生き甲斐 is a Japanese phenomenon commonly understood as “your reason to get up in the morning.” Ikigai can be small moments: the morning air, a cup of coffee, a compliment. It can also be deep convictions: a fulfilling job, lasting friendships, balanced health. Whether big or small, your ikigai is the path to success and happiness in your own life.
Notes:
- The five pillars of ikigai
- Starting small
- Releasing yourself
- Harmony and sustainability
- The joy of small things
- Being in the here and now
- What is ikigai?
- Ikigai is a Japanese word for describing the pleasures and meanings of life. The word literally consists of iki (to live) and gai (reason).
- It is true that having ikigai can result in success, but success is not a requisite condition for having ikigai.
- Having ikigai can literally transform your life. You can live longer, have good health, and become happier, more satisfied, and less stressed.
- It is about discovering, defining, and appreciating those of life’s pleasures that have meaning for you. It is OK if no one else sees that particular value.
- You can ask yourself along the way:
- What are your most sentimental values?
- What are the small things that give you pleasure?
- Your reason to get up in the morning
- As various hormonal regulations in the brain are known to be in harmony with the processions of the sun, it therefore makes sense to live in synchrony with the sun, as the circadian rhythms are tuned to the natural cycles of day and night.
- Kodawari and the benefits of thinking small
- Kodawari is personal in nature, and it is a manifestation of a pride in what one does. In a nutshell, kodawari is an approach whereby you take extraordinary care of very small details.
- The belief in the ephemeral of ikigai, being in the here and now (the fifth pillar), is possibly the most profound of the Five Pillars.
- Youthfulness of mind is important in ikigai, but so is commitment and passion, however seemingly insignificant your goal.
- The sensory beauty of ikigai
- You could find your ikigai in a wide range of conditions, and the key to that resilience is sensory pleasure.
- In a mysterious way, releasing oneself is linked to the discovery of the sensory pleasures.
- By relieving ourselves of the burden of the self, we can open up to the infinite universe of sensory pleasures.
- Flow and creativity
- Flow is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.
- A child has no definite idea of the past or the future. His or her happiness resides in the present.
- Being in the state of flow makes working sustainable and enjoyable.
- When you are in a state of flow, in harmony with the different elements inside and outside of yourself, you have the cognitive capacity to pay attention to the various subtle nuances that come your way.
- In life, we sometimes misplace priorities and significance. Too often, we do something for the sake of rewards. If the reward are not forthcoming, we are disappointed, and lost interest and zeal in the work. That is simply the wrong approach.
- If you can make the process of making the effort your primary source of happiness, then you have succeeded in the most important challenge of your life.
- Ikigai and sustainability
- Ikigai has much to do with being in harmony with the environment, with people around you, and with society at large, without which sustainability is impossible.
- The excellent track record of the Ise Shrine should be studied as a model for the realization of sustainability.
- Harmony is the key to sustainability.
- Our ikigai would not be sustainable if we failed to appreciate the efforts of the common people.
- Ikigai is small-scale, patient, mundane, and long-sighted.
- Finding your purpose in life
- Sumo provides an inspirational cases for the diversity and robustness of ikigai. It tells a story of how one can find one’s ikigai even in a world where the rules describing wins and losses are extremely strict.
- As so often in life, you need to accept what you’re given, and then rise to the situation.
- In any given environment, it is in principle possible to have ikigai, the reason for living, no matter what one’s performances might be.
- In order to have ikigai, you need to go beyond there stereotypes and listen to your inner voice.
- Ikigai is an adaptation to the environment, no matter what the nature of that environment might be.
- “Keep Calm and Carry On”
- What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
- One of the benefits of having ikigai is robustness and resilience — both strengths that are very necessary when tragedy occurs.
- Life is a balance of many small things, rather than something to be dictated down from a unifying doctrine.
- What are the small things in the swamp of your mind that will carry you through a difficult patch? These are perhaps the elements you want to focus on and keep very present in your mind.
- Ikigai and happiness
- Ikigai does not have to be directly associated with one’s professional life.
- A reason for living could be something that appears to be strenuous and unnecessary from the viewpoint of others.
- Enjoying hobbies in a big way is in a sense an exaggerated case of “joy of small things.”
- In order to be happy, you need to accept yourself.
- Only through realizing the similarities and differences between yourself and others, can you come to a realistic appraisal of your character.
- The grass might look greener on the other side, but that is only an illusion.
- Accept yourself for who you are
- Variation is one of the greatest hallmarks of nature.
- It is no good trying to be like others, even if there is peer pressure. So there is every reason to relax, and just be oneself.
- A seemingly conformist person could nurture deep layers of individual personality which may not be apparent on the surface.
- Ikigai and happiness come from the acceptance of the self. Recognition from other people would certainly be a bonus.
- Find your own ikigai
- In life, we need evolution, not revolution.
- Too often, an illusion toward a revolution in life — where you are swept away by newly found principles, novel ways of thinking and doing, and the idea of starting life all over again — has led people astray.
- Because ikigai just reinforces your already-held intuitions, the change will be gradual and modest, like life itself.
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