Ikigai
A book review of Ikigai by Héctor García & Francesc Miralles
Summary:
Ikigai is the Japanese philosophy that everyone has a reason or purpose for living and by finding, then pursuing this, we can live a happy life. This little book explores the philosophy and several examples from Japan and around the world of people who have done so, providing 10 keys to embracing your ikigai.
Review:
Ikigai is a short book, coming in less than 200 pages, so I flew through it. It’s also well written and easy to digest, so that helped with the speed as well.
The authors talk about interviewing some of the world’s oldest living people and asking them what advice they would give about living more than 100 years. Several of the answers were very thoughtful and philosophical, but some of my favorites were the ones that were brutally honest. One such person, when asked how they’d lived to be more than 100 years old answered: “I don’t know, I just haven’t died yet.”
Whether they could all articulate it or not, most of the elderly people they interviewed were from Okinawa, Japan - which has the highest concentration of centenarians in the world. The people there focus on doing things that bring them happiness - their ikigai - their entire life, without the thought of retirement. They eat a healthy diet, sleep well, surround themselves with good friends, and try not to be in a hurry.
Actually, most of those are in the 10 keys to living a life of ikigai:
- Stay active and don’t retire
- Take it slow (don’t live hurried)
- Eat until you’re 80% full
- Surround yourself with good friends
- Stay in shape (move daily, especially walking)
- Smile more
- Reconnect with nature daily
- Practice gratitude
- Be present and grounded in the moment (meditate and deliberately practice this)
- Pursue your ikigai (find your purpose and follow it)
One thing I found interesting about the book was how they weaved in both the teachings of Buddhism and Stoicism. They did a comparison of the two and showed how they have many things in common. I hadn't necessarily put that together previously, but the focus on resilience, being present, and your mindset are foundational to both.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t much new information for me, but I’ve spent a lot of time reading philosophy and psychology books that cover a lot of these topics. If you haven’t read many of those types of books, this is a great entry point.