfortable about what you are doing and who you are doing that with?
- Do you give yourself the time you need to be productive (a path forward)?
- Do you allow yourself downtime to simply be?
- Look back in time: what are some of your greatest accomplishments and mishaps? It’s important to own up to the past but not to dwell on it.
- What can you do differently that will help you achieve your goals?
- What are you grateful about? Do you give yourself time to be productive? Do you allow yourself downtime to just be?
- Look at your past accomplishments and mishaps. Acknowledge the past. Own it. Then move on. What can you do differently as you go forward that will help you achieve goals?
- What are you grateful for?
Ikigai Can Improve Your Health
Having a sense of purpose can improve mental and physical health while helping you change and grow as a person too. While your special gifts are unique to you, sharing them with others can assist you in achieving something greater. Jeremy Adam Smith, in his article “How to Find Your Purpose in Life,” says we can learn a lot about ourselves through life experiences and our connections to others. Smith recommends the following as you seek out your Ikigai:
- Read
- Turn hurts into healing for others
- Cultivate awe, gratitude and altruism
- Listen to what other people appreciate about you
- Find and build community
- Tell your story
Ikigai Can Help You Live Longer
Establishing a direction in life can help you live longer. In the Danish Twin Study, researchers looked at a set of variables to determine specific areas around the world (outside of the U.S.) where people lived to be 100 or more. The commonalities in each were surprising:
- Move naturally without thinking about it.
- Have a reason to wake up in the morning (Ikigai).
- Develop a routine to “shed the stress,” rather than retain it.
- Stop eating when your stomach is 80 percent full.
- Eat more beans, fruits and veggies and less meat.
- Drink wine moderately.
- Belong to a faith-based community – it doesn’t matter what type.
- Put the family first.
- Have a social circle that aligns with you and supports healthy behavior.
In the U.S., communities around the country are participating in blue zone experiments to improve health. In a 2008 experiment in Albert Lea, Minnesota, 25 percent of the people started walking more and eating healthier food at restaurants and cafeterias, while grocery stores offered health snacks and fruit at the checkout line instead of candy. The results astounded researchers:
“After about a year and a half, there was a 3.2-year bump in life expectancy; the community lost a combined weight of 7,280 pounds; and health care costs dropped by 40%.” – National Institutes of Health
If self-analysis seems daunting and exercise is a challenge, consider making gradual changes to your diet to feel better and live longer. In the book, The Blue Zones Kitchen 100 Recipes to Live to 100, author Dan Buettner notes some of the food guidelines to follow to improve health and longevity: eat more greens and less meat, eat less fish, reduce dairy and egg consumption, eat beans daily, reduce sugar intake, snake on nuts, eat sourdough bread over white bread, eat foods that are recognizable, drink more water, and know that it is OK to consume coffee, tea and alcohol in moderation.
Spring brings new life to all things – including you. Take the first step and find your Ikigai.