7.10 – The lifeline and the analysis of personal journey

The lifeline is a powerful tool for exploration and putting into perspective one’s personal journey in the context of Ikigai coaching. It allows the client to trace back the significant events, turning points, and recurring themes in their story, in order to extract meaning and identify the deep-seated aspirations that drive them. By drawing their life trajectory, the client takes a step back to look at their journey, identifies the key moments that have shaped their identity and values, and clarifies the direction they wish to take for their future in alignment with their Ikigai.

The coach invites the client to represent their lifeline on a sheet of paper, placing their birth on the left and the present moment on the right. They are encouraged to identify the stages and significant events that have marked their path, both personal and professional: successes, challenges, choices, encounters, learnings… The client is asked to symbolise these events with points, peaks, or dips, depending on their positive or negative impact on his trajectory. They can also give them an evocative title or illustrate them with a drawing to anchor their meaning.

During a coaching session, Marc traces his lifeline and identifies several pivotal moments: his default choice of engineering studies, his inspiring encounter with a social entrepreneur during a trip, his growing feeling of disconnection with the values of his company, his decision to follow a course in circular economy… By connecting these events, he becomes aware of the commitment thread that runs through his journey and his aspiration to contribute to a more sustainable world, the foundation of his Ikigai.

Beyond the factual events, the lifeline allows exploration of the feelings, emotions, and underlying aspirations at each stage. The coach invites the client to recall their mindset and motivations at each key moment, in order to extract the needs and fundamental values that drove them. This introspective exploration adds depth and meaning to the life trajectory and reveals the roots of the Ikigai.

Sophie delves into her childhood memories and identifies her early need to create and share, nourished by the artistic workshops she conducted for her friends. She also remembers the feelings of pride and usefulness she felt when helping her grandparents transmit their knowledge. Exploring these positive emotions, she realizes that creativity, sharing, and transmission are pillars of her Ikigai, which she wishes to reactivate in her current life.

The analysis of the lifeline also provides an opportunity to identify moments of tension or rupture in the journey, revealing unmet needs or violated values. The coach encourages the client to explore these areas of discomfort with kindness, in order to understand their deep causes and draw lessons for the future. This awareness allows to readjust the trajectory for better alignment with the Ikigai.

When tracing her lifeline, Julie realizes that her choices of studies and career have often been dictated by her parents’ expectations and social pressure. She identifies several moments of discomfort and frustration, linked to a lack of freedom and creativity in her daily life. This awareness leads her to assert her need for autonomy and personal expression, and to consider a professional retraining more in line with her deep aspirations.

The lifeline is also a support for projection into the future. After retracing their journey up to the present, the client is invited to imagine the continuation of their trajectory, in coherence with their Ikigai. They can draw an arrow to the right and inscribe their dreams, projects, and future stages that would bring meaning and flavor to their life. This positive visualization exercise strengthens the motivation and commitment towards a chosen and fulfilling future.

Fortified by the lessons learned from his lifeline, Marc projects himself into the next five years. He sees himself leaving his current job to create his own circular economy consulting structure, in collaboration with partners sharing his values. He also imagines himself getting involved in awareness-raising associative projects, to transmit his convictions to the greatest number. This vision aligned with his Ikigai fills him with energy and determination to take action.

The lifeline is an integrative tool, which echoes other Ikigai exploration tools such as the 4 circles diagram, the values scale or the wheel of life. It allows us to put into perspective the insights from these different tools, by anchoring them in the biographical narrative and connecting them in a global vision of the journey. It reveals the coherence and deep meaning of the personal story, and opens towards a future full of fulfillment and contribution.

By crossing the teachings from her lifeline with her Ikigai diagram, Sophie realizes that her aspiration to create connection and transmit, identified as her Ikigai, is present all along her journey: in her associative commitments, her animation experiences, her nourishing relationships… This awareness strengthens her feeling of alignment and her confidence in her project to become a trainer in compassionate communication, as a logical continuation of her journey.

The lifeline is a powerful tool for reading and giving meaning to the personal journey, in service of discovering and realizing the Ikigai. By retracing stages and turning points in their story, exploring underlying emotions and aspirations, and projecting themselves into a meaningful future, the client clarifies the plot and direction of their life. Used in synergy with other Ikigai coaching tools, it helps to reveal the deep coherence and unique potential of each journey, and engage the client towards a fulfilling future, in line with their talents, values, and contribution to the world.

Points to remember:

– The lifeline is a powerful exploration and perspective tool for the personal journey in the context of Ikigai coaching. It allows to trace back the significant events, turning points, and recurring themes in the client’s story.

– The coach invites the client to represent their lifeline by identifying the stages and significant events marking their journey. The client symbolises these events with points, peaks or dips according to their impact.

– Beyond factual events, the lifeline allows exploration of feelings, emotions, and underlying aspirations at each stage, in order to draw out the fundamental needs and values that drove the client.

– The analysis of the lifeline provides an opportunity to identify moments of tension or rupture in the journey, revealing unmet needs or violated values. This awareness allows readjusting the trajectory for better alignment with the Ikigai.

– The lifeline also serves as a projection medium towards a future in coherence with the client’s Ikigai. This positive visualisation exercise reinforces motivation and commitment.

– This integrative tool echoes other Ikigai exploration tools and allows putting into perspective the insights in a global vision of the journey, revealing the deep coherence and unique potential of each personal story.