An ikigai sentence is not a slogan you have to live up to forever. It is a short working description of what you want to explore, contribute, develop, or protect in this season of life.
That distinction matters. When people try to write a purpose statement, they often reach for language that sounds impressive but cannot guide an ordinary Tuesday: “I want to inspire the world,” “I am here to help everyone,” or “My calling is to become the best version of myself.” These ideas may contain something real, but they are too broad to test.
A useful sentence is more grounded. It includes an activity, a kind of contribution, a value or strength, and a condition that makes the direction sustainable. It can change as your responsibilities, interests, and understanding change.
Quick answer: use this template
Start with:
I want to use my interest in [activity or subject] and my ability to [specific contribution or strength] to support [people, outcome, or value], in conditions that include [important practical requirement]. My next small experiment is [observable action].
For example:
I want to use my interest in clear explanations and my ability to organize complex information to support people making difficult decisions, in work that allows focused time and honest feedback. My next small experiment is to interview two people who do research or service design and complete one small analysis task.
This is not a final career choice. It is a hypothesis with a next step.
What ikigai means in this exercise
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that is often translated into English as a sense of purpose, meaning, or what makes life feel worth living. Research does not treat it as a single universal job formula.
One longitudinal study of Japanese older adults examined associations between having ikigai and later health, psychological, social, and wellbeing outcomes. The authors also distinguish ikigai from the narrower idea of purpose in life and note that the findings do not prove that one simple purpose statement causes a particular result. Read the research on ikigai and later health and wellbeing as evidence about a population and a concept—not as a promise about what a personal sentence will do for you.
For Ikigain, an ikigai sentence is a practical reflection tool. It can help connect four kinds of questions:
- What activities or experiences draw me in?
- What can I contribute or develop?
- Who or what do I want my effort to support?
- What conditions make the direction possible and sustainable?
The popular four-circle diagrams online can be a memorable prompt, but no diagram can contain your whole life or settle the relationship between work, love, care, community, play, and meaning. Your sentence should be allowed to include more than a job.
A good sentence is specific enough to test
Compare these statements:
| Broad statement | More testable version |
|---|---|
| I want to help people. | I want to help new team members understand complex processes without feeling lost. |
| I am creative. | I want regular time to turn ambiguous problems into clear visual or written options. |
| I want meaningful work. | I want to see who benefits from my work and have a chance to improve the result through feedback. |
| I love psychology. | I want to explore how people make decisions and communicate, through research, education, or practical support. |
| I want freedom. | I want autonomy over how I organize focused work, while keeping clear commitments to other people. |
Specificity does not make a sentence less meaningful. It makes it easier to compare with reality. You can ask whether a task, role, project, or relationship actually contains the conditions you wrote down.
Step 1: begin with verbs, not identity labels
Identity labels can be useful shorthand, but they often hide the activity that gives them meaning. Instead of starting with “I am a creative person,” write a list of verbs:
- explaining;
- researching;
- designing;
- repairing;
- organizing;
- teaching;
- listening;
- building;
- analyzing;
- caring;
- persuading;
- coordinating; or
- making something easier for another person.
Circle the verbs that have appeared repeatedly in your life, not only the ones that sound attractive. Then add a context: explaining what, to whom, and for what outcome?
The Career Interests Test can help you generate activities to explore, while the Strengths in Action Test can help you examine how you tend to contribute in real situations. Neither result should replace observation. A word becomes useful when it points toward a task you can try.
Step 2: name the contribution without exaggerating it
Contribution does not have to mean changing the world. It can mean making one process clearer, helping one person feel less alone, maintaining something important, creating beauty, solving a recurring problem, or bringing care to an ordinary responsibility.
Ask:
- Who benefits when I do this activity well?
- What changes for them?
- What kind of contribution can I make without pretending to be the only person who can make it?
- Do I want direct contact, indirect impact, or a mixture?
Try to describe the outcome with a verb: clarify, support, protect, connect, teach, improve, discover, create, coordinate, challenge, or repair.
“I want to improve education” is a direction. “I want to create clear learning materials that help adults practise a difficult skill” is a contribution you can investigate.
Step 3: separate values from mood
A value is not simply what feels good today. It is a principle or condition you are willing to use when making choices and trade-offs.
Possible values include:
- autonomy;
- stability;
- learning;
- contribution;
- creativity;
- fairness;
- belonging;
- mastery;
- care;
- recognition;
- simplicity; or
- adventure.
Choose three, then ask how each would appear in an ordinary week. If you choose autonomy, which decisions do you need to own? If you choose contribution, who needs to benefit? If you choose stability, what income, schedule, or location requirements are non-negotiable?
The Work Values Test can help you put language around desired work conditions. The Sources of Meaning Test can help you reflect on direction, contribution, connection, coherence, and mattering. Treat both as lenses; values can conflict, and no result removes the need to choose.
Step 4: include the conditions that keep the sentence honest
Many purpose statements fail because they describe what a person wants to do while ignoring what they need in order to continue doing it.
Your sentence may need to include:
- enough income or financial predictability;
- a sustainable pace;
- time for family or care;
- accessible physical or digital conditions;
- a supportive team;
- meaningful autonomy;
- a particular location or schedule;
- opportunities to learn; or
- boundaries around availability.
These are not selfish additions. A direction that requires you to ignore your health, responsibilities, or resources is not automatically more meaningful.
Try adding the phrase “in conditions that include…” to your sentence. This often turns an idealized calling into a practical direction.
Step 5: make the sentence provisional
Use language that leaves room for evidence:
- “I am exploring…”
- “I want to learn whether…”
- “I am drawn to…”
- “I seem to contribute best when…”
- “For this season, I want to protect…”
Provisional wording is not a lack of commitment. It is accurate when you are working with incomplete information. You can commit to an experiment without committing to a lifelong identity.
Avoid words such as “must,” “only,” “always,” or “the one thing” unless you are deliberately describing a real constraint. They can turn a useful reflection into a new source of pressure.
Three sentence patterns to try
Pattern A: activity and contribution
I want to explore [activity] because I care about [value or outcome], especially when it helps [people or situation].
Example:
I want to explore teaching and facilitation because I care about confidence and access, especially when it helps people participate in a difficult conversation.
Pattern B: strength and condition
I contribute best through [specific behavior], and I want to use it in conditions that include [sustainable requirement].
Example:
I contribute best by turning scattered information into a clear plan, and I want to use it in conditions that include focused work, shared responsibility, and time for revision.
Pattern C: direction and experiment
I am exploring [direction] to learn whether [question]. My next step is [small action], and I will review what I learn by [date or condition].
Example:
I am exploring community-based research to learn whether I enjoy gathering stories, analyzing patterns, and sharing findings with a group. My next step is to speak with one practitioner and complete a short public research exercise, then review what I learned after two weeks.
The third pattern is especially helpful when you are changing careers or do not yet have enough evidence to write confidently about yourself.
A seven-day writing process
Day 1: collect moments of aliveness
Write five moments when you felt engaged, useful, curious, connected, or absorbed. They do not need to be impressive. Include conversations, hobbies, care, ordinary work, and things you learned accidentally.
Day 2: extract the verbs
Underline what you were doing in each moment. Replace labels with actions: “I was a designer” becomes “I noticed a problem, made options, and improved a confusing experience.”
Day 3: name the beneficiaries and outcomes
For each activity, write who benefited and what changed. If no one benefited directly, describe what the activity gave you: rest, beauty, learning, play, connection, or a sense of order.
Day 4: choose values and conditions
Pick three values and three conditions that you want your next season to include. Separate preferences from requirements.
Day 5: write three versions
Use the three patterns above. Keep each version under 50 words. Do not try to make it sound like a brand statement.
Day 6: ask for a reality check
Share one version with someone who knows your actual behavior. Ask: “Which part sounds evidenced, which part sounds assumed, and what small activity could test it?” You can accept or reject their view; the purpose is to find blind spots.
Day 7: choose the next experiment
Select one action that can produce information within two weeks: a conversation, a sample task, a volunteer shift, a small course module, a work proposal, or a structured observation.
How to test the sentence in real life
After an experiment, do not ask only, “Did I enjoy it?” Enjoyment matters, but it is one type of evidence. Also ask:
- Did I want to return to the activity after the novelty faded?
- Which part of the activity did I actually enjoy?
- What kind of effort did it require?
- Did the contribution feel real, imagined, or unclear?
- Which conditions helped or hindered me?
- What skill would I need to develop?
- What would I change for a second experiment?
A meaningful activity can be tiring. An easy activity can be empty. A difficult activity can become more interesting as you gain skill. Your notes should capture the pattern rather than reward the most flattering answer.
The 7-Day Ikigai Experiment gives a longer version of this test-and-learn approach. If your question is broader than work, include relationships, health, community, learning, play, and care in the experiment.
What to do when you have more than one sentence
You do not have to compress your life into one purpose. You may have one sentence for work, another for family, another for creativity, and another for a season of recovery.
If two sentences conflict, compare the underlying trade-off:
| Tension | Question to explore |
|---|---|
| Contribution and stability | What level of risk can I responsibly carry? |
| Autonomy and belonging | Which decisions need to be mine, and where do I want shared effort? |
| Learning and recovery | What pace allows development without treating rest as failure? |
| Recognition and privacy | Which feedback or visibility is useful, and which feels performative? |
| Service and boundaries | How can I contribute without becoming responsible for everything? |
The answer may change with age, resources, relationships, and circumstances. A sentence is a tool for a decision, not a permanent contract.
When purpose writing becomes pressure
Purpose exercises should create useful questions, not shame. If you are exhausted, grieving, under financial pressure, facing discrimination, or dealing with a health or safety concern, you may need practical support before a polished sentence.
If a purpose statement makes you feel that every choice must prove your worth, simplify it. Write: “For now, I am trying to protect ______ and learn about ______.” A season of stability, care, or recovery is not a failure to have purpose.
If distress is persistent or affecting your ability to function, consider speaking with an appropriate medical or mental-health professional. If you feel in immediate danger, cannot keep yourself safe, or are thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis service in your country and reach out to someone you trust.
FAQ
What should an ikigai sentence include?
Include an activity or interest, a contribution or outcome, one or more values, and the practical conditions that make the direction sustainable. Finish with a small next experiment so the sentence can meet real life.
Does ikigai have to be connected to a career?
No. Ikigai can involve work, relationships, hobbies, care, learning, community, spirituality, or ordinary activities that make life feel worth living. A career-focused sentence is only one possible version.
What if my sentence changes later?
That is normal. Your sentence is a working hypothesis shaped by new experiences, responsibilities, and information. Keep the parts that still have evidence, revise the parts that do not, and avoid treating revision as personal inconsistency.
Can the Ikigain Ikigai Test write the sentence for me?
The Ikigain Ikigai Test can help you reflect across enjoyment, contribution, development, and practical support, but it should not replace your own judgment. Use the result to draft a sentence, then test the sentence through an ordinary activity or conversation.
