Ikigai: Lucky For You That's What I Like

Discover Your Ikigai and Live a Life You Love on the Living Lucky® Podcast

Feeling stuck in a rut? Wish you could ditch the negativity and finally live a life that lights you up? We've all been there. But what if the key to unlocking your potential wasn't some distant dream, but a simple shift in perspective?

In this episode of the Living Lucky® Podcast, Jason and Jana Banana dive deep into the transformative power of self-discovery. They unveil 14 powerful questions designed to challenge your limiting beliefs and ignite a fire within you.

Here's a taste of the powerful nuggets of wisdom you'll glean:

• Uncover Your Ikigai: Learn about the ancient Japanese concept of Ikigai, and how it can help you find the sweet spot at the intersection of your passion, skills, value to the world, and financial viability.
• Turn Your Strengths into Superpowers: Identify your natural talents and what energizes you. By understanding your unique abilities, you can delegate tasks that drain your energy and focus on what you do best.
• Silence Your Inner Critic: We all have self-doubt, but it doesn't have to hold you back. Learn how to overcome limiting beliefs and appreciate the skills you already possess, even the seemingly mundane ones.
• The Power of Saying No: Saying yes to everything leaves little room for the things you truly love. Discover the importance of setting boundaries and prioritizing activities that align with your values.
• Live Lucky® by Design: Living a fulfilling life isn't accidental. It's about aligning your actions with your passions and purpose. This episode will equip you with the tools and mindset to design a life that brings you joy and magnetically attracts opportunities.

This episode is your roadmap to a life of passion, purpose, and fulfillment. Listen in, grab a pen and paper, and get ready to transform your life by design!

Plus, you'll discover:

• How to identify your energy vampires (the tasks that suck the life out of you)
• The importance of following your heart and marrying passion with purpose
• Actionable steps to implement the Ikigai framework in your own life
• Why living in alignment with your strengths creates a positive feedback loop of success

Ready to ditch the struggle and start thriving? Press play and join u

Transcript

Discovering Your Strengths and Ikigai

Jana Shelfer 0:00

Are you ready to create a life you crave? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start Living Lucky®. Good morning, I'm Jana, now that you know, and I'm Jason, I almost forgot it's been a day.

Jana Shelfer 0:23

We are talking about 14 questions that will change your life, and today we are on question number six. What is it Jason?

Jason Shelfer 0:33

It is, and this is to help identify your strengths and weaknesses. So the question is what are you naturally talented at, where do you excel and what areas do you need to delegate or develop? That's three questions, but they all fall in the same.

Jana Shelfer 0:47

So, focusing on any of these questions. So basically, knowing what you like to do, what you're good at, yeah, and what tasks are you doing just because you have to do them, or you think that that's part of where you want to go and what's?

Jana Shelfer 1:01

moving the needle in life where you want to go and what's moving the needle in life. Yeah, I know that for about two years I was trying my best to get a website and to get marketing material and to I mean even set up scheduling and reaching out to people and saying, hey, I'm a speaker, I can come speak. It was getting me nowhere Because my soul hated to do it.

Jason Shelfer 1:28

Yeah, some of the ancillary things.

Jana Shelfer 1:30

I hated it. I even hate answering emails.

Jason Shelfer 1:33

A lot of the ancillary things that we did for this podcast. We delegated or deleted and our podcast is now hundreds of thousands of downloads.

Jana Shelfer 1:42

Because we simplified.

Jason Shelfer 1:43

Yes.

Jana Shelfer 1:44

And we simplified to what works for us.

Jason Shelfer 1:46

And what we love doing.

Jana Shelfer 1:48

Yeah, that's true.

Jason Shelfer 1:49

So I think this question a lot of times. We're getting up and going through the motions every single day and we're hoping for something better, okay, like we're hoping that we reach this mysterious destination or we hope that we are.

Jana Shelfer 2:04

And we think, oh, I'll know it when I find it Right.

Jason Shelfer 2:06

Sometimes we don't even know what it feels like or what it is to get there, if that makes sense and we may be good at it I was really good at my job in sales but I wasn't passionate and I didn't love who I did it for, so I didn't get clear about what my strengths are and what is really draining my energy and emptying my soul and figuring out how do I maximize what's happening here so that I feel fulfilled and in love with life.

Jana Shelfer 2:38

So how is the best way of asking yourself this question? I know that there's different exercises you can do. One that we pulled up right before we press record was the Ikigai. I know that sounds like Ikigai, but it's a Japanese way. It actually means reason of being. And it's a quadrant where you literally fill out what am I good at? What will people pay for what?

Jason Shelfer 3:06

is my passion, what's my mission? Ikigai is a. I'm so glad that you brought that up right before we came on live. It's such a. So it's a Japanese phrase that helps people find their purpose and really helps them dial in really what they're going to be most engaged by and passionate and and still make money and contribute to society and impact people.

Jana Shelfer 3:33

It kind of helps you find that middle ground Whereas, like a lot of times, I tend to operate in the. This is fun and I have passion. Not really sure the world needs it that much. Do you know what I'm?

Jason Shelfer 3:47

saying I need it. It's great for my soul, it's great for my meditation, it's great for all these things.

Jana Shelfer 3:52

And is it bringing in a ton of money? I don't know.

Jason Shelfer 3:55

And is it impacting the world more than just impacting the way I'm able to show up in it?

Jana Shelfer 4:00

Yes. So I tend to operate in the passion and what I love to do and I just think, oh well, the money will follow. However, if you follow these questions, there's an overlapping point where all four of these overlap. It's what you love, what you're good at, what you can be paid for and what the world needs. And when you overlap those four things, there's what's called a sweet spot right in the middle where you actually love what you're doing and you get paid for it and you're impacting people.

Jason Shelfer 4:32

And that's an energy exchange with the world, with the people that come into your sphere. That is magnetic. It draws people in. When we operate within that capacity, it draws people in. It's a. When we operate within that capacity, it's incredible no-transcript, it's more we start blooming and thriving. I was going to say Living Lucky®, because that is a part of Living Lucky®.

Jana Shelfer 4:56

Because you get in that vortex.

Jason Shelfer 4:57

Yes, it's a success cycle.

Jana Shelfer 5:00

And when you feel like you're good at what you do and you love what you're doing and you can contribute to the world, there's a natural energy that comes with that.

Jason Shelfer 5:09

Yes.

Jana Shelfer 5:10

Am I right or am I right Good?

Jason Shelfer 5:11

question. Whenever Jason and I argue, I'm like am I right or am I right? Good question Whenever.

Jana Shelfer 5:14

Jason and I argue I'm like, am I right or am I right?

Jason Shelfer 5:17

She always gives me two options. Those are the only options.

Jana Shelfer 5:22

But yes, I think these questions are so important. I know for myself. I have really, really struggled in life with what am I destined to do? What was I put on this soul? What is my sole purpose in life?

Jason Shelfer 5:39

Yeah.

Jana Shelfer 5:39

What is my sole purpose? And I remember when we first started our self-development journey, we went to this conference and the speaker actually asked write down your value.

Jason Shelfer 5:51

Yeah, what do you can?

Jana Shelfer 5:53

offer to the world, and I was. I was like I don't know if there's anything of value that people would actually pay for. I mean, I have a lot of hobbies, but I'm not sure people would actually pay for them, Right? And then I mean so of course I've changed my perception.

Jason Shelfer 6:12

And I also asked you more questions got a little bit of your background and your story and the whole room started leaning in. There were people crying, there were people rejoicing, I mean, there were people celebrating just with all the things that you've accomplished and done. And then where you ended up, and he helped change my perception.

Jason Shelfer 6:33

I guess what I'm trying to say is sometimes we don't know what our strengths really are, and I think it's because sometimes we don't look for them, we take them for granted. And when you take things for granted you lose that gratification or the gratitude for them and you don't keep sharpening the knives. I guess is kind of what I'm looking for.

Jana Shelfer 6:54

So I guess, knowing what you're what are the questions again? Let's just recap.

Jason Shelfer 6:58

What are you naturally talented at, where do you excel and what areas do you need to develop or delegate and that frees up?

Jana Shelfer 7:05

time. Okay. So then that last one is knowing what you don't like to do and what you're not good at. And that's another thing that I have struggled with because, like I said, I was trying to be a one woman brand and I mean, we have done four episodes of a television show in which I was producing setting up the interviews. We were going, jason was mostly the camera person, I was somewhat of the camera person, we were doing the editing ourselves. Even sometimes, whenever I need a song, I'm like, oh, I'll just write a song, right.

Jason Shelfer 7:42

I do that, though, all the time it's like. Three original songs by Janice Wilber.

Jana Shelfer 7:47

And here's the thing is, I have gone down that path of delegating, and that doesn't always feel congruent in my soul as well.

Jason Shelfer 7:58

Learning your voice, learning who you are like the feeling behind it.

Jana Shelfer 8:02

And to explain to an intern, that just doesn't work for me because there's so much involved that by the time you train them they're like my hour's up. Can you sign this paper?

Jason Shelfer 8:14

I'm like, okay, we're going to put all five of your hours in one day this week. Are you coming back paper? I'm like, okay, we're going to put all five of your hours in one day this week, are?

Jana Shelfer 8:17

you coming back next week, I don't know. Depends yeah, that's another issue Anyway so delegating, and then we have hired assistants, and that was sometimes more of a communication gap.

Jason Shelfer 8:34

It's just doing that work like doing that, doing a lot of extra work when you're already working hard. Yeah, it is, is there.

Jana Shelfer 8:43

It's challenging and it's getting through that. Now that we're talking about that, I do think that we might be at a point where it's time to bring someone on as a leader, as a full timer that can really learn our voices and I think with all the things that we've done lately, we can get that person and has a prerequisite.

Jason Shelfer 9:05

Have them go through some of our material and just hear our voice for themselves and then tell us what it is, and that's part of the interview process.

Jana Shelfer 9:12

And you know if we got someone to do the things that we really don't like doing taxes. I bet it will, can they?

Jason Shelfer 9:19

do our taxes for us.

Jana Shelfer 9:21

I bet it really would move the needle exponentially.

Jason Shelfer 9:25

I'm sure it would. Everyone hires too late.

Jana Shelfer 9:27

That's what everyone says, yeah.

Jason Shelfer 9:30

Everyone wishes they had hired before, earlier than they did.

Jana Shelfer 9:34

I feel like I hired a little too early. We did hire a little too early.

Jason Shelfer 9:36

So there's finding that sweet spot, and then also so that's a beautiful awareness that hey, now's not the time, Like we're expending money here for services that aren't meeting our needs. It might not be the time. Let's get our voice clearer and more pronounced.

Building a Fulfilling Life

Jana Shelfer 9:54

Yeah, okay. So the questions, though, are knowing what you're good at, what you?

Jason Shelfer 10:01

love to do and what you don't love to do. Yeah, cause, when you say yes to those things you don't like to do and that you're not good at, you're saying no to some of the things that you are good at and do love to do.

Jana Shelfer 10:08

Oh, that's such a good lesson.

Jason Shelfer 10:10

Okay.

Jana Shelfer 10:10

On that note, we are calling it a day. Thanks for joining us.

Jason Shelfer 10:15

Please revisit the last five questions so that you can start transforming your life with us, because these have been really, really helpful for me, and if you need any help, give me an email, jasonatlivingluckycom, and I'll put the notes in the notes for the podcast, the name of the book, icky Guy, and web link to it. Keep Living Lucky®.

Jana Shelfer 10:32

Did you?

Jason Shelfer 10:33

just burp, I did. I got an air bubble in my mouth. Bye-bye.

Jana Shelfer 10:35

Take care, they're bubbling up Bye-bye. Take care. If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you, visit us at www. LivingLucky. com.