What Is Your IKIGAI?

Sep 19 / Paul Newsome

What Is Your IKIGAI?

You may have noticed that our Swim in Common logo features a 4-way venn diagram as its symbol? Why is this?

Justyn Barnes, author of the brilliant book “Ikigai - the Japanese secret to a life of happiness and longevity” states that the word ikigai in its simplest term describes “value in living” or “a reason for living”.

Among the myriad different interpretations of the word, Barnes states that ikigai can be thought of daily as “a reason to jump out of bed every morning” and a “springboard for tomorrow”. How true it is that the morning ritual of your swim can be both that reason and something that aids you in your pursuit of your current goal, whatever that may be. 

For our coaches we think of it like this:

What you love = swimming

What you are good at = coaching

What the world needs = better swim coaching

What you can be paid for = great swim coaching

So, the question this week is, what is your IKIGAI? What gets you out of bed in the morning?
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