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Does your startup pass the 'ikigai' test?

Written by
Sam Simpson
Last updated
12th January 2021

Does your startup pass the 'ikigai' test?

My work motto has always been "Wake up every day and do your best at something you love and great things will happen"...Recently I heard a young legal engineer talking about his passion for what he did and he mentioned 'ikigai'. Intrigued, I checked Wikipedia and it says "The term 'ikigai' compounds two Japanese words: iki (生き) meaning "life; alive" and kai (甲斐) meaning "(an) effect; (a) result," (sequentially voiced as 'gai,' resulting in "a reason for living [being alive]; a meaning for [to] life; what [something that] makes life worth living."

The diagram really resonates with me, doing what you are good at, you love, what the world needs and what people will pay for:

TODO - Uploaded image description

It is said that the other intersections not shown are:

Before you take the plunge and run with your new idea, where does it sit? If you have ikigai then that's a great start.

YouTube video to learn more.

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