IKIGAI

Learnings and Core Ideas

What is Ikigai?
• Ikigai is a Japanese word whose meaning roughly translates to
“purpose” or “that which makes life worth living”. The word
derives from iki, meaning life and kai, meaning the realization
of hopes and expectations
• Ikigai can be understood as “the happiness of always being
busy”, the reason you wake up every morning
• A purpose, passion or unique talent that gives meaning to your
days, and drives you to give your best at all times
• Focus on finding an Ikigai helps give a sense of
purpose and a reason to work hard every day.
• Finding your Ikigai requires patience and
perseverance.
• Happy people are those who have an Ikigai, but
don’t take it too seriously. They enjoy other tasks as
well, but feel particularly happy while pursuing and
nurturing their Ikigai
The secret to a long and healthy life (as lived
by centenarians in Japan) is to have clarity
and control over 4 elements:
diet, exercise, Ikigai and strong community
bonds
Some tips the book shares:
• Eat a bit of everything with relish. Stop eating when you are about
80% full (hara hachi bu). Fool your brain into thinking it is eating
more, by eating in smaller plates/utensils
• Serve society and form bonds with your local community – it creates
a feeling of belongingness and support
• The body and mind are connected. Both need stimulation/exercise to
stay active – dealing with new situations, playing games, interacting
with people etc. can help with mental stimulation.
• Lead an active lifestyle, with good sleep and moderate levels of stress
(just enough for the body to move beyond comfort zone)
Existential Crisis
• Typical of modern day societies, existential crisis happens
when people do what they are told or expected to do,
without thinking about what they actually want for
themselves
• In order to have a purpose in life, it is important to keep
doing things that you value, build beautiful things, help
people around you, and try and make the world a better
place – even after you have retired from your professional
career
Morita Therapy
• According to Western therapy and belief system, feelings and
thoughts are used to influence the actions of an individual.
For example – positive thinking

• Morita therapy on the other hand, helps people accept and

take control of their emotions, without changing them.
There is no need for changing one’s emotions - if actions
change, emotions will too.
Flow
• Happy people are not those who achieve the most, but those
who spend maximum time in a state of flow. Flow is a state of
concentration so intense that one loses sense of time.
• For example, some artists “may seem reclusive, but what they
are really doing is protecting the time that brings them
happiness, sometimes at the expense of other aspects of their
lives. They are outliers who apply the principles of flow to their
lives to an extreme.​”
• People can find joy and flow even in routine/mundane tasks
Conditions for Flow
Knowing what to do, knowing how to do it, knowing how well you are
performing, knowing where to go/what your goal is, perceiving challenges,
perceiving skills required for the task, being free from distraction
Strategies to achieve Flow:
• Concentrate on a single task (instead of multitasking)
• Spend more time on activities that help you reach a state of flow
• Get involved in a task that is aligned to our ability but just a bit of a stretch,
so we see it as a challenge
• Set a clear objective, take small steps towards it. Don’t obsess over your
goal while working towards it
• Be free from distraction, have control over your environment and protect
your space
Flow
• Use Flow to find your Ikigai: What activities drive you to flow? Out of
all the activities that bring you to flow, is there a common thread that
can point you in the direction of your Ikigai? Spend more time on
activities that make you flow, these activities will bring you closer to
your Ikigai

• Tips to achieve Flow: start your work session with a ritual you enjoy
and end it with a reward, practice mindfulness, Pomodoro technique
(a time management technique where a timer is used to break down
work into intervals, traditionally 25 min in length followed by a 5 min
break), bundle routine tasks together
Memorable Quotes
• “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act
but a habit.” — Aristotle
• “The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to
do, something to love, and something to hope for.” —
Washington Burnap
• “Metabolism slows down 90 percent after 30 minutes of sitting.
The enzymes that move the bad fat from your arteries to your
muscles, where it can get burned off, slow down. And after two
hours, good cholesterol drops 20 percent. Just getting up for five
minutes is going to get things going again. These things are so
simple they’re almost stupid.” — Gavin Bradley
Memorable Quotes
• “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how”

• “Use compass over maps to navigate to your goals” – Joi Ito

• “Keep your objective clear, but also keep it aside while you
are working towards it”

• “Our Ikigai is different for all of us, but one thing we have in
common is that we are all searching for meaning.”