- Ikigai, a Japanese lifestyle concept, stands for ‘one’s reason to jump out of bed every morning’
- For something to qualify as your Ikigai, it must meet the following four criteria:
1)Something you ‘love’ to do
2)Something you are good at
3)Something that the world needs
4) Something you can be paid for
- The one thing I have always been passionate about is spending time with children – interacting with them, ideating with them, working with them, learning from them! Being around young children always brought me happiness, so we tick off criteria one
- For criteria two, the fact that I have spent the last decade in the world of early education enjoying multiple roles – that of a preschool teacher, to a pre-primary head managing curriculum, leading a huge team of teachers and interacting with parents, transitioning into the role of a teacher-trainer, school consultant and parenting expert – makes me realise I must be good at it
- Being born, brought up and settled for life in Matunga, I am aware that our cozy little neighbourhood really needs a space where young children can be, explore, collaborate and learn! A space that allows them to at least begin their journey towards finding their own purpose or Ikigai – criteria three stands strong
- Lastly, compensation or ‘pay’ is not always monetary but the bigger view to this is that satisfaction, peace and feeling of accomplishment I receive whenever I spend a ‘happy day’ with children – so there goes criteria four!
- Knowing that I have found my Ikigai – or my reason to jump out of bed and be happy every morning – has led me to say goodbye to a very promising career as an educational consultant and take the leap of becoming an ‘EduPreneur’ with a dream and a vision to redefine what early education must really offer for children and parents…
- This dream has given birth to, my baby…
Ikigai Global Prep School
