Ikigai | Learnings from the longest-living people on earth

I wasn’t sure to read this book called Ikigai. I had this book on my shelf for a long time. Every time I look at the book, I feel like I know the concept of Ikigai. It’s the intersection of 4 things — what you are good at, what you love, what that world needs, and what you can be paid for (See the diagram below). And reading that diagram makes sense. So I thought there was no need to read the book. The diagram is enough to convey the meaning of Ikigai.

Recently, I started reading a couple of books by Daniel Priestley: Entrepreneur Revolution and Key Person of Influence. He was mentioning about following your passion and building a business around that. He mentioned producing something rather than consuming. At some podcasts, I also heard about how to build your career and business around your passion.

So I realized if passion is really that important, then let me learn more about Ikigai. It essentially talks about what you love, what you are good at, and how can you get paid for that. And that’s how I started reading the Ikigai book. Following is my summary and thoughts on the book.

It starts with the Island called Okinawa

Okinawa is an island in Japan, where people live longer than the rest of the world. Not only do they live longer (more than 100 years!), but they don’t have any chronic diseases during the later years of their life and they are as active as people who are 40 years of age. It starts with the question, how do people on this Island live such healthy and happy lives? Apart from their healthful diet, simple life outdoors, green tea, and subtropical climate, Ikigai is something that has shaped their lives.

But before we delve into what is Ikigai

There are places around the world where people live a long and healthy life — and they are called Blue Zones, and Okinawa is the first one of them. According to scientists who have studied those Blue Zones,

the keys to longevity are diet, exercise, finding a purpose in life (an ikigai), and forming strong social ties — that is, having a broad circle of friends and good family relations.

People of Blue Zones eat by the rule of 80% — fill your belly to 80 percent, and they follow a concept called Moai — connected for life. Moai is an informal group of people with common interests who look out for one another.

What causes the aging?

There’s a mind and a body. There are neurons in our minds that age. There are cells in our body that age. Neurons in our minds start to age while we are still in our twenties. This process can be slowed by intellectual activity, curiosity, and desire to learn. Aging of the cells however are greatly affected by stress. The stress promotes cellular aging by weakening the cell’s structure, which affects cellular regeneration and how they age. While intense stress harms your cells which causes them to age, a little stress is good for keeping your mind active, and not letting those neurons age. Less physical activity and lack of good night's sleep also affect our cells, causing them to age.

Keep your mind sharp by learning something new. Practice mindfulness to avoid unnecessary stress. Keep moving, and have a good night’s sleep regularly. And that’s a good start for your long and healthy life.

Ikigai — the purpose of life

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how” — Frankl, Man’s search for meaning

Go with the Flow

When you lose your sense of time. You do something and you are into it. You are constantly getting small rewards for what you are doing. It feels so smooth. You have your grace.

To achieve a flow, you first need to avoid doing multitasking. Research has demonstrated that multitasking does not increase productivity. You need to know 1) what you are going to do 2) what is the objective and 3) how you are going to do it. Once you know these three things, you can achieve flow in what you are doing.

The other important thing is the complexity of the task. Too simple a task will render you bored and too difficult a task will make you worrisome and quit. The given task needs to be at optimal complexity for you to find that flow. If you find a task to be too easy, add some complexity by increasing the standards. If you find a task to be difficult, break it down. Make it simple. Bring it down to complexity which you can handle without feeling bored.

Imagine you are watching a movie, you are immersed in the story, you even forget to blink sometimes. And suddenly your phone rings!! Wait, what happened? Who is calling me at this time? That’s what happens when something breaks your flow. Don’t let yourself get distracted by something or someone. Turn off notifications, go to a quiet place, and remove yourself from distractions. Immerse into what you do.

The key is always having a meaning challenge to overcome in order to maintain flow.

Microflow - enjoying the mundane tasks

We’ve all been bored in a class or at a conference and started doodling to keep ourselves entertained. Or whistled while painting a wall. Our ability to turn routine tasks into moments of microflow, into something we enjoy, is key to our being happy since we all have to do such tasks.

Even Bill Gates washes the dishes every night. He says he enjoys it — that helps him relax and clear his mind, and that he tries to do it a little better each day.

Instant vacation through meditation

The basic practice of meditation involves sitting with a straight back and focusing on your breath. Anyone can do it, and you feel a difference after just one session. By focusing your attention on the air moving in and out of your nose, you can slow the torrent of thoughts and clear your mental horizons.

Meditation generates alpha and theta brain waves. These relaxing brain waves are the ones that are activated right before we fall asleep, as we lie in the sun, or right after taking a hot bath.

We all carry a spa with us everywhere we go. It’s just a matter of knowing how to get in — something anyone can do, with a bit of practice.

Humans as ritualistic beings

Rituals give us clear rules and objectives, which help us enter a state of flow. When we have only a big goal in front of us, we might feel lost or overwhelmed by it; rituals help us by giving us the process, the substeps, on the path to achieving a goal.

Focus on enjoying your daily rituals, using them as tools to enter a state of flow. Don’t worry about the outcome — it will come naturally. Happiness is in the doing, not in the result. As a rule of thumb, remind yourself: “Rituals over goals.”

The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow

Use flows to find your ikigai

So, what is your Ikigai? What activities make you feel the power of flow? What do the activities that drive you to flow have in common? Why do those activities drive you to flow? Do you flow more when doing things that require you to move your body or just to think?

In the answers to these questions, you might find the underlying ikigai that drives your life. If you don’t, then keep searching by going deeper into what you like by spending more of your time in the activities that make you flow.

Longevity in Japan

The sense of community, and the fact that Japanese people make an effort to stay active until the very end, are key elements of their secret to long life. If you want to stay busy even when there’s no need to work, there has to be an ikigai on your horizon, a purpose that guides you throughout your life and pushes you to make things of beauty and utility for the community and yourself.

Themes and quotes from longest-living people

• Don’t worry

“The secret to a long life is not to worry. And to keep your heart young — don’t let it grow old. Open your heart to people with a nice smile on your face”

• Cultivate good habits

“The key to staying sharp in old age is in your fingers. From your fingers to your brain, and back again. If you keep your fingers busy, you’ll live to see one hundred.”

“To live a long time you need to do three things: exercise to stay healthy, eat well, and spend time with people.”

“I get up at four every day. I set my alarm for that time, have a cup of coffee, and do a little exercise, lifting my arms. That gives me energy for the rest of the day.”

• Nurture your friendships every day

“Talking each day with the people you love, that’s the secret to a long life.”

“Chatting and drinking tea with my neighbors. That’s the best thing in life. And singing together.”

“My main hobby is getting together with friends and neighbors.”

• Live an unhurried life

“My secret to a long life is always saying to myself, ‘Slow down,’ and ‘Relax.’ You live much longer if you’re not in a hurry”

“Doing many different things every day. Always staying busy, but doing one thing at a time, without getting overwhelmed.”

• Be optimistic

“I’m ninety-eight, but consider myself young. I still have so much to do.”

“Laugh. Laughter is the most important thing. I laugh wherever I go.”

“I’m going to live to be a hundred. Of course, I am! It’s a huge motivation for me.”

Okinawa’s Miracle Diet

Locals eat a wide variety of foods, especially vegetables. They ate an average of eighteen different foods each day, a striking contrast to the nutritional poverty of our fast-food culture.

They eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. The easiest way to check if there is enough variety on your table is to make sure you’re “eating the rainbow.”

Grains are the foundation of their diet. Japanese people eat white rice every day.

They rarely eat sugar, and if they do, it’s cane sugar.

They follow the 80 percent rule. When you notice you’re almost full but could have a little more . . . just stop eating!

Antioxidants

Antioxidants have been proven to slow the aging process. Okinawa people eat this food every day which is rich in antioxidants: Tofu, Miso, Tuna, Carrots, Kombu, Cabbage, Onion, Soy sprouts, soybeans, sweet potato, Peppers, and Jasmine tea.

Okinawans drink a mix of green tea and Jasmine flowers: Sanpin-cha. In addition to all the antioxidant benefits of green tea, it boasts the benefits of jasmine, which include: Reducing the risk of heart attack, Strengthening the immune system, helping relieve stress, and Lowering cholesterol

Green tea also offers meaningful health benefits: Controlling cholesterol, Lowering blood sugar levels, Improving circulation, Protecting against the flu (vitamin C), Promoting bone health (fluoride), Protection against certain bacterial infections, Protection against UV damage, Cleansing, and diuretic effects.

So which foods help with anti-aging?

• Vegetables such as broccoli and chard, for their high concentration of water, minerals, and fiber
• Fruits such as citrus, strawberries, and apricots; are excellent sources of vitamins and help eliminate toxins from the body
• Berries such as blueberries and goji berries; are rich in phytochemical antioxidants
• Dried fruits contain vitamins and antioxidants, and give you energy
• Grains such as oats and wheat, which give you energy and contain minerals
• Olive oil, for its antioxidant effects that show in your skin
• Red wine, in moderation, for its antioxidant and vasodilatory properties

Foods that should be eliminated are refined sugar and grains, processed baked goods, and prepared foods, along with cow’s milk and all its derivatives

Exercises

Ogimi’s residents walk a lot, do karaoke with their neighbors, get up early in the morning, and, as soon as they’ve had breakfast — or even before — head outside to weed their gardens. They don’t go to the gym or exercise intensely, but they almost never stop moving in the course of their daily routines.

All you need is to add movement to your day.

Eastern disciplines focus on bringing body, mind, and soul into balance. Yoga — originally from India, though very popular in Japan — and China’s qigong and tai chi, among other disciplines, seek to create harmony between a person’s body and mind so they can face the world with strength, joy, and serenity.

Radio Taiso is a morning warm-up that has been around in Japan since before World War II. The exercises take five or ten minutes, depending on whether you do all or only some of them. They focus on dynamic stretching and increasing joint mobility. One of the most iconic radio taiso exercises consists of simply raising your arms above your head and then bringing them down in a circular motion. Radio Taiso helps with practicing basic movements of the body. Follow along with this video to do a Radio Taiso warm-up in the morning.

Yoga is a popular form of exercise, developed in India millennia ago to unite our mental and physical elements. The main objectives of yoga are: To bring us closer to our (human) nature, Mental and physical purification, and to bring us closer to the divine. One of the iconic exercises of Yoga is Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar). Follow along with this video to perform Surya Namaskar.

Tai chi is a Chinese martial art, which is also very famous in Japan. Focused on self-defense, it teaches those who practice it to defeat their adversaries by using the least amount of force possible and by relying on agility. It is also seen as a means of healing body and mind, and it would go on to be used more frequently to foster health and inner peace.

The next is Qigong, which focuses on working with the individual’s life force. Different styles of Qigong seek to strengthen and regenerate life force. Qigong has a lot of benefits including Modification of brain waves, Lower blood pressure, Greater bone density, Greater balance and efficiency of bodily functions, etc. One of the qigong’s best-known exercises is a series representing the five elements: earth, water, wood, metal, and fire. This series of movements seeks to balance the five currents of energy in order to improve brain and organ function.

All these exercises focus on connecting the mind and body. Bringing the energy from within, and being present when you are performing those exercises. These exercises have helped people in the East to live longer, and live a healthy life.

Resilience

The last part of this book focuses on how to face life’s challenges without letting stress and worry age you.

Fall seven times, rise eight.

Resilience is our ability to deal with setbacks. The more resilient we are, the easier it will be to pick ourselves up and get back to what gives meaning to our lives.

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other

Buddhism and Stoicism

One of the objectives of both Buddhism and Stoicism has been to control pleasure, emotions, and desires.

Stoics believe in being virtuous. The objective of the virtuous person is to reach a state of tranquility: the absence of negative feelings such as anxiety, fear, shame, vanity, and anger, and the presence of positive feelings such as happiness, love, serenity, and gratitude.

Practice negative visualization: Imagine the worst things that could happen to you, but without worrying about them. It’s just to prepare yourself if certain privileges and pleasures are taken.

In Zen Buddhism, meditation is a way to become aware of our desires and emotions and thereby free ourselves from them. It is not simply a question of keeping the mind free of thoughts but instead involves observing our thoughts and emotions as they appear, without getting carried away by them. In this way, we train our minds not to get swept up in anger, jealousy, or resentment.

Wabi-Sabi and ichi-go ichi-e

Wabi-sabi is a concept that shows us the beauty of the fleeting, changeable, and imperfect nature of the world around us. Only things that are imperfect, incomplete, and ephemeral can truly be beautiful.

ichi-go ichi-e: “This moment exists only now and won’t come again”. It places emphasis on being present in the moment.

The only moment in which you can be truly alive is the present moment

Anti-Fragility

Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.

So how can we be more anti-fragile in our daily lives?

1. Create redundancies — instead of having a single salary, make money from hobbies, other jobs, or business. Same for friendship and personal interests.
2. Bet conservatively in certain areas and take many small risks in others — If you have $10,000 saved up, you might put $9,000 of that into an index fund or fixed-term deposit, and invest the remaining $1,000 in ten start-ups with huge growth potential — say, $100 in each.
3. Get rid of things that make you fragile — What makes me fragile? Certain people, things, and habits generate losses for us and make us vulnerable. Get rid of them.

Don’t fear adversity, because each setback is an opportunity for growth. If we adopt an antifragile attitude, we’ll find a way to get stronger with every blow, refining our lifestyle and staying focused on our ikigai.

Conclusion

Our intuition and curiosity are very powerful internal compasses to help us connect with our ikigai. Follow those things you enjoy, and get away from or change those you dislike. Be led by your curiosity, and keep busy by doing things that fill you with meaning and happiness. It doesn’t need to be a big thing: we might find meaning in being good parents or in helping our neighbors.

10 rules of Ikigai

1. Stay active; don’t retire
2. Take it slow. — “Walk slowly and you’ll go far.”
3. Don’t fill your stomach — follow the 80% rule.
4. Surround yourself with good friends. — Friends are the best medicine
5. Get in shape for your next birthday. — Water is best when it flows fresh and doesn’t stagnate
6. Smile — Have a cheerful attitude
7. Reconnect with nature.
8. Give thanks.
9. Live in the moment — Today is all you have. Make the most of it. Make it worth remembering.
10. Follow your ikigai — There is a passion inside you, and if you don’t know what your ikigai is yet, as Viktor Frankl says, your mission is to discover it.

My thoughts

For the last couple of years, I have been thinking about my health. The baseline for my health area has been how to live a long and healthy life. I have read books and articles about how to prevent diseases and how to live a long life, but I think this by far is the best book I have read on this. I am saying this because this book is a summary of learnings from people who have lived more than 100 years. There is no better way to know about what is the right path than learning from people who have already traveled that path. Due to this, I put my trust in the philosophies and methods suggested by this book.

My original intention to start this book was to get closer to my passions. But after reading the book, I realized that this book doesn’t talk much about following your passions. There’s a mention of Ikigai, but the diagram that’s shown in the book is not the center of this book. This book doesn’t go into the details of finding your Ikigai. It derives from the idea of flow. All of us have experienced flow at certain points of time in our lives, either when we are cooking, writing, playing music, dancing, etc. I have come across the concept of flow before and I agree with the notion that you are happiest when you are in the flow.

It’s really good to know about other aspects that help people to live longer, healthier, and happier lives. And a relief is that all these aspects are very accessible to everyone. I wouldn’t say that these are very easy to achieve. We live in a society, in a time where we are going far from nature. Not from the natural places, but from what’s natural. It’s natural to walk and move, but many of our jobs don’t support that. It’s natural to sleep early and for 7–8 hours. It’s natural to live close to your family, and friends. The problem lies when what’s natural is not what’s normal. It’s normal to eat cake on birthdays, but it’s not natural for our body to consume a burst of sugar in just one spoon. And I believe this book opens my eyes to the gap between natural and normal.