THE VISION BOARD

Care About Your Future? Find Your Ikigai

Being in SHS comes with a lot of life-changing decisions to choose: What course should I take? What college should I go to? What career path should I map out? While these questions sound intimidating, making these decisions doesn’t have to be! To begin your journey to figuring out the answers to these questions, a helpful starting point would be looking at a common denominator behind them: your ikigai.

A Japanese concept, this roughly translates in English as “a reason for being”. This term connects all aspects of life to form a unified purpose and to achieve true fulfillment in everything one does. The concept can be visualized by four overlapping circles, with the point in which all the circles meet in the center being your ikigai. The four circles are: What you are good at, What you love, What the world needs, and What you can be paid for. To identify your ikigai, it’s best to reflect and go over each circle.

What you are good at

Knowing what you’re skillful at is definitely an important factor in answering all the questions about what you want to do in the future since it helps you figure out what is something worth doing that brings you personal fulfillment. Joining various school clubs and events will help you build an idea of what you are good at in and out of the classroom because an online class is not the only place where you can learn! List down these skills and talents of yours, from definite expertise such as public speaking, photography, or video editing, to subtle ones like your knack for organizing and planning events to taking care of pets or plants.

What you love

This component of ikigai refers to interests or activities that you enjoy and never get tired of doing. It fuels and powers you even through late nights and challenging times. In addition, looking more closely at your hobbies can help. From obvious interests such as cooking, drawing, and dancing, reflecting on finer and more low-key skills will also provide clues to answering this question, such as how one enjoys researching about anything that tickles your curiosity or tinkering around the specs and parts of a laptop or computer. Take note of activities that excitedly get you out of your bed at the thought of doing them!

What the world needs

While doing what you love and what you are good at brings personal happiness, going beyond ourselves and giving back to the community brings a sense of belonging and a different kind of fulfillment. This is one of the driving forces behind those who join youth organizations, as they want to make a difference in the world around them. To discover more about what this aspect means for you, you can research advocacies you are passionate about. Whether it’s to increase awareness about mental health or to campaign for the conservation of the environment, there are lots of causes that need your time, effort, and talent. Listen to what tugs at you to help make the world around you a better place.

What you can be paid for

Money may not be the ultimate goal of life and the cause of true happiness, but it is important for survival. Of course, everyone wants to live life doing something they love and are good at to help others, but life also includes paying for our bills and expenses. This component guides you to pinpoint a career path that is enough to provide for your needs and lifestyle choices. After all, having our wants and needs fulfilled also helps us lead a good life in connection to the other components of ikigai. 

Just remember that figuring out what your ikigai is does not happen overnight! It is something that takes plenty of time and consideration, so be gentle with yourself. Also, your ikigai is unique to you, so you can personalize your journey to discovering it to whatever ways works best for you. 

If you are a visual type of student, you can draw and map out the diagram to help you envision all of the ideas running through your mind. You can even ask people who you look up to for tips on how to navigate this crucial period in life on top of knowing more about your ikigai. On the other hand, if research is your go-to way of knowing more about things, Edukasyon.ph has a wide array of resources just for you! To lend you a hand, CARES videos are here to help you know more about coursing through your SHS life at https://cares.edukasyon.ph/.

Source:

Study International Staff. (2019, February 27). Here’s how Ikigai can improve your study skills. https://www.studyinternational.com/news/heres-how-ikigai-can-improve-your-study-skills/

 

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