Deepest motivation: Ikigai

Came across this inspiring post by Psych Safety on Ikigai last week, and I immediately felt I had to save it here, if not for the sake of better interiorising it by writing about it.

The post immediately resonated with me because it captures exactly how I felt, many moons ago, when I came across the Internet, around 1996. I felt that the internet, with its rebel, distributed architecture would have changed the world, and for the better. I wanted to be a part of it because I thought I would be good at it, I would enjoy it and I could earn an income at the same time. 25 years later I still find that it's the same combination of things that motivates me the most deeply and ultimately allows me to be effective:

• Am I good at this (or willing to improve)?
• Does this benefit others and have a positive impact on the world?
• Will this help me make a living (or am I consciously choosing to do it for free)?
• Does it feel good? Do I love it?

If I had to point at something that I feel is missing there, I would say that is the category of being with people that feel the same about Ikigai, or that understand and appreciate the effectiveness of Generative Culture and Psychological Safety. We don't go through the world alone, and so we might as well go with somebody who will make the going more satisfactory but necessarily easier.


Happy travels, Umberto