These are very insightful comments, Fred Ma. Thanks for taking the time to share. Agreed, finding your ikigai is *hard*, and to be honest, I’m not sure it’s a process that ever stops, nor should it. What fits as an ikigai in one season of your life, may not suit you as you grow older.

Your reflections here got me to thinking: In addition to looking at ikigai as an intersection of passion, mission, vocation, and profession, it might be instructive to weight each component. For example, perhaps you weight passion over money for some time.

Anyway, thanks again for advancing this conversation and adding your thoughtful reflection!