Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced [ikiɡai]) is a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being.” It is similar to the French phrase, raison d’être. Everyone, according to Japanese culture, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self. [1]

“I am doing work that has both meaning and impact and that I am passionate about; plus I am getting paid for it. What more could I want?” – was my reply when the other day, a friend asked me how I like living here in Istanbul and my job as Compliance Officer in a pharmaceutical company.

Now I recall why the ikigai diagram [2] resonated so much with me immediately when I first saw it. For me ikigai is closely related to, if not synonymous with, a feeling of personal integrity.

If you liked these, you may also enjoy my posts “Losing with Integrity – Two Integrity Tales” , “Integrity, Physics and Turkish Coffee” and “Measuring Integrity – a basic model from first principles”.

References:

[1] Source: Wikipedia

[2] https://journal.thriveglobal.com/amp/p/9871d01992b7