What is Small ikigai? Why Do We Need Small ikigai But Not Big Ikigai?

For years, I marched to what our culture calls "success." Every sunrise meant another race, another productivity hack, more network points, another milestone to prove I mattered. I learned to applaud the hustle, to wear my exhaustion like a badge. But somewhere between meetings and midnight emails, I lost sight of what really mattered to me, what made me feel alive.

I began my journey searching for meaning in life, within my own life. From the East, I journeyed to the West, like Tang Sanzang gathered his group of folks, went through 81 challenges to chase his dream, and completed his mission. I thought that was the direction of my meaning in life; I need to do something GREAT, like challenging a system, saving someone, or changing the world! (I am laughing out loud right now!)

When I saw the crossing guard outside of my daughter's school, his gray hair and wrinkles, his big smile every day, I felt something different. How come this gentleman is always so happy and contained?! He told me he was a lawyer, he had his "success," and he wanted to do something really "come from the heart" and pull him out of bed to look forward to. He loved seeing the smile on children's faces; he wanted children in our community to be safe, that's it!

I changed career. It was scary! I wanted something... meaningful, or maybe not meaningful, but just something real, like something I look forward to every morning!

That’s when I stumbled upon the idea of ikigai.

Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles explores the Japanese concept of ikigai. A guiding “reason for being” that aligns with what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for (if you are one of my clients, you probably have heard about it over and over…). Drawing on the rich lives of Okinawans—some of the world’s longest-living people—the authors share how a lifestyle rich in community ties, meaningful daily routines, mindful eating (like the practice of hara hachi bu, eating until 80 percent full; my grandmother always saying the same thing to me in Chinese, “chi fan chi dao ba cheng bao”), gentle physical activity, and a profound sense of purpose contributes to both longevity and joy. They blend cultural insight and accessible advice, encouraging readers to discover and slowly cultivate their own reason to wake up each morning.

It all sounds so simple and wonderful! But how hard it is to find the four things aligned: what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for?! You know how hard it is!

Big Purpose and Little Pleasures: Exploring the Japanese concept of ikigai. by Maggie Rowe, it reminds us there’s the capital-I Ikigai, that grand life mission, legacy-building, call-it-my-purpose stuff. But then there’s the little-ikigai: the small pleasures that help you make it through the day, the cup of tea after a walk, a glass of sake at dusk, those tiny joys that restore you, not because they’re productive, but simply because you love them.

I realized: I’d been chasing the big-I version while my soul craved the little-ikigai. I wasn’t looking forward to anything at the end of the day. And that, that was a signal, one I had nearly ignored.

So I thought: what do I actually look forward to? In a world obsessed with output, I nearly forgot how to ask that question. But when I finally leaned in, the answer came: I wanted work that felt like I am just being me, mornings that felt like looking forward to waking up for, little by little, I reconstructed my path.

Modern culture tells us: success equals status, happiness equals productivity; we need to try everything to keep the status and happiness in life. But if we look into those centenarians’ experiences, they all pointed to something different. They surprisingly showed us that they live a long, enjoyable life with "little-p purpose"; those small, process-oriented passions are what fuel sustainable joy, connection, and the natural flow in life. Happiness isn’t an award to be earned. It’s baked into the little ups and downs we lean into.

Now, I wake up knowing I get to do that quirky, curious work, asking myself “what little things do I look forward to today?” And in the evening, I sit with a hot herbal tea, satisfied, not with everything done, but with something (or a tiny portion of things) done that mattered to me. That is my little ikigai. I know I have tomorrow, I am looking forward to continuing to enjoy the ups and downs, to do little things to feel simply alive.

I didn’t land here by leaping; the shift came from listening to what lit me up in the small moments: mid-afternoon walks, heartfelt talks, work that fits my voice and my experiences. Gradually, that voice reshaped my career and my life.

Maybe you’re in the thick of it too: you're tired, chasing definitions of success that don’t stick, and perhaps you’ve achieved a lot but somehow still questioning, “Have I done enough?” If this resonates with you, I invite you to pause. Not to quit what you are doing in life, but to notice: what “little thing” makes your day feel like just being YOU? Let that guide you. That’s where ikigai often hides, in the things that aren’t supposed to be impressive, not a 5-year grand plan, not a big dream, but just something small to keep you going.

What’s your ikigai?

My Small Ikigai Moments (Art by Chao Zhao)