As fall arrives and a new academic year gets underway, it’s a good time to reconnect with what gets us out of bed each day, and to notice, savor, and create more moments that feel aligned with that sense of purpose.

This week, we’re revisiting one of our favorite conversations on Ikigai and the idea of finding more of those meaningful moments in everyday life.

In this episode, Dr. Miklos Fogarasi, hematologist-oncologist and medical educator at Quinnipiac University’s Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, explores the concept of Ikigai: a Japanese philosophy often described as “a reason to get up in the morning.”

Ikigai exists at the intersection of four elements:1) What you love2) What you are good at3) What the world needs4) What you can be rewarded forAs Dr. Fogarasi reminds us, Ikigai isn’t about striving for a single, perfect life purpose. It’s about recognizing the meaningful moments, big or small, that sustain us, sharing them with others, and learning to build a life rooted in purpose.

As leaders, we can thrive by being in touch with our own Ikigai, and help others discover and live their Ikigai, and bring people together to work towards a collective Ikigai, something greater than any one person themselves.

Here’s a graphic aiming to express this concept of ‘collective Ikigai”:

(Images created by Stephanie Balint, MD – Ikigai graphic inspired by previously published images; collective Ikigai created collaboratively by Stephanie Balint, Miklos Fogarasi, and Rahul Anand)

Join the conversation:

What’s one small moment you’d like to create or savor more in your days?

We’d love to hear from you and build this community together. You can share your thoughts with our community in a few ways:

* Comment: Join the live conversation in the comments section below.

* Email: Write to us at [email protected]

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About Learning to Lead:

Learning to Lead focuses on developing and supporting emerging healthcare leaders (students, trainees and early-career healthcare professionals) through conversations with leaders about their experiences and insights (“leader journeys”), foundational leadership concepts (“deep dives”), and the most useful and impactful tools to become better leaders (“leadership hacks”).”

You will be connecting to a community where you can learn, grow, and transform into a more capable and confident leader, ready to reimagine the healthcare system.

Learning to Lead is a collaboration of faculty and students from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University.

Creators Rahul Anand, Maya Doyle, Peter Longley and Brooklynn Weber. Student Producer: Krishna Anand; Senior Producer: Brooklynn Weber; Executive Producer: Rahul Anand

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onleadinginhealthcare.substack.com