Ikigai is a Japanese word that roughly means what makes life worth living. Online, it's usually explained with a diagram of four circles: what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Your ikigai is supposed to be where they meet.
But the diagram isn't Japanese. It was a diagram about purpose that a blogger renamed in 2014 by swapping out a single word. In Japan, ikigai can be something very ordinary: the grandchildren, the garden, the morning walk. And that everyday meaning is what research has measured. In a Japanese study of more than 40,000 adults, those who said they had no ikigai had higher mortality over the following seven years.
Choose your path based on where you are:
- Look in the small things if the diagram feels impossible.
- Notice what gives you energy for one week.
- Give more time to what you already have if you know what it is.
- Build a second ikigai if you want to go further.
A first step tonight: write down three things from the past week that you looked forward to.
Ikigai is a Japanese word that roughly means what makes life worth living. Online, it's almost always explained with a diagram of four circles: what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Your ikigai is supposed to be where all four meet. It's an appealing picture. But the diagram isn't Japanese, and it makes a demand the word itself never made. This article explains where the diagram comes from, what ikigai means in Japan, and what the research shows, and it offers four paths.
The diagram that swapped one word
The four-circle diagram was originally about purpose, not ikigai. In 2014, blogger Marc Winn wrote a post linking a purpose diagram like this to the word ikigai, which he'd heard in a talk about people who live to a very old age. In practice, he replaced the word "purpose" with "ikigai." The post spread, and the diagram became what most people in the West think ikigai is. Winn has described himself as the person who accidentally created the diagram.
The problem isn't that the diagram is bad. It can be a useful aid for thinking about work and career. The problem is that it turns ikigai into something very hard: a job you love, are good at, get paid for, and that the world needs. Few people have that, and anyone who doesn't may conclude that their life lacks meaning.
What ikigai means in Japan
In Japan, the word ikigai is used for whatever makes life worth living, and it can be big or small. It might be your work, but it could just as well be your children, a hobby, morning coffee with a friend, or tending the garden. The word doesn't require it to earn money or matter to the world.
- The diagram in the West Where passion, skill, need, and pay meet. Hard to reach.
- The word in Japan What makes life worth living. Can be small and ordinary.
That everyday meaning is what research has measured.
What the research has measured
In 2008, Sone and colleagues followed more than 43,000 adults in Ohsaki, in northeastern Japan. Participants were asked a simple question: "Do you have ikigai in your life?" Over the following seven years, more people died among those who answered no than among those who answered yes, even after the researchers accounted for age and other differences between the groups. The risk of death was roughly one and a half times as high. The difference was mainly due to cardiovascular disease.
The study shows an association, not that ikigai itself lengthens life. People who are ill or depressed may find it harder to feel that life is worth living. But the question was precisely the everyday one: do you have something that makes life worth living? Not: have you found the intersection of four circles? For more on meaning in life in the broader sense, see the guide to meaning.
Four paths to your ikigai
Look in the small things. For you if the diagram feels impossible. Ikigai doesn't have to be a calling. Ask yourself what you look forward to in an ordinary week: a person, an activity, a moment. First step: tonight, write down three things from the past week that you looked forward to.
Notice what gives you energy. For you if you don't know what it is. Every evening for a week, write down when you felt most alive during the day, and when you felt most empty. The pattern usually tells you more than a set of circles. First step: make your first note tonight.
Give more time to what you already have. For you if you know what makes life worth living but rarely get around to it. Schedule it the way you schedule meetings. First step: put a block of time for what gives you energy on your calendar this week.
Build a second ikigai. For you if you want to go further, and this is the most demanding path. If you have only one ikigai, often your job or your children, you become vulnerable when it changes: at retirement, when the kids move out, during an illness. Start something new that can grow alongside it, and give it time every week. First step: write down one thing you've long wanted to start and find out where you can begin.
When nothing feels worth it
Feeling at times that life lacks direction is human. But if nothing feels worth living for over several weeks, and it comes with low mood, sleep problems, or pulling away from others, talk to a doctor or health professional. If you have thoughts of not wanting to live, seek help right away. If it's an emergency, call your local emergency number.
A first step tonight: write down three things from the past week that you looked forward to.
This is the understanding and a first step. Atlas is where it becomes a habit. Under Meaning you'll find The gratitude line, one concrete line each day about something you're grateful for, and The compass, where you rate how closely you lived by your values today. After a few weeks, you'll see what makes your days worth living. Try Atlas free for 7 days, and cancel whenever you like.