Ikigai: Imparting meaning to life
The book under review “Ikigai” is about the Japanese philosophy for a successful life. The writers Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles wrote this book in 2016. In Japanese the world iki means life and gai means value. Ikigai is the ancient Japanese philosophy about finding your purpose in life. It is a Japanese concept and means reasons for being. The writers have tried to portray the view point that for finding the purpose of life your intuition and curiosity help a lot.
Okinawa is a chain of islands about 400 miles southwest of Japan. Here people live longer and happier lives as they know their reason for waking up every day.
This book focus on asking yourself four questions to improve the quality of life,
1) What you love?
2) What you get paid for?
3) What you are good at and
4) What the world needs?
It stands at the crossroads of four main qualities, passion, profession, vocation and mission. This book is like a treasure life. 10 rules of ikigai as mentioned in the book relate to a long and happy life.
1. Stay active
2. Don’t retire
3. Take it slow
4. Don’t fill your stomach
5. surround yourself with good friends
6. Get in shape for your next birthday
7. Smile
8. Reconnect with nature
9. Give thanks
10. Live in the moment
The writers suggest to the readers that your mission should be to discover what is your Ikigai and then follow it. You can say it is a thing that gets you up in the morning. This process makes one grow as one gets older. Lacking a purpose may mar your health. We may face pressure and fear and uncertainties which prevent us from discovering our true self. Ikigai can be a solution to this problem as it is a universal human experience. Pursuing your ikigai everyday will bring meaning to your life as this has nothing to do with money. The main themes of this book may be summarized as below:
• How to find your ikigai?
• Pursue your ikigai every day.
• Once you find the answer to the questions as, “What I am good at”? Find something what you enjoy. Ask yourself how you can be paid. In other words can your skill be monetized?
• What is profitable might not be the same you are passionate about.
• Mission is more significant than your goals.
• The better you know yourself the easier it is to find your ikigai. Don’t retire and keep doing. Many Japanese people never get retired. Okinawa has the greatest concentration of centenarians. Japanese people love hard work. Patience and perseverance are other qualities that keep them going.
• Keep doing what you love.
• Ikigai is the intersection of your passion and vocation, mission and profession.
• Never think your job as a burden. If you leave the job taking it as taxing may be later you realize that it gave you a purpose. And that the job gave you many opportunities.
• It is common knowledge that who remains busy can keep himself fit and usually lives longer. Job gives a purpose to live and after that you feel that you are missing out on many opportunities. At least it keeps you in the flow and gives you reason to jump of your bed every morning.
• One must keep one’s body and mind keep fit to stay healthy.
• Technology has a downside. It reduces your age. Studies show that smart phones cause depression in teens. What can you do to minimize your stress, one step is to be mindful of your emotions. Silently observe your emotions.
• One should avoid sitting idle for longer hours. You can take a short walk. You can exercise regularly at least for 30 minutes. The recommended time for practicing the exercise in ikigai is 30 minutes.
• Accept the world as it is. World is never perfect. Therefore accept it the way it is. Once you start embracing it with open heart you will get relaxed. Do not start attaching expectations.
• Challenging tasks can be often in a flow. When you are entirely in a zone or in a flow you do not bother what is happening in the environment.
• Hara hachi bu, a phrase used at meal times in Okinawa, means eat till your 80 percent is full. Okinawans believe that overeating wears down the body. Eat only 80 percent of the food. Eat less to live more. Apply the 80, 20 rule to your diet. Stay a little bit hungry. Eat nutritional foods and do not overeat. Do not starve yourself and weaken your immune system.
• Be in the flow and you will see how time flies quickly when you are in the zone.
• Your brain rewards you with the good feeling if there is something you love you will definitely want to do it repeatedly every day.
• It imparts meaning to your existence and is the reason for being. We all want to be happy but most of us do not know what we want to do.
• Get a notebook and write what you love. What you are good at? Is there anything you want to be good at? What can you get to be paid for and what does the world need?
• What gets you into flow? What skills you have been spending time to practice? What do people look to you for helping with? What can you get paid for? What do you want to get paid for? What have you been paid before? What is something you have always been drawn back to do over time? What would you be doing if you had not been doing the current job? How can you contribute to create a positive effect on those around you?
• Instead of what the world needs, think about your world.
• Maintaining strong social bonds will also help achieve longevity. That is another salient feature of Okinawans.
• If you find yourself stuck at some point in life, you can try
monetize your passion. You can add value to whatever you are doing. You have to find a way to market yourself, develop your craft to make yourself financially viable.
• You should try new things. Find out what you are passionate about.
• The fundamental truth of ikigai is that various aspects do not work in isolation but much of it is always interconnected. There must be a harmonious overlap of these to make the magic happen. It is a process of discovery, it must be a deliberate action.
• You must look for the meaning of your life. Find your purpose and reason for being every day. Do introspection and ask yourself, what is the purpose of my existence? Am I being faithful to this? People can find a sense of meaning of what they do. Through a sense of well-being and fulfillment that you derive from being faithful to your purpose, you can build a happy and active life. You can modify your life in a holistic way.
• Find some interest or activity.
• Why do we get up in the morning, ikigai answers this question by finding an answer of reason for being.
• Find flow in everything we do and remain active, develop good habits including good nutrition, be optimistic, say thanks and have resilience, value wabi- sabi or the perfection in life. Live by ichi- go iche- e, the knowledge that this moment exists only now and will not come again. Therefore, try live in the moment and revel in it. Forget about past and stop worrying about what will happen in future. Work hard in the present time with all energy and future will take care of itself.
• The secret of Okinawa is living by ikigai and constantly maintaining your happiness. So live a meaningful and fulfilling life. You can simply walk barefoot in the grass. Practicing gratitude increases our mental health and our awareness of the positive things. Prioritize the things that matter.
• This book reveals that studies from the blue zone shows that People who live the longest are those who move their bodies maximum, not those who do exercise intensely.
• Collect list of the moments you feel grateful for.
• Saying thanks. This makes you more content and happy
• Our ikigai can be one thing or many things at the same time and it goes on evolving also.
It would be helpful if we look at the areas where people enjoy long and healthy life spans. They are described as below:
• Sardinia, Italy, where a plant-based diet, physical activity and familial closeness contribute to longevity.
• Okinawa, Japan, where strong social bonds and a low-calorie diet promote health and well-being.
• Nicoya, Costa Rica, where a sense of purpose, faith and natural food support longevity.
• Loma Linda, California, where a Seventh-day Adventist community follows a vegetarian diet and observes the Sabbath.
• Ikaria, Greece, where a Mediterranean diet, herbal teas and naps help prevent chronic diseases.
A glimpse will show that the features associated with happy contented long lives in the above areas of the world are all manifest in the book under discussion in one way or the other, hence testifying to the evidence that for leading a fruitful life one must try to stick to the principles as enumerated in the book. And that is exactly this what makes this book a must read and worth recommending to.
Ghazala Anbreen
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Ikigai
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Ikigai: Imparting meaning to life The book under review “Ikigai” is about the Japanese philosophy for a successful life. The writers Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles wrote this book in 2016. In Japanese the world iki means life and gai means value. Ikigai is the ancient Japanese philosophy about finding your purpose in life. It is a Japanese concept and means reasons for being. The writers have tried to portray the view point that for finding the purpose of life your intuition and curiosity help a lot. Okinawa is a chain of islands about 400 miles southwest of Japan. Here people live longer and happier lives as they know their reason for waking up every day. This book focus on asking yourself four questions to improve the quality of life, 1) What you love? 2) What you get paid for? 3) What you are good at and 4) What the world needs? It stands at the crossroads of four main qualities, passion, profession, vocation and mission. This book is like a treasure life. 10 rules of ikigai as mentioned in the book relate to a long and happy life. 1. Stay active 2. Don’t retire 3. Take it slow 4. Don’t fill your stomach 5. surround yourself with good friends 6. Get in shape for your next birthday 7. Smile 8. Reconnect with nature 9. Give thanks 10. Live in the moment The writers suggest to the readers that your mission should be to discover what is your Ikigai and then follow it. You can say it is a thing that gets you up in the morning. This process makes one grow as one gets older. Lacking a purpose may mar your health. We may face pressure and fear and uncertainties which prevent us from discovering our true self. Ikigai can be a solution to this problem as it is a universal human experience. Pursuing your ikigai everyday will bring meaning to your life as this has nothing to do with money. The main themes of this book may be summarized as below: • How to find your ikigai? • Pursue your ikigai every day. • Once you find the answer to the questions as, “What I am good at”? Find something what you enjoy. Ask yourself how you can be paid. In other words can your skill be monetized? • What is profitable might not be the same you are passionate about. • Mission is more significant than your goals. • The better you know yourself the easier it is to find your ikigai. Don’t retire and keep doing. Many Japanese people never get retired. Okinawa has the greatest concentration of centenarians. Japanese people love hard work. Patience and perseverance are other qualities that keep them going. • Keep doing what you love. • Ikigai is the intersection of your passion and vocation, mission and profession. • Never think your job as a burden. If you leave the job taking it as taxing may be later you realize that it gave you a purpose. And that the job gave you many opportunities. • It is common knowledge that who remains busy can keep himself fit and usually lives longer. Job gives a purpose to live and after that you feel that you are missing out on many opportunities. At least it keeps you in the flow and gives you reason to jump of your bed every morning. • One must keep one’s body and mind keep fit to stay healthy. • Technology has a downside. It reduces your age. Studies show that smart phones cause depression in teens. What can you do to minimize your stress, one step is to be mindful of your emotions. Silently observe your emotions. • One should avoid sitting idle for longer hours. You can take a short walk. You can exercise regularly at least for 30 minutes. The recommended time for practicing the exercise in ikigai is 30 minutes. • Accept the world as it is. World is never perfect. Therefore accept it the way it is. Once you start embracing it with open heart you will get relaxed. Do not start attaching expectations. • Challenging tasks can be often in a flow. When you are entirely in a zone or in a flow you do not bother what is happening in the environment. • Hara hachi bu, a phrase used at meal times in Okinawa, means eat till your 80 percent is full. Okinawans believe that overeating wears down the body. Eat only 80 percent of the food. Eat less to live more. Apply the 80, 20 rule to your diet. Stay a little bit hungry. Eat nutritional foods and do not overeat. Do not starve yourself and weaken your immune system. • Be in the flow and you will see how time flies quickly when you are in the zone. • Your brain rewards you with the good feeling if there is something you love you will definitely want to do it repeatedly every day. • It imparts meaning to your existence and is the reason for being. We all want to be happy but most of us do not know what we want to do. • Get a notebook and write what you love. What you are good at? Is there anything you want to be good at? What can you get to be paid for and what does the world need? • What gets you into flow? What skills you have been spending time to practice? What do people look to you for helping with? What can you get paid for? What do you want to get paid for? What have you been paid before? What is something you have always been drawn back to do over time? What would you be doing if you had not been doing the current job? How can you contribute to create a positive effect on those around you? • Instead of what the world needs, think about your world. • Maintaining strong social bonds will also help achieve longevity. That is another salient feature of Okinawans. • If you find yourself stuck at some point in life, you can try monetize your passion. You can add value to whatever you are doing. You have to find a way to market yourself, develop your craft to make yourself financially viable. • You should try new things. Find out what you are passionate about. • The fundamental truth of ikigai is that various aspects do not work in isolation but much of it is always interconnected. There must be a harmonious overlap of these to make the magic happen. It is a process of discovery, it must be a deliberate action. • You must look for the meaning of your life. Find your purpose and reason for being every day. Do introspection and ask yourself, what is the purpose of my existence? Am I being faithful to this? People can find a sense of meaning of what they do. Through a sense of well-being and fulfillment that you derive from being faithful to your purpose, you can build a happy and active life. You can modify your life in a holistic way. • Find some interest or activity. • Why do we get up in the morning, ikigai answers this question by finding an answer of reason for being. • Find flow in everything we do and remain active, develop good habits including good nutrition, be optimistic, say thanks and have resilience, value wabi- sabi or the perfection in life. Live by ichi- go iche- e, the knowledge that this moment exists only now and will not come again. Therefore, try live in the moment and revel in it. Forget about past and stop worrying about what will happen in future. Work hard in the present time with all energy and future will take care of itself. • The secret of Okinawa is living by ikigai and constantly maintaining your happiness. So live a meaningful and fulfilling life. You can simply walk barefoot in the grass. Practicing gratitude increases our mental health and our awareness of the positive things. Prioritize the things that matter. • This book reveals that studies from the blue zone shows that People who live the longest are those who move their bodies maximum, not those who do exercise intensely. • Collect list of the moments you feel grateful for. • Saying thanks. This makes you more content and happy • Our ikigai can be one thing or many things at the same time and it goes on evolving also. It would be helpful if we look at the areas where people enjoy long and healthy life spans. They are described as below: • Sardinia, Italy, where a plant-based diet, physical activity and familial closeness contribute to longevity. • Okinawa, Japan, where strong social bonds and a low-calorie diet promote health and well-being. • Nicoya, Costa Rica, where a sense of purpose, faith and natural food support longevity. • Loma Linda, California, where a Seventh-day Adventist community follows a vegetarian diet and observes the Sabbath. • Ikaria, Greece, where a Mediterranean diet, herbal teas and naps help prevent chronic diseases. A glimpse will show that the features associated with happy contented long lives in the above areas of the world are all manifest in the book under discussion in one way or the other, hence testifying to the evidence that for leading a fruitful life one must try to stick to the principles as enumerated in the book. And that is exactly this what makes this book a must read and worth recommending to. Ghazala Anbreen