The word is pronounced “Ick—ee—guy”. The blend diagram has the key word in the middle and our life’s work, loves, passions, volunteer time and inherent mission orbiting around it.
I think we all have an Ikigai blend diagram in our heads. Maybe it’s time to put yours on paper. Give your hobbies and passions equal weight with your job and career. What you are reading is an example of Ikigai. This blog is about mental health, physical health, art, writing, travel—items I have passion for.
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A perfect marriage with Ikigai is detailed in Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, a book referred to me by a friend who is aware of my interest in Behavioral Finance. The author of the book, Dan Ariely, is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University and the founder of The Center for Advanced Hindsight.
In his book, Ariely features a chapter on “social norms vs market norms”. We do things for gratis because we (most of us) are charitable individuals. We don’t expect to get paid. Dan gives a humorous example of a man standing up from the table after eating his mother-in-law’s Thanksgiving dinner and opening his wallet to pay for the meal. The social norm of making a holiday dinner is done without expectation of payment, as is helping a friend move, managing your son’s or daughter’s sports team and sharing your skillset with people who may improve their situation in life with your knowledge.
Dan discusses the legal profession in this chapter. An attorney may laugh off a low dollar offer for his or her expertise but would jump right in pro bono if a deserving soul can be helped. In my case, I would turn down a low offer to take my writing class from a person with means, but would give the class for free to returning military, a person bouncing back from substance abuse, or a person with MH issues. These are also examples of Ikigai.
Dan Ariely has an impressive list of TED Talk and other videos. His YouTube channel is listed below. Part of my Ikigai is my love of learning about and teaching Behavioral Finance. Going forward, Dan’s insight will make my classes in Investor Psychology even better.