Rejecting My Ikigai

Why I Walked Away from my Raison d’etre

“Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of others; instead, seek what they sought.”

— Matsuo Basho

2018 has been a very, very strange year for me. In many regards, it was by far the best year of my life. What made it so much greater than the others you ask? Well, for starters, as far back as January, my personal brand really began taking off as traffic to this blog started shooting through the roof. Hell, even the almighty Tim Ferris shared one of my articles in his weekly newsletter, 5-Bullet Friday. Life was good, or so it would seem from the outside. Nevertheless, 2018 has been a year of inner turmoil much like the ups and downs of a thrilling roller coaster ride as I struggled to sort out what all this means. While I think I’ve finally nailed the answer, looking back there were more sleepless nights than I care to remember as I navigated what was my dark night of the soul.

Alright, this really shouldn’t even need to be stated but this article obviously isn’t going to be one of my usual travel guides. No, this week we will be taking a break from exploring any of Japan’s numerous hidden gems. Instead, I want to take you through the tumultuous twists and turns that have characterized my past twelve…