Finding Your Why

I bet you have ever heard this famous quote (and advice):

“Follow your passion. Do what you love”

Do you follow your passion? But wait, sebenarnya passion itu apa? Many said: passion is something you love to do, so you will never feel like you work or being forced to work for the rest of your life. It sounds amazing, righ? Nah, the next question will be: trus passion kamu apa?

I was a follower of this beautiful quote and I believe I gave this advice to many people before. But then I realized: I couldn’t define my passion! I tried to define it by mentioning everything I love to do: reading, having coffee, traveling, sleeping. How about everything I love: coffee, beauty products, pecel, sayuran dan buah, Doraemon. Jadi, saya harus follow yang mana? Bingung kan?

Since I love coffee, I registered myself to different coffee classes. Jadi saya cobain kelas basic roasting, kelas manual brew dan kelas barista. Did I enjoy making coffee same as I enjoy drinking it? Nope! I learnt a lot in those classes, tapi harus jujur, saya tidak menikmati proses pembuatan kopi. Ternyata saya cuma tukang minum kopi aja.

I also love traveling. Some of my friends advised me to start a travel agency, or to start an open trip – but I have no skills in arranging and managing travel for others. I am only good in managing my own trip. I love sleeping, but hey, how can I live if I just sleep the whole day?

Jadi…konsep passion ini ga bisa dipakai donk?

Then I found a concept called “ikigai” – yang adalah Japanese term yang kurang lebih artinya adalah “reason for being”. Ikigai ini merupakan intersection antara apa yang kita suka, bidang keahlian kita, apa yang dibutuhkan masyarakat (termasuk apa yang dibutuhkan pasar) dan apakah ada yang bersedia membayar keahlian kita.

“Ikigai is a Japanese terms, meaning: reason for being.”

Now, I try to answer all of these questions:

What do you love?

I still love coffee, traveling, sleeping, reading, skin care, fruits & veggie dan Doraemon

What am I good at?

Apparently I’m not good in all those things I love. But I do well at researching, teaching, coaching, writing and DIY products

What can I be paid right now?

I am paid for teaching, and selling homemade DIY products

What does the world need?

I believe this world needs less waste… People need to do more: Refuse, Reduce, Repurpose, Recycle dan back to nature

Then here I am.. I'm doing repurpose ampas kopi (dan mulai repurpose “sampah” organic lain) menjadi apa yang saya suka (natural products) dan mengajar kelas-kelas pemanfaatan ampas kopi.

Please do try answer all of Ikigai questions to find your why, your reason to get up in the morning and to come alive.. Lemme know about you and your ikigai in comment J

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#ikigai #purposeoflife #findyourwhy #passion