生き甲斐
The Ikigai Mountain
No one lands on the summit. You start at the foot of one side and circle all four, again and again, until the paths meet at the top.
This is the whole trail, stop by stop. Every stop is a place where real climbers get stuck. Scroll to walk it, and the climber on the mountain walks with you.
The four faces
- What you loveThe north face
- What you're good atThe west face
- What the world needsThe east face
- What you can be paid forThe south face
Where two circles overlap, the ground rises into a ridge: Passion, Mission, Vocation and Profession. Where three overlap it rises again, and each of those ledges is missing exactly one circle. Where all four meet is the summit.
Where does your climb start?
Your trailhead changes the order you meet the stops. Everyone still passes every one of them.
Seen from above
Every lap circled the same center
Look down on the mountain and the four faces turn back into four circles. The trail you walked is a spiral through all of them, over and over. No one reaches the middle by standing still on one side, and no one skips the hard faces. You go around until the circles overlap under your feet.
The four-circle diagram is a modern Western take on the idea. In Japan, ikigai usually means something smaller and more everyday: whatever makes your days feel worth living.
Where are you on it?
Answer fifteen questions in your Trail Journal. It places you at a stop and shows you the next one. Your answers stay in this browser and never leave it.
The whole trail