A

Reason
for
Being
Reflections:
 1. What do you love?
2. At what are you good at?
3. What does the world need from you?
4. For what can you get paid?
What do you love? Think of your hobbies;
Reflections:
think of what relaxes or rejuvenates you, of
what gives you energy.
At what are you good at? The second question relates to
Reflections:
your skills and competencies – they can certainly be
professional (related to what you do at work), but they
could also be personal (maybe you’re good at
landscaping, or drawing, or singing, or telling stories, or
any number of things). This is something you can
develop over time – with additional formal education,
on-the-job or classroom training, certifications,
stretch assignments, and so forth. If what you love
intersects with your strengths (questions 1 and 2), then
the ikigai says that you have found your passion(s). For
example, if you love gardening and you’re good at
gardening, your passion is gardening!
What does the world need from you? Question three
Reflections:
is all about finding what the world needs. If the
world needs gardeners and you love to garden,
you found your life’s mission.
For what can you get paid? And the last question
Reflections:
relates to what the world is willing to pay you for
doing – a market, if you will. If people need a
gardener and they are willing to pay you to garden
for them, you found a vocation. If they’re willing to
pay you for gardening and you’re really good at it
(question 2), you found your profession.
1. What do you love?
Reflections:
2. At what are you good at?
3. What does the world need from you?
4. For what can you get paid?

If what you love doing is something you’re good at doing

and something the world needs and what you can be paid
for, you’ve found ikigai – your true life’s purpose and
meaning, and a balance between what you can (and want
to) do that’s of value to the world.
Reflections: