With the frantic pace of the modern world, most of us would have been tossed into the rat-race from an early age. For Singaporeans, a typical route would be to achieve excellent grades for our national examinations, qualify for a prestigious university degree, get into a well-paying job and start a family.
The relentless rhythm of life makes it hard to pause and reflect on what we really want. This makes Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life such a powerful book to read.
The book, by Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia, discusses a Japanese approach to living, which centres around our life’s purpose, and how one can adapt these practices to lead a happy and fulfilling life.
What is ikigai?
To start with, ikigai is the reason for your existence, your purpose in life.
Your ikigai doesn’t have to be related to your professional career; it can be a hobby. Most importantly, it drives you every day and motivates you to keep moving forward.
It can be hard to find our ikigai. In fact, we may spend our entire lives looking for it. What can help you along your journey is to reflect on these four questions:
- What do I love to do?
- What do I think the world needs?
- What can I be paid or compensated for?
- What am I good at?
Examine the different activities you’ve listed under each of these questions and see if they overlap. Chances are, your ikigai lies in the intersection of these answers. At the same time, don’t pressure yourself to find an answer immediately. The journey towards finding your ikigai is as important as the destination itself.
Apart from advice on identifying your ikigai, Miralles and Garcia condense many other life lessons from the people they’ve interviewed in the book. These three lessons can help you along the way and make each day brighter and more meaningful for you.
Find moments of flow.
“The happiest people are not the ones that achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow.”
First written by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow describes the feeling of being highly focused and immersed in the activity that you’re doing. Nothing else seems to matter when you’re in a state of flow and filled with a sense of purpose and fulfilment.
Miralles and Garcia found that their Japanese interviewees could achieve a flow-state during little moments in their day. It didn’t matter if they were doing a big task – such as tackling a work assignment – or a smaller, less consequential one – like weeding a garden. They were entirely in the moment and present during whatever they were doing.
One way that we can work towards achieving flow is by being more mindful of our actions. To begin with, minimise multitasking and concentrate your mind fully on the task at hand. It can be hard when you first begin, but with practice, you’ll soon find yourself immersed in the task and enjoying it.
Appreciate the imperfections and impermanence in our daily lives.
“Spend a moment every day giving thanks, and you‘ll watch your stockpile of happiness grow.”
It is human nature to complain. However, we shouldn’t let our complaints bog us down too heavily. On the contrary, it is the imperfections that we’re complaining about that are what make life worth living.
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept that describes finding beauty in the fleeting and imperfect nature of the world. Understanding that life will never be perfect and that each moment will only happen once allows us to appreciate better what we currently have. It teaches us to practice gratitude as a value and to never take anything for granted.
It also helps to build our emotional resilience in facing any challenges that come our way. By embodying wabi-sabi, we see imperfections as an opportunity for growth, to become better persons than we were before.
Continue to stay active.
“Those who give up the things they love doing and do well lose their purpose in life.”
Lastly, we should never let ourselves be stagnant.
The centenarians (or soon-to-be centenarians) that Miralles and Garcia interviewed were mainly retired. However, they still lead busy and productive lives, whether meeting for social gatherings, doing light exercises or volunteering at community events. Being active allowed them to stay connected with their community and feel valued and purposeful in their existence, even after their professional work commitments ended.
Staying active means both moving your body and your mind. Our mental health is connected to our physical health and vice versa. Regular and meaningful engagement can boost our feelings of happiness and fulfilment.
Additionally, the book also touts the virtues of regular exercise to maintain our physical fitness so that our bodies can continue to support us throughout whatever we want to achieve in our lives.
Ultimately, there is no straightforward answer to finding your ikigai. That shouldn’t be a cause of despair. As the authors optimistically conclude:
“What we learned is that we should not worry too much about finding our ikigai. Life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by the people who love you.”
Interested in learning what else was covered in Ikigai? Get access to an excellent book summary – along with other highly rated Asian works – on the NexPage app. Download now on either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Interested in learning what else was covered in Ikigai? Get access to an excellent book summary – along with other highly rated Asian works – on the NexPage app. Download now on either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.