
Passion is self-centered crap. Find your Ikigai - seagertp
https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/your-passion-is-self-centered-crap-8ef57cfd3054
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znpy
I kinda see the point of defining "passion" as "a self-centered crap".

We recently hired a guy that claims to be "passionate" about the tech we use.
Indeed he is, but he shows basically zero interest in anything outside his
"passion" and we're having a hard time getting him up to speed with regards to
things that maybe he's not passionate about, that maybe are a bit boring, but
that are still a very important part of the job.

I don't see this "passionate" guy going very far.

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ghostpepper
I started reading this thinking it was going to be a long form piece. What I
thought was the intro was interesting enough to get me hooked and then it
abruptly ended.

If anyone is wondering what Ikigai means without clicking, it's a Japanese
concept that (apparently) can be interpreted to mean the intersection of what
you're passionate about and what you're good at.

I guess it doesn't need anymore explanation than that.

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kybishop
That's literally missing half of ikigai. Ikigai is the intersection of four
concepts:

1\. What you LOVE

2\. What you are GOOD AT

3\. What the world NEEDS

4\. What you can get PAID FOR

This is my favorite graphic to describe the various combinations:
[https://miro.medium.com/max/700/1*qNNzYd3SE1Z09d_IaJOdGA.jpe...](https://miro.medium.com/max/700/1*qNNzYd3SE1Z09d_IaJOdGA.jpeg)

~~~
karmakaze
That's a fantastic graphic. All the intersections are called out. [Perhaps we
can give those last four just missing one ingredient names too.]

It's subtitled "A reason for being" with hit me with two-sided feelings of
fulfillment and dystopia. The positives are readily apparent and the negative
is where my mind goes to examine the flip-side. One problem in Japan seems to
be that there's a sort of monoculture of success that is damning. Sort of like
if everyone follows this exact formula in a the top select endeavours we could
end up with everyone being fulfilled but dying off as a group. I guess this
could get wrapped into (3) to prioritize what isn't being done/enough.

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gridlockd
I have yet to find a Japanese source that talks about a Japanese concept
called "Ikigai". Even the Japanese Wikipedia page refers to western sources.
The Venn Diagram that is commonly associated with it originally had nothing to
do with "Ikigai".

[https://www.sloww.co/ikigai/](https://www.sloww.co/ikigai/)

Let's not disregard that Japanese society is highly conformist and anti-
individualist and that social isolation is very common, with birth rates among
the very lowest in the world. If there really is a philosophy of "Ikigai" in
Japan, it doesn't seem to be working.

On the flip side, here's my 1-2-3 recipe for your very own "Ikigai": Take any
pseudo-profound concept, slap a "Made in East-Asia" label on it, then become a
motivational speaker. Tell people what they want to hear, make them feel
better, pat yourself on the back, and get paid.

~~~
krapp
>Take any pseudo-profound concept, slap a "Made in East-Asia" label on it,
then become a motivational speaker.

Why not? It worked for "bushido."

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bitwize
So I know that everything sounds cooler in Japanese (which is why anime
characters call out their ultimate attack names in English), but is there a
reason we can't use the perfectly cromulent English word "vocation" with a bit
of explanatory text differentiating it from "passion"?

~~~
cle
Because everyone has different emotions, preconceptions, etc. attached to the
existing word. Introduce a new one, and you can define what it means without
worrying about people misunderstanding you (unless they already know what
Ikigai is, and I’d be willing to bet in that case that they’d disagree with
the author’s over-simplification or mischaracterization of the word). There’s
also an “exotic” attraction to concepts from other cultures.

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flomble
OK, so my initial response to the title was anger; the video which is the
substance of this post, however, has a much less contentious message. Your
"passion" is the intersection of what you love and are great at. The concept
of "Ikigai" is that it is also important to consider what others need and are
willing to pay for, a self-evident idea wrapped in provocativeness, condemning
people for being concerned for their own wellbeing and fulfilment.

The final sentence of the article is somewhat nonsensical: "feelings are
exactly the things that distract us from our wantings". "Wantings" are
feelings!

~~~
seagertp
"Passion" is what you love and you are good at.

Ikigai is also what others need and others are willing to pay for. Ikigai
requires empathetic understanding of others.

~~~
flomble
"Empathetic understanding of others."

Empathetic understanding of others should make one hesitate to tell them that
being primarily focused on doing what they're passionate about is "self-
centred crap", rather than using a less needlessly excoriating phrase. It
touched a nerve for me specifically because I feel I, like most people, have
prioritised doing things that other people need and are willing to pay for,
and then felt attacked for my wish to be doing something I actually enjoy and
have an aptitude for.

Edited: to be more empathetic to others.

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imtringued
This post is crap. Instead of posting in the article comments someone made a
dedicated medium post that completely misses the point of the linked article.
Following your passion is only half the way toward a meaningful life.

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seagertp
This feedback is terrific. Thank you for commenting.

I'm revising the article right now to incorporate more of the video.

