The Story Behind the Ikigai Venn Diagram: A Personal Journey
[NOT A STUDY, a blog post. READ IN FULL AT SOURCE] Winn, M. (2025). 'The Story Behind the Ikigai Venn Diagram: A Personal Journey.' theviewinside.me, published 15 February 2025, modified 28 September 2026, dates taken from the page metadata. THE QUOTABLE ACCOUNT OF THE RELABELLING: 'In 2014 I put the Japanese word ikigai at the centre of Andres Zuzunaga's existing purpose Venn diagram and published the result on my small personal blog. I did not invent the diagram or ikigai. My contribution was the join: bringing Dan Buettner's account of ikigai together with Zuzunaga's four-circle picture.' The route in, named: he encountered the purpose Venn diagram by the Spanish astrologer Andres Zuzunaga via David Carter's book Breakthrough; 'His 2011 framework mapped four intersecting elements: what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for ... In a moment of insight, I replaced "Purpose" with "Ikigai" ... The diagram's visual structure belongs to Andres Zuzunaga. My part was adding the word ikigai and publishing the adaptation.' On accuracy, in his words: 'However, I've since clarified that it's a Western adaptation, not an authentic representation of Japanese philosophy.' His three-point account of the original: 'Isn't monetised: Most Japanese associate ikigai with simple pleasures, not income'; 'Thrives in community'; 'Embracing imperfection: Mastery isn't required.' AND THE CONSTRAINT ON REACH: 'The post travelled far beyond my original readership, appearing in coaching sessions, workplaces, classrooms, books and presentations around the world. I do not have a reliable measure of its total reach.' THE DIAGRAM'S OWN AUTHOR HAS NO REACH FIGURE AND NEITHER DO WE; NO SUCH NUMBER MAY BE SUPPLIED. This entry is also the source of the 2011 date, which conflicts with the signed comment of 2017 and is not resolved.
[NOT A STUDY, a blog post. READ IN FULL AT SOURCE] Winn, M. (2025). 'The Story Behind the Ikigai Venn Diagram: A Personal Journey.' theviewinside.me, published 15 February 2025, modified 28 September 2026, dates taken from the page metadata. THE QUOTABLE ACCOUNT OF THE RELABELLING: 'In 2014 I put the Japanese word ikigai at the centre of Andres Zuzunaga's existing purpose Venn diagram and published the result on my small personal blog. I did not invent the diagram or ikigai. My contribution was the join: bringing Dan Buettner's account of ikigai together with Zuzunaga's four-circle picture.' The route in, named: he encountered the purpose Venn diagram by the Spanish astrologer Andres Zuzunaga via David Carter's book Breakthrough; 'His 2011 framework mapped four intersecting elements: what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for ... In a moment of insight, I replaced "Purpose" with "Ikigai" ... The diagram's visual structure belongs to Andres Zuzunaga. My part was adding the word ikigai and publishing the adaptation.' On accuracy, in his words: 'However, I've since clarified that it's a Western adaptation, not an authentic representation of Japanese philosophy.' His three-point account of the original: 'Isn't monetised: Most Japanese associate ikigai with simple pleasures, not income'; 'Thrives in community'; 'Embracing imperfection: Mastery isn't required.' AND THE CONSTRAINT ON REACH: 'The post travelled far beyond my original readership, appearing in coaching sessions, workplaces, classrooms, books and presentations around the world. I do not have a reliable measure of its total reach.' THE DIAGRAM'S OWN AUTHOR HAS NO REACH FIGURE AND NEITHER DO WE; NO SUCH NUMBER MAY BE SUPPLIED. This entry is also the source of the 2011 date, which conflicts with the signed comment of 2017 and is not resolved.
Written from the nOT A STUDY, a blog post. READ IN FULL AT SOURCE.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
theviewinside.me, 15 February 2025. https://theviewinside.me/the-story-behind-the-ikigai-venn-diagram-a-personal-journey