Abhay Bhat

This amazing quote from Confucius is something I came across couple of years back and made an impact on my way of living.

Having worked with Japanese counterparts and talking to them over some of our Izakaya outings, I was also exposed to a concept called ikigai (pronounced Ick-ee-guy).

ikigai is seen as the convergence of four primary elements:

• What you love (your passion)
• What the world needs (your mission)
• What you are good at (your vocation)
• What you can get paid for (your profession)

Hector Garcia, the co-author of Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life describes it as “Your ikigai is at the intersection of what you are good at and what you love doing,”. He writes, “Just as humans have lusted after objects and money since the dawn of time, other humans have felt dissatisfaction at the relentless pursuit of money and fame and have instead focused on something bigger than their own material wealth. This has over the years been described using many different words and practices, but always hearkening back to the central core of meaningfulness in life.”

Somehow my mind wanted to connect the Confucius quote to ikigai. The timing of both the events and the phase of my life was such that it was inevitable for me to connect them, maybe this was my way to experience a mid-life crisis.

Discovering your own ikigai is said to bring fulfillment, happiness and make you live longer. Not that I want to live longer, but wanted to consciously be at peace as long as I live.

Hoping each one of us are fortunate and conscious enough to discover the passion, mission, vocation and profession earlier in life to maximize the joy of experiencing it…