Pivoting My Physician Ikigai
As a physician, my ikigai has always been solid. It's an activity the world certainly needs and is willing to pay for. It's also something I am skilled at doing. And, finally, because it was a chance to talk with and help interesting people every day, it's something I...
A Potential 2022 Art Project?
It’s the end of the year—a time to play with new ideas for next year. And one of the ideas I have is for an art project, or more specifically, a poetry project: Create a large-scale poetic work based on the Manhattan Project. I haven’t yet decided on the form....
Ikigai and My “Passion”
When it comes to choosing a career path, I am not fond of the word “passion.” Taken for the Oxford English Dictionary, here are some of its definitions: As a mass noun: strong or overpowering feeling or emotion.A fit, outburst, or state marked by or of strong...
LinkedIn and Corporate Ikigai
Years ago, at a social media healthcare conference, I gave a presentation on the use of corporate ikigai. Using a Venn Diagram representation of corporate ikigai (the point of overlap of corporate mission and corporate capabilities with customer wants and community...
Career Languish and Ikigai
Here are several of the Oxford English Dictionary’s definitions of the verb to languish: Of a person, animal, or plant: to decline in health; to weaken, wither, or become faint; to exist in a state of weakness or illness.To live in an oppressive or dispiriting place,...
Creating Slack
Slack is an interesting word with multiple meanings, but when it's about creating slack in my blogging schedule, I like the following definition: An interval of comparative inactivity; a lull in business or in action of any kind.O.E.D. This last week I went on an...
My Daily Approach to Continuing Education
Each day I try to spend approximately one hour on a continuing education class outside of my areas of expertise. Usually this is a formal class. For example, I just finished a Philosophy of Mind course through the University of Oxford's Continuing Education...
My First Ikigai Misfire
My first ikigai misfire was the selection of my undergraduate major: Mechanical Engineering. I was the youngest of three children. All of us were exceptionally good students, all with 4.0 GPAs. My sister, four years my senior, went on to law schools in both England...
Turning the Corner With Deep-Writing Days
Twice a year my habit is to take a week off for something I call Deep-Think Week, but this year I'm modifying it to include several days of Deep-Writing. I have a current writing project which has yet to turn the corner, but what do I need to turn this corner? Simply...
Your Bathroom: An Ikigai Clue
Look around your bathroom and your bathtub (perhaps next to your soap or bubble bath?). Those dogeared books and magazines you read in the tub? There is a good chance they have got something to do with your ikigai.