Find Your Kokorozashi
Does your career have a Purpose?
Making the most of your career begins with you. Your kokorozashi. Your personal mission. At GLOBIS, kokorozashi is how professionals shape their careers around their passions to make a positive impact on themselves, their organizations, and society.
Kokorozashi: the Japanese Path to Purpose
In its simplest sense, the Japanese word kokorozashi means "will" or "ambition." At GLOBIS, we take it further: to us, kokorozashi is a personal mission that unifies the passions and skills of a professional to create positive change in society.
What does Kokorozashi mean?
The Japanese character for kokorozashi, 志, brings together two components. The lower component, 心 (kokoro), means "heart." The upper component, 士 (shi), refers to a “scholar” or “a person with aspirations". Read together, 志 expresses an aspiration guided by both the mind and the heart.
Kokorozashi vs. Ikigai
What is Ikigai?
You may have heard another Japanese word tied to purpose: ikigai (生きがい). Popularized in recent years, ikigai is often described as your "reason to get up in the morning", anything that sparks joy, whether that's your family, volunteering at an animal shelter, or the work you do each day.
But make no mistake: ikigai and kokorozashi are not the same thing.
What is Kokorozashi?
Kokorozashi, by contrast, drives you toward a goal. It is a long-term vision rooted in social consciousness. Not just volunteering at that animal shelter, but refining its marketing strategy, improving conditions for the animals, organizing events to secure donations, and starting TNR initiatives across your city.
The key difference: kokorozashi starts with you, but it doesn't end there. It's defined by determination toward a goal with a purpose greater than yourself: a positive impact on society.
Because of that scope, a kokorozashi is always evolving, and developing yours takes discipline, reflection, adjustment—and a little guidance.
That's where GLOBIS comes in.
Find your Kokorozashi with GLOBIS
Kokorozashi is central to everything we do at GLOBIS. Through a blend of education and self-reflection, we help students, clients, and users define and refine a kokorozashi that's meaningful and truly their own. You'll learn frameworks to shape your kokorozashi and discover how your passion and experience can set you on your journey.
You'll also join a community of like-minded professionals. Your kokorozashi is driven by you, but the best results don't come in a vacuum. Discussion and feedback sharpen your reflection, surface new insights, and can open directions you'd never have found on your own.
Specialized courses bring these elements together, and expert mentors help you articulate where you're headed, ensuring that your kokorozashi becomes a key guiding principle for your life and career.