In the West, ikigai has been turned into a grand career framework. In Japan, it is often as small as a cup of tea. The retired fisherman who mends nets every morning has ikigai. The grandmother who tends her garden has ikigai. The concept does not require you to find the intersection of passion, skill, demand, and profit. It requires you to find the thing — however small, however unglamorous — that makes you want to get up in the morning.

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