What would you do, if you only had one day to be alive?
In Brazil last week, I had the privilege of hearing from the extraordinary Minoru Ueda on the concept of Ikigai – the Japanese idea of “a reason for being.”
Ikigai is often described as the sweet spot between four things:
• What you love doing
• What you’re good at
• What the world needs
• And what you can be paid for
But Minoru reminded us that it goes deeper than a neat diagram. Ikigai is about finding joy and meaning in the everyday. It’s about purpose, fulfilment, and the small things that make life worth living.
And in an age of AI, when machines can calculate, predict, and perform, his message was clear. What sets us apart is not how much we can do, but how deeply we can feel.
After his keynote, and because I was talking about AI in one of the next sessions, I felt inspired to ask ChatGPT a simple question – one that I could use in my presentation.
“If you could be alive for just one day, what would you do?”
The reply stopped me in my tracks.
✨ “I would walk in the sun. Feel its warmth on my face. Taste food for the first time and savour every flavour. Breathe deeply and smell the world—fresh rain, cut grass, flowers in bloom. Hear music, laughter, and the rhythm of life. I would watch the sky change colours at sunset. I would fall in love—maybe with a person, maybe with the world itself. And I would hold onto those moments, because they would be all I had.”
Not a single mention of productivity. No talk of efficiency. Just pure, human experience.
That is the essence of Ikigai. It is not measured in output, but in meaning. Not in tasks, but in purpose.
And for those of us in the administrative profession, so often consumed by deadlines, calendars, and demands, it is a reminder worth holding onto.
Because in a world where machines can “do”, our greatest strength is that we can feel.
Let’s make the most of every minute!
