This Simple Japanese Idea Will Change How You Think About Your Entire Life

this video is sponsored by the interactive visual learning app imprint get a free 7-Day trial and 20% off in annual premium membership using the link in the description we are all compelled by purpose we perceive the world in the form of reasons and justifications this includes of course most fundamentally ourselves why are we here what should we do with ourselves while we are here why should we do this and not that that and not this we need a defined reason for our existence to feel good about it to want to keep going to feel like the day is bright and worth getting up and soaking in this drive for purpose is like many things likely derived from evolutionary processes according to the psychologist Eric Clinger the search for meaning and purpose is rooted in biology to the extent that goal striving is a biological imperative of all Zoological organisms in order to survive and thrive our ancestors needed to achieve essential goals and the striving and Desiring of a purpose and role within a community and the species more broadly was crucial to motivation for this as time went by and our cognitive and symbolic capacity evolved Clinger also suggests that our biological drive for purpose evolved or at least altered alongside resulting in the desire for higher more conceptual forms of purpose along with Humanity's cognitive Evolution Humanity's social environments have of course also evolved significantly today for most of us there are not merely a few clear important things that we need to get done for ourselves and our communities there there is a near infinite number of things we can do our potential role and impact spanning across the globe each role containing varying degrees of social significance each conting significance somewhat differently each varying in how enjoyable the role is or could be the joyfulness of each largely dependent on the individual's preferences and each role paying out different amounts of money needless to say it can all be very complicated and overwhelming it does not help that in every moment the clock is ticking toward its final tick for each of us and for most of us before we even really realized the clock had started we were told hurry up pick we were toddlers when we were first asked what we want to be when we grow up and we are far from grown up before we are expected to have it all figured out the pressure to have it figured out although unreasonable is well intended a sense of purpose even a fleeting and elcer one or one that sometimes falls short can make all the difference in the quality of one's experience of their life daily weekly yearly and upon final reflection when one looks back on their life to determine if what they did was at the very least consistent with who they are and what they wanted to try but amongst the infinite options and complexity of things how do we do this how do we pick what we want to try and feel good about it the Japanese philosophical concept known as eeky is extremely useful and insightful to consider when dealing with this challenge the term translates Loosely into reason for being iigi goes as far back as the hon period of Japanese history between 794 in 1185 and was primarily associated with and practiced in Okinawa Japan the concept was first formally introduced and explored by the Japanese psychiatrist CIA Mako in the 1960s broadly ikigai focuses on the dynamic interplay between objects of meaning and the experience of meaning within a social context in the words of the psychologist inui katua ikigai relates to the sources or objects that bring value or meaning to life and a feeling that one's life has value or meaning because of the existence of of its source or object many researchers credit igi's influence on the lifestyle of okinawans as a reason for their historically long life expectancies having one of the highest numbers of 100 plus year olds per capita as well as being a place where people have significantly less desire to retire according to the concept we all have an eeky guy or reason for being but we deviate from it or neglect to attain it when we pursue and do things that aren't properly aligned with the few key objectives and domains of life broadly igi's two primary objectives include achieving states of flow or being intensely and fully immersed in activities and providing value to the world these objectives are attained through Devotion to activities and people that bring states of Joy well-being and fulfillment a more traditional form of eigi Simply involves appreciating the small and simple things of Life expressing and living with authenticity having a healthy diet and routine living in harmony with one's community and the natural world and focusing on the present moment Over time however especially in the modern Western world eigi has evolved and been popularized in a form that somewhat Alters the original idea into a more tangible formulaic and prescriptive form more Central to one's work and career so it goes with every Western interpretation of everything although it's important to note this deviation the popularized form is nonetheless more likely to be applicable and practical for most modern individuals and so that is what we will primarily be focusing on from here forward a according to the modernized popular conception of the philosophy achieving one's EIG guy is done through locating the intersection of four key domains of life what you are good at what you love what the world needs and what you can get paid for what you are good at this domain is largely based on honest self-awareness and experimentation we are all naturally better at some things than other things and would be better at those things than most people if we pursued them we each have our own genetic makeups and environmental circumstances that ultimately culminate into a particular set of abilities it's just a matter of uncovering and recognizing these abilities and then applying them to things in the world most of us at least have an idea of what these things are or might be we each have an internal barometer that we should generally trust that directs us through a process of play and experimentation toward these things things that seem to come out of us naturally as if we were almost conduits to them from some other dimension we have no awareness or control over to find our eeky guy we must first locate these things what you love what we are good at is often what we enjoy doing it's certainly far easier to enjoy doing something when you are good at it but of course this isn't always the case there are plenty of things we might be good at that we despise or things we enjoy doing but we'll never be good at for eeky however we need to find where both overlap like determining what we are good at determining what we love is entirely based on self-awareness and self assessment the challenge however is being honest with ourselves and parsing out external pressures that might have tried to convince us that there are other better things to love that we don't actually paradoxically often the harder we try to find this intersection of both what we love and what we are good at the further we can move away from it the American poet and novelist Charles Bukowski a man who spent the majority of his life trying to realize his purpose of writing finally succeeding at it in his 50s once wrote we work too hard we try too hard don't try don't work it's there looking right at us aching to kick out of the closed womb in this Bukowski suggests that if we have to try to find something try to do something perhaps it isn't the right thing what the world needs some of the things that we're good at and like might not have extrinsic value that's fine not everything needs to be for something else but for it to satisfy the criteria of eeky it must provide something to the world that the world needs particularly in a sustainable way the problem here is given the vast complex conditions of the modern world as opposed to the clear simpler conditions of smaller communities what does benefit and provide value to the world how many people say and perhaps believe that they are making the world a better place only to provide some slop of a product or service that primarily produces problems for the consumer or Humanity more broadly we are terrible at determining what the world truly needs thus this domain can be difficult of course there are plenty of roles and services that are clearly and tangibly valuable First Responders doctors teachers construction workers and so on these sorts of roles are much easier to consider in these terms but there are of course lots of other roles and things we can do and if in the two prior domains what we are good at and what we love we do not find ourselves pointed in this clear tangible direction we are left only to our best judgments deep down however if we are honest with ourselves and with what we do we likely know and are likely able to provide what is some value to the world all we can do here is try our best what you can be paid for an easy metric to determine the value you might be providing to the world is how much you are or could be paid for it here too though it's not always that simple consider how important teachers and nurses and rescue workers are few people would argue that they are not providing immense value to the world and yet they are often paid fairly little relatively speaking furthermore on the flip side of this there are plenty of jobs that aren't important to anything much at all that are paid very highly value and contribution are not always and are perhaps rare ly proportionately compensated with this form of eky guy suggests one must be able to be paid but it does not suggest that one must become rich quite the opposite in fact as the idea generally suggests simpler slower living thus for an eeky guy it is not necessarily about how much you get paid but the fact that you get paid enough to live well in the end we find our igig guy when we have found the intersection of these four domains and in the words of the authors Hector Garcia and Frances moras once you find it it's only a matter of Having the courage and making the effort to stay on the right path of course this is easier said than done as we move forward through each domain we create a shrinking number of things to choose from with each step forward we negate everything else that is behind and next to us the infinite realm of options of what we can pursue and do goes from everything to a narrow realm of possibilities and then finally a single set path this is the point of eigi to the in a path but at the same time this is the terror of eigi though simple and obvious sounding so many of us struggle with this process with making these sorts of big decisions and accomplishing a genuine sense of purpose in life there are many reasons for why this might be the case many of which might be outside of our control it might not be fair but even when things are in one's favor the process is still comprised of fear anxiety and uncertainty perhaps we might fear that what we are choosing is wrong no matter what we are choosing perhaps we might worry that that what we seem to enjoy now we won't enjoy in the future perhaps we might agonize over whether or not we are good enough even if we are in the modern world the Paradox of choice and the sense of impostor syndrome is real ultimately we'll never get it right we'll never find a true ultimate purpose free from immense doubt and challenge whatever we enjoy broadly will always include things we hate whatever life we live will always carry the weight of hardship and uncertainty but we must choose nonetheless we must settle the reive wisdom writes the author Oliver burkeman articulated in a Thousand magazine articles and inspirational Instagram memes is that it's always a crime to settle but the received wisdom is wrong you should definitely settle or to be more precise you don't have a choice you will settle and this fact ought to please you living life to the fullest requires settling you can't become an ultra successful lawyer or artist or politician without first settling on law or art or politics and and therefore deciding to foro the potential rewards of other careers if you flip between them all you'll succeed in none of them in the end eigi is an ideal compass in a world with no true north our purpose largely depends on what we value and assess in the world in ourselves which is deeply subjective and complex it is in US of us built by us out of nothingness our purpose is to find and Define our purpose perhaps that alone no matter what we do and accomplish is enough existence is strange happiness and well-being are often nebulous but the more we learn about ourselves in the world the better we get at finding things in a life that we can feel good about as often as possible a fantastic way to do this is with this video sponsor imprint in their course the science of happiness in the course you you can learn about wide ranging theories on happiness decision-making money and so much more imprint is an Interactive visual-based Learning app so its courses summaries lessons and content taught by Harvard professors and bestselling authors use beautiful illustrations and animations making The Learning Experience incredibly immersive and enjoyable their content covers a huge scope of topics and subjects in areas like psychology philosophy science technology Wellness history and much more they even have a beautiful visual guide on igig Guy where you can learn more about the concept and its Origins according to research published by the review of General psychology roughly 40% of our happiness is determined by our thoughts and actions and so what we do intentionally is extremely important imprint is a way to live and learn more intentionally helping you take control of your habits and screen time so you can take better control of your thoughts so you can take better control of your life whether you want to learn more about finding meaning the history and lessons of philosophy how to care less about social pressures or countless other ideas and subjects imprint is an amazing tool for you to invest in your growth with over 30,000 f-star reviews on the App Store and Google Play and winning Awards like Google's app of the year and Apple's essential education app it's a no-brainer use the link in the description below to sign up for imprint and you'll receive a 7-Day free trial and 20% off your annual premium membership and of course as always thank you so much for watching in general and see you next video [Music]

Channel: Pursuit of Wonder

Views: 415,429

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Id: i7IQPmux7Us

Length: 14min 11sec (851 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 18 2024