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Comdira
The Observatory
Exercise15 minExistentialRationality

The ikigai map

Map where what you love, what you are good at and what someone needs overlap. Not to find a magic answer, but to see where it is worth digging.

The path

How it works

  1. Three listsList
  2. Look for the overlapWriteChoose
  3. Dig where you standWriteChoose
Ikigai is Japanese for roughly 'that which makes life worth waking up for'. We use it as a mapping tool: three honest lists, then we look for overlaps. Write quickly: the first impulse is enough, and it can be revised.

Exercise in 3 steps, about 15 minutes. Doing it is part of Premium, which you try free for 7 days with no card. With Premium your answers are saved so you can pick up where you left off and look back at what you wrote.

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The rest of the text and the exercise are part of Premium. You try everything for 7 days with no card, and can cancel whenever you like. Sign in if you already have an account.

The evidence

Why does it work?

Sone et al., Psychosomatic Medicine (2008): self-reported ikigai was associated with lower mortality in the Ohsaki cohort. This is an observational association, not a causal effect. The map format of the exercise is a pedagogical simplification, not the original Japanese concept.

Account, your first assessment with the hexagon and one new measurement every quarter are free. The rest is part of Premium: SEK 99 a month or SEK 699 a year, VAT included.

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