Ikigai Is Not a Venn Diagram

And it’s certainly not a shortcut to turning your passion into a side hustle.

What you often see labelled as “Ikigai” on Instagram is a westernised, productivity-driven interpretation — neatly packaged into four circles so that purpose feels measurable, marketable and monetisable.

But that is not what Ikigai means in Japan.

Authentic Ikigai is much quieter than that.

It is about that which makes life worth living.

It is deeply personal.
Often subtle.
And frequently has nothing to do with career progression, status or income.

Ikigai can live in:

How you care for the people around you
The rhythm and pace of your days
Small, ordinary moments that carry meaning
The roles you already hold — both at home and at work

For many of the professionals I work with, the issue isn’t a lack of ambition or capability. They are successful. Responsible. High-achieving.

The challenge is subtler than that.

It’s a sense of disconnection — doing all the “right” things, yet feeling slightly off-centre. A quiet question of, “Is this it?” or “Why doesn’t this feel how I expected it to?”

Ikigai isn’t about fixing you.

It’s about helping you reconnect with what already matters.

It invites you to pause. To notice. To realign. Not to add more to your to-do list, but to understand yourself more deeply.

And perhaps that’s the part that gets lost in the social media version — the depth, the reflection, the humanity of it.

An Invitation

If you’re tired of surface-level purpose talk and curious about a deeper, more grounded exploration, I’m hosting an Ikigai Masterclass on Wednesday 4th March at 6pm.

This session is rooted in the authentic Japanese philosophy — not the Instagram version.

And here’s something to consider.

We happily pay for: