How to Ikigai. Tim Tamashiro

      When the locals see Slomo skate toward them, they cheer. They call out, “Hey Slomo!” They applaud for him. Slomo doesn’t see a single one of their faces, but that doesn’t matter. He’s not an asshole anymore. He escaped. The people are cheering for him because he does what he wants to. Slomo’s Ikigai is to feel joy. It’s what he’s good at. It’s what he loves to do. It’s what he sends out into the world. It’s what he gets back in return.

      If you could do what you wanted to, what would you do? There are no limits or rules. I know a man who is a Scotch whiskey expert. I know another man who finds joy each day in handcrafted Japanese knives. I also know a “wolf lady.” Dr. Seuss had it right when he wrote, “Today you are you, it’s truer than true. There’s no one alive who is youer than you.” But who are you?

      You Are Not Your Job. You Are

      Your Work.

      You are not your job. You are your work.

      According to Dictionary.com, the definition of a job is “a paid position of regular employment.” You need a job, so you can pay your bills, have a roof over your head, and put food in your belly. It’s a reality of the world you live in. It costs money to live and survive.

      But work is something much different. The definition for work is “activity involving mental or physical effort in order to achieve a purpose or a result.” Work is something you do on purpose. The result is a more meaningful you. You are your work.

      When John Kitchin lived his life as a successful doctor, he lived his life as his job. He realized that he went to his job every day, so he could build his bank account. It seemed fulfilling to him at first. But as his job progressed, so did his commitment to the almighty dollar. Money was the way he measured his success. But over time, he began to question his motivation. John recalled days when he would be driving home in one of his fancy sports cars and wonder, “How much of the day promoted me spiritually, and how much of it promoted me financially?”

      John was asking profound and important questions about the way he lived his life. John was asking about the way most of us live our lives. Most of us start off life as spiritual beings. We did activities every day for the pure joy if it. We grew older and more educated. We began to see the world as a collection of needs. Then the adulting started, and we got sucked into the vortex of money, money, money. We believe that our days are meant only for making money. When we earn more money, we can buy more stuff. We believe that more money and more stuff would make us happier. Eventually, John realized something that shifted his understanding of reality. In a video interview about his life, John said that focusing every day as an adult on financial progress is “the most absurd, stupid way of going through a life, but we are all doing it.”

      Again, he wondered, “How much of my day promotes me spiritually, and how much of it promotes me financially?” Try asking yourself the same question.

      Let Serendipity Be Your Copilot

      If you’re like most people, you live life like John Kitchin once lived his life. It’s what we’ve been conditioned to do. Is it possible to live any other way? You bet it’s possible. Mike and Anne Howard have followed their Ikigai without having a job for the past eight years. They focus on their work instead. They focus on their Ikigai.

      Leading up to their wedding, Mike and Anne dreamed about all the amazing places they could go to on their honeymoon. They started to write out a list of places to go and things to do. Their list grew longer and longer.

      They figured that they could go on a ten-day honeymoon anywhere they wanted to; but was it enough? What would life be like after the honeymoon?

      As they scratched out more and more ideas on their honeymoon list, their minds began to shift. Anne and Mike began to dream bigger. A honeymoon would be lovely. A HoneyTrek would be an adventure. They came up with the most amazing idea to take a one-year trek for their honeymoon. When the year was up, then they’d come back home and resume life like everybody else. Boy, were they in for a surprise. They’ve been on their HoneyTrek for eight years.

      Mike and Anne’s reasoning for their adventure turns conventional thinking on its head. Conventional thinking steers people to get a job, earn money, save money, retire, and then travel. Instead, the HoneyTrekkers decided to travel early and to do all the things they wanted to. They chose to see their HoneyTrek as an investment in their entire lives. They were especially inspired by one pearl of wisdom from writer Randy Komisar, who wrote, “And then there is the most dangerous risk of all—the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”