Manel Rueda

A space to explore purpose, awareness and action through a more human, deeper and more real way of understanding ikigai.

Who I am

For years I looked for purpose in doing, in results and in quick answers. Over time I understood that meaning isn’t found only by moving forward, but by learning not to separate from yourself as you walk.

IKIGAIER was born from that search: a more human, deeper and more real way of looking at ikigai.

I don’t call myself a coach or a guru. I don’t promise results or sell five-step formulas: I write and accompany from the experience of someone who has walked —and is still walking— the same questions he proposes.

Why IKIGAIER was born

IKIGAIER was born from a suspicion: that the ikigai we’ve been told about —the four intersecting circles— falls short. It describes what we do well and leaves out something just as important: where we do it from.

Hence the distinction that holds up all my work, which is my own elaboration and not a Japanese tradition: Active Ikigai —what you build and contribute— and Conscious Ikigai —the presence and coherence with which you live. An ikigaier is someone who learns not to separate the two. You can read this perspective at your own pace in the guide on what ikigai is.

My books

Where I write

I publish articles on ikigai and purpose on the IKIGAIER blog, and every two weeks I write the IKIGAIER letters, a more personal newsletter (in Spanish). I also share on Instagram. You can see the rest of my work at manelrueda.com.

The method and the workshops

The IKIGAIER method can be practised alone —with the book, the workbook and the ikigai test— and also in a group, in experiential workshops that work on the five gestures that hold it up: stopping and listening, looking at where you’ve drifted from yourself, recognising the masks, coming down from the mind into the body, and choosing a first step.