Find your IKIGAI in life: the key to pursuing happiness and success
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In today’s fast-paced life, we often get lost in the anxieties intertwined with work, family, and social responsibilities. However, true success and happiness do not come simply from money or fame, but from our inner satisfaction and search for meaning in life.
Today, I accidentally saw the video “The secret that money will come naturally? Adam, the hero behind Mo Caixi, will share it with you!” and saw Adam Richards (Li Xiaolong) speaking out. He and [Mo Caixi](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/Mo Caixi) used their own experiences to discuss in depth how to find their own money. IKIGAI (meaning of life), and help more people realize their dreams through practice and sharing.
What is IKIGAI?
IKIGAI is a concept derived from Japanese culture. Simply put, we can understand it as “the meaning of life” or “the reason to get up in the morning.” It consists of four core elements:
What you love
What you are good at (What you are good at)
What the world needs
What you can be paid for
When these four elements overlap, they form your IKIGAI. In other words, this is the best state for achieving inner satisfaction and career success. Adam proved through his own experience that finding IKIGAI was enough to change his life.
The transition from studying medicine to finding your mission in life
Adam’s story begins when he studied medicine. His brothers are both doctors, and they can be said to be from a medical family that has helped the world. This made him think that becoming a doctor was a natural choice. However, as he grew up, he gradually discovered that despite his excellent academic performance, medicine was obviously not the field he loved.
“The more I study medicine, the more I can’t stand it, the less I like it, and the harder it becomes,” Adam said happily. He struggled for two years before finally making the difficult decision to give up studying medicine. This turning point made him re-examine his passion and life goals, and start looking for his own IKIGAI.
Hearing Adam’s experience reminded me of many past events and the ideal aspirations I had longed for when I was a child. As I grew up, I gradually came to understand that external expectations do not determine the direction of our lives. We need to really listen to the little voice in order to find what we are truly passionate about.
Discover Your Passion: An Action Guide for the First Steps
Adam mentioned that the first step to finding IKIGAI is to discover what you are passionate about. I quite agree with this! For example, I started writing books and serving as a writing coach and lecturer because I liked reading and writing. It was not because of the writing boom in recent years that I decided to devote myself to this field.
Having said that, so how do we begin this journey? Here are some suggestions:
- Observe your daily preferences: Ask yourself, what goes through your mind when you zone out or daydream? If it’s video games or entertainment, you may need to explore more deeply. Try to focus on things that make you feel fulfilled and happy.
- Follow in the footsteps of successful people: Adam recommends using the “Shadow” method, which is simply to play the shadow of successful people, observe and learn from their work and way of thinking. In this way, you can quickly understand the characteristics of different fields and find what you are really interested in.
- Accept the value of trial and error and experience: Trying new things, even if you fail, is a success. Because this can help you eliminate unsuitable paths, gradually narrow down your choices, and find the truly suitable direction.
Find a market need: start with a niche
Many people envy the achievements of Adam and Mo Caixi, but their success actually stems from their keen market observation. When establishing YouTube channel, they did not blindly invest in the red ocean market, but first conducted market research to try to find potential target audience.
“At that time, we were thinking whether we should target the US market or focus on the Chinese market to create content? However, we later discovered that we are full of love for Taiwan. The culture and friends here make us feel very close.”
After several hours of investigation, they found that English content for the Taiwan market was still in the blue ocean, especially channels for foreign couples who could speak Chinese were almost non-existent. This allowed them to establish the direction of creating competitive video content with the Taiwan market as the core.
Next, how do you find your niche market?
- Research market pain points: Understand the needs and unmet pain points of the target market. For example, many Taiwanese English learners generally have a problem of insufficient speaking confidence.
- Analyze competitors: Identify existing competitors in the market and find out your unique selling point.
- Focus on your passion and expertise: [Niche Market](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/niche market) should be combined with your interests and abilities to maintain motivation and competitiveness for a long time.
Values at the core: building a reliable brand image
Adam emphasized that when operating personal brand or business, you must clearly communicate the value and services you can provide to consumers. This includes:
- Consistency and Reliability: Their YouTube channel is updated on time every Saturday at 5:45 pm, and this consistency builds trust among viewers.
- Sense of mission and values: “Your mission can’t just be to make money or become famous,” Adam said. “It’s easy to give up on such a goal.” On the contrary, your mission should be consistent with your IKIGAI, so that the audience can feel your sincerity and enthusiasm.
- The power of word-of-mouth: Adam mentioned that high-quality products and services can naturally attract more consumers through word-of-mouth, which is more effective than any advertising.
Overcoming Failure: Key Skills to Success
In the process of starting a business or exploring IKIGAI, setbacks and failures are inevitable. But Adam believes that learning to overcome failure is the most important lesson and skill in life.
He mentioned: “Success is not the most important thing, learning to face and overcome failure is.”
So, how do we develop resilience in the face of failure? Adam also offers three suggestions:
- Treat failure as an opportunity to learn: Every failure is a great gift that helps you get closer to the right direction.
- Keep an open mind: Be willing to accept suggestions and feedback from others and find room for improvement.
- Build a support system: Communicate with like-minded people to support each other and grow together.
Money will come naturally: money is just an additional condition
Many people believe that money is the core of success, but Adam makes it clear: when you find IKIGAI, money will follow.
“Money is not your goal, it’s the string attached to IKIGAI,” he said.
When you love something, are good at something, and meet market demand, you will naturally attract resources and rewards. Therefore, instead of making money your primary goal, focus on increasing your value and influence.
Find your IKIGAI and achieve a win-win life
Today, Adam and Mo Caixi are both well-known Internet celebrities, and they can also be said to be the so-called “victory group in life.” But despite being envious, do their life stories give you any inspiration? I deeply feel that success is not just about making money or achieving goals, but also a sense of inner satisfaction and realizing the value of life. By persisting in their IKIGAI, they not only changed their lives, but also helped more people find their way when they were lost.
To be honest, I’m not in a good mood this afternoon. But after watching this video, I cheered up and learned that on the way to pursuing our dreams, each of us should continue to explore our own passion, expertise, market demand, and remuneration possibilities. Having said that, only when these four elements are closely intertwined can we truly find the meaning of life and achieve a win-win situation in our careers and lives.
Start taking action now, find your IKIGAI, and welcome the peak of your life!
