Finding your ikigai

Levels in the activity

1. Try it out 
2. Dive deeper

Level 1: Try it out 

1. Ikigai is a Japanese concept that can be interpreted as ‘life’s goal’ or ‘what makes life worth living’. The process for individuals to find their Ikigai is based on answering 4 main questions:
   1. What are you passionate about? What do you love? 
   2. What does the world need? 
   3. What are you good at? 
   4. What can you be paid for or find resources for? 
2. To try it out with learners, you can use the diagram below, and have them fill out each circle, and then cross sections, of the diagram individually with their own ideas. The Ikigai at the centre will emerge at the end of the process.
3. Invite learners to share their ideas for their own Ikigais in small groups to hear about others’ ideas and further reflect, develop or refine their own ideas. 
4. Invite learners to reflect on how their Ikigai is connected to the global ecological crisis, including growing climate resilience and fostering regeneration. 
5. Invite learners to regularly go back to their Ikigai and keep reflecting on the four main questions, allowing them to evolve and add new ideas to the diagram. 

Level 2: Dive deeper 

1. In order to dive deeper into the exercise, you can invite learners to do the exercise by asking them some follow up questions in relation to the 4 main questions, or giving them the following directions:
   1. What are you passionate about? What do you love? => Explore your past experiences to define what truly motivates you and drives you.
   2. What does the world need? => Mobilize your experience to reflect on the (ecological) causes that matter to you the most. How can you integrate those causes into your personal and professional life? 
   3. What are you good at? => Assess your unique skills and how they can be applied to make a difference. Feel free to consider unconventional paths that leverage your strengths.
   4. What can you be paid for or find resources for? => For older learners (15+), invite them to write their ideal job description: specify the work environment that best supports your well-being and productivity, define the roles and responsibilities that align with your skills and passions.
2. Those different steps can help learners clearly define their Ikigais. This can be done by inviting learners to craft a unique statement that captures their Ikigai, knowing that it will evolve with the changing professional and personal aspirations of learners. 
3. Invite learners to discuss their Ikigai, and the final statement, in small groups in order to refine them.
4. Invite learners to find other learners whose unique statement resembles theirs so as to form a small group and meet regularly. In a small group, learners can support one another, including to find the resources they need to fully implement their respective Ikigais.

Dos and Don’ts

Adaptations

We invite you to adapt this activity to the specific needs of your learners, including by taking into account their neurodiversity. When adapting tools and activities for neurodivergent learners, please note it is not about treating others how you want to be treated, but how they want to be treated. Ask, listen, and stay open to different ways of learning and engaging. 

References

This activity is based on the method developed by the Learning Planet Institute and has been adapted for CLARITY by One Resilient Earth.

Research carried out by the Learning Planet Institute on the Ikigai pedagogy: https://www.learningplanetinstitute.org/en/ikigai-2/

https://lpi-projects.webflow.io/ikigai-exclusive-access