How Close Are You to Achieving Ikigai?

According to Psychology Today, back in 2008 Toshimasa Sone and colleagues at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine concluded a seven-year longitudinal study of 43,000+ Japanese adults. "The researchers found that individuals who believed that their life was worth living were less likely to die than were their counterparts without this belief."

The Japanese word for this sense of purpose is ikigai. It means believing that your life is worth living. Google the word, and you're likely to find an image that looks like this:

Here's how Psychology Today summarized the researchers' results. "95% of respondents who reported a sense of meaning in their lives were alive seven years after the initial survey versus about 83% of those who reported no sense of meaning in their lives."

So, if you want a longer and more fulfilling life, seek Ikigai. I’d like to make that easier for you, with the following observation…

Four boxes. Three possible colors. Where do you rank?

There’s no correct answer, just your answer. Before you can decide where to go or what to change, you need to understand where you are today.

I’d love to hear how you drew your Ikigai.