Ikigai and Developing Passion

For the really big decisions in life I have for a very long time used the Ikigai framework – ever since I got in touch with it 8 years ago.

It helped me to structure my thought process and also to distinguish between feelings of the moment vs core-beliefs.

The one thing in the framework that I as more of a left-brain-type person struggled with most is to get a clear definition for what passion is.

A lot of friends had the same challenge – sure, a lot of times you feel passionate about something or are in the flow. But it was always hard to put in actual terms.

Enter: This essay here. (https://hbr.org/2019/10/3-reasons-its-so-hard-to-follow-your-passion)  in the Harvard Business Review, which does such a good job of showing major misconceptions on what “passion” is:

1. Don’t wait for passion to come to you – it is something that needs to be developed & grows with time

2. Focus more on what you CARE about and less about what is FUN/ what you LOVE in the moment

3. When you care about something, you have more perseverance which ultimately makes you successful as you will hit lows on the way to your goal The German word for Passion, Leidenschaft, sums it up quite nicely as it literally translates into “creating pain”.

 

So knowing now how to fill out the Passion field go ahead finding your Ikigai.