What you love
The things that warm you — even when they are of no use.
A Japanese practice
Ikigai — the four circles where your work comes together
Ikigai in Japanese is what makes you want to get up in the morning. Four circles: what you love, what you are good at, what people need and what you are paid for. At the overlaps — passion, mission, profession and vocation. In the middle, one sentence comes together, and only you can write it.
Do it in the appFree — under “Games and practices”
The four circles
What you are good at
The skills you barely notice in yourself.
What the world needs
The need in others you cannot walk past.
What you can be paid for
The work you have already been paid for — or could be.
The four overlaps
Passion
You love it, and you are good at it.
Mission
You love it, and people need it.
Profession
You know how to do it, and it is paid for.
Vocation
People need it, and it is paid for.
What ikigai is
Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese word usually translated as "the meaning of life", though "what makes it worth getting up" is closer. In Japan itself it is rarely about work and purpose: more often about small, private things — morning tea, grandchildren, a garden.
The four-circle diagram came later, and not from Japan: it was assembled in the West by joining the Japanese word with a model of "work that supports you". We use that diagram — it works — but we say plainly where it comes from.
The point is not to find the right answer. It is to see where your four circles do not meet — and what to do about it.
How it goes
- 1
You answer questions
Eight questions for each circle. Answer by tapping ready options, in your own words, or by voice. If you do not know, say so — that is an answer too.
- 2
The overlaps come together
When two neighbouring circles are filled, the petal between them lights up: passion, mission, profession or vocation. There you name in one line what matched in both.
- 3
You write the sentence in the middle
At the end there is one line: "I …, so that …". The app does not fill it in — only a person can. The sheet is saved, and the sentence can be rewritten any time.
How this differs from the picture online
Everyone draws the ikigai diagram. The difference is what you do with it next.
Questions, not empty circles
An empty diagram gives you nothing: you look at four circles and do not know where to start. Here 32 questions walk you through them in fifteen minutes.
You may stay silent
Every question has "I don't know". An empty circle is more honest than an invented answer — and it is usually the real result.
The sheet stays
Everything you said is saved. In six months you can re-read it and see what changed, instead of starting from scratch.
Visible only to you
Your ikigai is shown to no one and sent nowhere. It is the most private part of the app.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a test?
No. A test produces a result for you; here you write the sentence in the middle yourself — the app only asks questions and keeps the order. There are no right answers.
How long does it take?
About fifteen minutes. You can leave halfway: the circles stay filled and the game waits for you at the same question.
What if nothing meets in the middle?
That is a normal result, not a failure. Circles that do not meet show exactly where the gap is — in what you love, what you can do, what is needed, or in money.
Can I do it again?
Yes, and the questions will be different. What you gathered stays in your completed sheets; a new round starts with empty circles.
Does it cost anything?
No, ikigai in the iRitual app is free.
Put together your ikigai
Thirty-two questions, four overlaps and one sentence about yourself — in the app, under “Games and practices”. Free, for iOS and Android.