SunStar Contributed photo March 03, 2021 ACCORDING to Jeffrey Gaines of Positive Psychology, Ikigai "is a Japanese concept that combines the terms iki, meaning "alive" or "life," and gai, meaning "benefit" or "worth." When combined, these terms mean that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose." I first heard of this around three years ago when the planner-journal I owned had extra pages dedicated to bonus contents such as Ikigai illustrations. The simplest, most common illustrations of Ikigai are that of four huge but different circles put so closely together they overlap exactly how a Venn Diagram looks like. The four circles represent (1) what you're good at; (2) what you love to do; (3) what the world needs; and (4) what you are paid for. That portion where these four circles meet when they overlap is the "Ikigai."