Discovering your why … why it’s worth it
Why do you do the work you do?
Why does your company exist?
Why does it make sense to stop for a moment and focus on our “why“?
This space is dedicated to you, to issues related to personal and professional growth, human resources and change management.
As anticipated in the previous article, we want to start from the “why“, from what they call “Ikigai” in Japan: Stephanìe explains what it means, how to do it, but above all and, precisely, why!
Most of us know what he does in life … I am a manager, I am an executive, I am a salesperson, I am a dad, I am a mom, I am a citizen, …
Others know how they do it … with enthusiasm, seriousness, professionalism, dedication, perseverance, commitment, passion, …
But few, very few, know why … why did I choose to do and continue to do the work I do? Because I chose the company where I work / I created – and here the answer “salary” or “profits” is not valid, that is a result of what I do- … what is the reason why I chose to undertake or create myself this profession?
We are not used to focusing on our why. It’s not a matter of lack of skill or desire … it’s just a cultural aspect.
In fact, since childhood we are used to adapting to what our family, our school, our society and ultimately the world we are part of do. We adapt to norms, rules, traditions, habits. We imitate and “mimic“, for better or for worse, those around us (what in “jargon coaching” we call “modeling“), to fuel our growth and gradually build our character, finding “our” place in the world, simply by “fitting in”.
There are other cultures, other contexts!
There is, for example, a culture where it is “normal“, from an early age, to have a mentor – an adult as a parent, a grandfather / grandmother, an uncle / hunt – that helps each child to reason on their own why and create his own place in the world, based on what he likes to do, what he is good at doing, what he could be and do for others.
This place is one of the places where people are happiest and live longest.
It is the place where the martial art of Karate was also born.
This place is located in Japan, this place is called Okinawa!
All Okinawa natives have their own Ikigai.
Ikigai (生き甲斐) in Japanese means “reason for being“.
The term Ikigai is composed of iki (生き), which means “life” and kai (甲斐) – when in sequence expressed as gai – “meaning“. So “a meaning for life“, that is … a reason to get up in the morning!
Finding your “Ikigai” requires starting a journey of introspection and research: the discovery of your Ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life.
Ikigai in summary
Here, schematically, how Ikigai expresses itself:
From the east: Ikigai in the west!
This philosophy was brought to the western world by the great communicator and speaker Simon Sinek, who with great skill, simplified the concept and translated it into the “Golden Circle“, explaining how, reversing the way we traditionally think – from what, to the how, to the why – we have the opportunity to start instead from the “why” of every thought and action.
Why? To make sure that the why itself is the North Star that guides us to navigate the sea of life.
Start with your Ikigai today!
As explained in the previous article, life has become so rich and rowdy that floating in the sea instead of sailing it could become a lethal risk. We could reach unwanted destinations or remain “lost” in the waves.
Turning our attention within us … on what we love to do, our values, our talents, our attitude means that we can train our mind and our emotions to bring out our “leadership” skills, creating our tailor-made trip with the aim of reaching dreams, coveted and deserved goals.
Working on our Ikigai is a great opportunity.
In doing so we invert the magnetic “poles” and begin to attract other people and organizations that have a similar “Ikigai” and therefore we also start to have “travel companions“. Joining forces with these people causes our why to become stronger, and the same happens to others. The reason then becomes an enormous driving force as has already happened in the past with Martin Luther King, the Wright Brothers, Nelson Mandela, Rita Levi Montalcini and today Greta Thunberg and Apple.
WATCH THE VIDEO ON IKIGAI!
From personal to collective Ikigai
Working on your Ikigai is a sort of “audit” that is worth doing every year, to produce a “human” balance of what the state of affairs really is, on an individual level, but also collectively.
Every business should have its own Ikigai.
Vision, mission, objectives: this is what we mean when we talk about “organizational” Ikigai!
The goal is to find the identity of the company, transform a single vision into an “organization“, increasingly align what is “dropped from the top” (Top-Down) with the “feel” and the Collective “being” (Bottom-Up), creating a continuous flow, bringing “how we would like to be” – the goal, to “how it really is” – the journey.
It is definitely an exercise of “Brand Marketing”, but not only! What is certain is that this “operation” works if all the collaborators are involved.
Various brands have started to think about their “Ikigai“, making this a beacon for what they do and how they do it.
Nescafè made a beautiful video on his Ikigai: here it is!
In Okinawa “be happy every day“: this is their Ikigai!
What is your Ikigai instead?
If you don’t know and want to embark on a new journey that will lead you to the discovery of your “why” we can travel together!
You can contact us directly by writing to leanpeople@gianesincanepari.com!
Discover our entire leadership program here too!
Stephanìe Vella
We put people at the center of the organization.
This is a special space, in our blog, dedicated to you, to issues related to personal and professional growth, human resources and change management, where you will be able to confront yourself with our expert Stephanìe and Chiara.
We will give voice directly to those who work with organizations and above all people every day.
Stay up to date, soon we will come out with another article.