Ikigai, the Japanese concept, roughly translates as "the happiness of always being busy". It is the reason we get up in the morning.<ul><li>What you are good at + What you love = PASSION</li><li>What you love + What the world needs = MISSION</li><li>What the world needs + What you can be paid for = VOCATION </li><li>What you can be paid for + What you are good at = PROFESSION</li></ul>If you find something that satisfies all of the above, that is your IKIGAI.

Introduction

<ul><li>We don't create the meaning of our life, we only discover it.</li><li>Everyone has a unique reason for being and this can transform many times over the years.</li><li>Humor can help break negative cycles.</li><li>Excessive attention to a desire can keep that desire from being fulfilled.</li><li>We don't control what happens to us, we only control how we react.</li></ul>

Better Living Through Logotherapy

Morita therapy focuses on accepting emotions without trying to control them.<ol><li>Accept your feelings. Don't try to control them or get rid of them. </li><li>Do what you should be doing. Make discoveries through experience. </li><li>Discover your life's purpose.</li></ol>

Morita Therapy

Naikan meditation is a type of introspective meditation where you self-reflect by asking yourself the following: <ol><li>What have I received from person X?</li><li>What have I given to person X?</li><li>What problems have I caused person X?</li></ol>

Naikan Meditation

<ul><li>Eat healthy and sleep well. Learn to relax.</li><li>Don't eat meat.</li><li>Don't consume alcohol.</li><li>Eat fewer calories</li><li>Have a sense of humor.</li><li>Keep your mind and body busy.</li><li>Exercise daily.</li><li>Help others. </li><li>Always keep learning.</li><li>Smile and open your heart. Spend time with people.</li><li>Don't be afraid of death.</li></ul>

Wisdom From Centenarians

The keys to longevity of the Okinawans are diet, exercise, finding their ikigai, and strong forming social ties.<ul><li>They consume a daily average of 1800 to 1900 calories. </li><li>They have a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18 to 22.</li><li>Their diet is rich in tofu, sweet potatoes, fish, green tea and vegetables served on small plates.</li><li>They only consume food until their belly is about 80 percent full. </li><li>They have a strong sense of community and they always look out for one another. </li></ul>

Okinawa - The Blue Zone

<ul><li>Expose yourself to change and do challenging things. This keeps your neurons from deterioration. </li><li>Stress wears down the body much faster. Do yoga, meditation, body scans, etc. to reduce stress.</li><li>Being sedentary can lead to hypertension, imbalanced eating, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and cancer. Walk for atleast 20 mins everyday. Use stairs instead of elevators. </li><li>Participate in social and leisure activities. </li><li>Replace your junk food with fruits.</li><li>Get 7 to 9 hours of sleep. </li><li>Be conscious of your daily routine. </li><li>Maintain a positive attitude and emotional awareness in every situation. </li></ul>

Antiaging Secrets

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms- to choose one attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose ones own wat

Flow is a state where you are completely immersed in the experience, not thinking about or distracted by anything else. You become a part of what you're doing. Strategies to achieve flow:<ol><li>Choose a difficult task (slightly outside your comfort zone but not too difficult) </li><li>Have a clear objective</li><li>Focus on a Single task (No Multitasking)</li></ol>Flow is mysterious. It is like a muscle: the more you train it, the more you will flow, and the closer you will be to your Ikigai.

Flow

A quick summary of the book Ikigai with important points only.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • 1.5 MILLION+ COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE “Workers looking for more fulfilling positions should start by identifying their ikigai.” ―Business Insider   “One of the unintended—yet positive—consequences of the [pandemic] is that it is forcing people to reevaluate their jobs, careers, and lives. Use this time wisely, find your personal ikigai, and live your best life.” ―Forbes Find your ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) to live longer and bring more meaning and joy to all your days. “Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.” —Japanese proverb   According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai—where what you love, what you’re good at, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs all overlap—means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life—the happiness of always being busy. In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds—one of the world’s Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and—their best-kept secret—how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find happiness in every day?

books

Books

Hector Garcia was born in Spain in 1981 and has been living in Tokyo since 2004. During his spare time he writes aGeekinJapan.com, one of the most widely-read blogs in the world in Spanish and in English, as well as books about his experiences in Japan. He is the author of the bestsellers: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life and A Geek in Japan. You can find more of Hector's musings at ageekinjapan.com

Héctor García

Francesc Miralles Contijoch is a Catalan writer, essayist, translator, and musician.