Did you know that the Japanese life expectancy is one the highest in the world, if not the highest with 74.8 years old? Their food intake has a lot to do with it. The Japanese people consume less meat, dairy products and sugar. The Japanese diet consists mostly of fish, seafood, soybean and green tea. While diet plays a huge role in their life expectancy, the Japanese people believe that it has a lot to do with Ikigai, finding your life’s purpose.
What is Ikigai?
The concept originated in Okinawa, Japan, the place where people have the longest life expectancy in the world. If you would like to meet a lot of people who are centenarians, go to Naha or in Ogimi in Okinawa. So, what’s their secret? Ikigai.
Source: City Population
Ikigai is an ancient philosophy that the Japanese people embraced in their lives. So, what does it mean? In Japan “iki” means life while “gai” means value or worth. In short, ikigai is your life purpose. It is what gives you happiness and contentment in life. It is your reason for being. Ikigai is what makes you wake up in the morning excited about life. For them, retirement does not exist if you find your lifelong purpose. Even at an old age, they still feel a sense of purpose. Thus, if you can find your Ikigai, you will have bliss in your life.
Finding Your Ikigai
Each one of us is born for a reason. We are not here simply to make a living. We are born to fulfill our life’s purpose. That’s part of our spiritual wellness. However, finding our life’s purpose is easier said than done. Not everyone is able to unleash the genius within them. Thus, more and more people live a stressful life and do not find peace and true happiness in their existence.
There are four questions to ask yourself in order to find your Ikigai or life purpose.
1.What Are You Good At?
There are multiple intelligences. Just because you have bad grades in your academics does not necessarily mean that you are no longer smart. The key is to find the things that you are good at. Know and recognize your strengths. Ask yourself, what are you good at? Are you one of the best in that field? Do people ask you for advice regarding that?
2. What Do You Love Doing?
What is one thing that you love doing? Do you have a hobby or skill that you can’t get enough of? You love it so much that you are willing to do it even without getting paid. Also, when you are doing it, you seem to be in the flow so you can easily forget the time. Think about what brings you joy? If you are still unsure, think about your childhood. What did you enjoy the most when you were a child?
3. What Does The World Need?
If you are currently working, find out if there is high demand for what you are doing now. How about in the next 5, 10 or 15 years from now? Do you think it will still be valuable? What can you do that can contribute to and help solve a social, economic, physical, mental or environmental problem in the world? If you are not working yet, ask the same questions about your craft, hobby or skill. In short, how can you contribute to society?
4. What Can You Be Paid For?
Thinking about how you can contribute to society using your innate talent is good and noble. However, let’s face it. Unless you are born with a silver spoon, we all need money to survive and pay for our basic needs. Thus, doing something that you are going to get paid for is something that should be considered. Ask yourself, are there people getting paid doing what you are doing? Can you make a career out of your hobby or craft? Is it something that you can make a good living of?
Your ikigai lies in the intersection of all four areas: your mission, vocation, profession and passion.
Good luck in finding your ikigai!
Feature Image by Posted by A.L. Jonas in Spiritual, 0 comments
Are you in the midst of a crisis right now? If you are having problems, you know deep inside that you cannot stay in that state forever. Life goes on and it will not stop and wait until you are ready. Many people were able to rise above the storm. You believe deep inside that you too have what it takes to do the same. You are just not sure on where to begin. The lessons from The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson might just be your first step toward success and happiness. There are things that you need to do in order to overcome the problem you are facing right now. First, you have to embrace your pain and take control of your emotions. Only by doing this will you be able to begin to take responsibility for your life. It would help if you have set some goals to define where you want to be in the future. Your goals need to be S.M.A.R.T in order to succeed. Remember that success always starts with a vision. Once you have a clear idea on where you want to be and what you hope to achieve, you are now ready to take your first step. However, the road towards the attainment of your goals is not as easy as it sounds. Goals and dreams can be overwhelming. Most of the time, people get discouraged just by merely thinking about them. If you already have a clear vision, yet are still confused on how to go about it, then the book The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson is for you. The book has powerful lessons that you can use as your first step towards success. The Slight Edge Philosophy talks about how simple everyday choices can lead to massive success and happiness. It is not about the big decisions but rather the small ones that create powerful results in all areas in life. This is the reason why diets don’t work. This is also the reason why many famous movie stars and athletes and lottery winners go broke after some time despite receiving millions of dollars. Here are some excerpts from the The Slight Edge that contain powerful lessons that you can use on you journey towards success: You are a product of your decisions. Where you are and who you are right now is a result of all the decisions that you have made in the past. Your success is all because of you. In the same way, you are also miserable not because of anyone else but because of you. It is not the fault of your parents, partner, boss, government nor anyone else for that matter. Thus, you need to take control of your life. Your future happiness and success all depends on you alone. Your philosophy is how you look at life. The decisions that you make everyday are largely influenced by the way you look at things. And soon, this will manifest itself in your life. If you think the world is beautiful, then your life will also be beautiful. If you look at life negatively, then your life will be miserable. In short, what you focus on expands. So, what do you focus on? Our success or failure is the result of simple everyday choices that seem harmless, but taken together over time will lead to failure or success in the future. For example, you go to a restaurant and you order soda instead of water. It is harmless, right? But if you do this each time you go out and you have been doing it for decades, soon you will have health problems. You don’t get sick just by drinking a can of soda, it is the accumulation of all those cans of sodas that you have been drinking for decades that made you sick. This is true not just with health but also in relationships, career, money and all other aspects in life. All of us are capable of doing little things to become successful but the problem is we don’t do it. It is not because it is hard but because it is easy not to do. All our daily, hourly and even minute choices, no matter how small, will all lead to our success or failure in that particular aspect in life. So if you want to do good in one aspect of your life, think about the little things that you can do each day towards the attainment of that goal. For example, if you want your marriage to last; ask yourself, what small thing can you do for your spouse each day? It can be a kiss, a hug, a text message, help in the household chores, etc. The point is it needs to be consistent every day. Success takes time. In this day and age, people are used to getting what they want in an instant that patience is no longer a virtue that everyone has. That is the reason why many people fall prey to ‘get-rich-quick scams’. True success involves consistent daily actions repeated over time. First you plant, then cultivate and then you harvest. That is the natural progression of things. Have you heard people saying “I’ll be happy once I’m rich” or “I’ll be happy once I’m married to that person”? What these people failed to understand is that happiness comes first. If you cannot be happy with the blessings that you have right now, you can’t be happy once you have more in the future. Why do you think many famous, powerful and rich individuals died of overdose from drugs and alcohol or committed suicide despite the fact of having it all? Happiness is not something that you chase. It is a state of mind and sense of well-being. It is the feeling of being grateful for the moment. Your success is not just for you alone. It is for you to share your blessings with others. The more you share, the more blessings will come your way. Think about it, if you can help one person, you are sending a positive signal to the world. The person that you helped will be inspired to help another one too. This is what you call the ripple effect. You have what it takes to succeed. All the great people out there are not great because they are destined to be great. They are great because they choose to be great. You are no exception. Make the decision to be great. Are you ready for your metamorphosis? Read the book if you want to learn more practical lessons from the Slight Edge Philosophy, your first step towards success and happiness. First published in Pinoy Smart Living 10.05.2019
Lessons from The Slight Edge: Your First Step Toward Success
Lessons From The Slight Edge
1. You have complete control over the direction that the rest of your life takes.
2. Your philosophy creates your attitudes, which create your actions, which create your results, which create your life.
3. Simple daily disciplines – little productive actions, repeated consistently over time – add up to the difference between failure and success.
4. People don’t consistently do those simple things for three reasons:
a) While they are easy to do, they are also easy not to do;
b) You don’t see any results at first;
c) They seem insignificant, like they don’t matter. But they do.
5. No genuine success in life is instant. Life is not a clickable link.
6. Success does not lead to happiness, it’s the other way around: more happiness creates more success.
7. Greater success also creates a greater responsibility to share that success to others.
8. Greatness is not something predetermined, predestined or carved into your fate by forces beyond your control. Greatness is always in the moment of decision.