Ikigai, Secrets To Longevity – A Book Summary & Review

Don’t we all want to live a long and happy life? The secret to this lies in the book Ikigai by Hector Gargia and Francesc Miralles. It has close to 50K ratings on Amazon and is an international bestseller. 

I came across it in a bookstore while visiting family in India. Its compact size told me it could be a fast read, and I was right. Ikigai brings Japanese wisdom to light and teaches us what truly matters in life. It shows us how to make our lives more meaningful by living our purpose (Ikigai). 

With real-life examples, it shares philosophies we can rely on to train our minds and bodies for happiness. In this post, I will share the concepts from Ikigai that spoke to me. 

What Is Ikigai?

The word Ikigai means the happiness of always being busy. While researching why some know what they want in life while others are confused, the authors came across this Japanese concept. 

Places where people live the longest, are called the blue zones. There are five in the world, and Okinawa from Japan holds first place among all of them.  

The authors of Ikigai, Hector, and Francesc decided to travel to Japan and study these centenarians (people who lived past 100) and their secrets. 

They found that Ikigai is why the people from Okinawa get up each morning. According to the Japanese, we each have an Ikigai, a reason for being. 

We may have yet to realize what our Ikigai is. But it is hidden deep within us, and finding it means patiently searching for it.

Art Of Staying Young – Secrets To Longevity

People in Okinawa follow a particular lifestyle which is key to their happiness and longevity. It is rooted in being connected to the community, following their purpose, and maintaining good health. 

1. Retirement, What’s That? 

A clearly defined Ikigai brings satisfaction, happiness, and meaning to our lives, per the authors. The Japanese don’t have a term for retirement. Most continue to work on what they love (their Ikigai) as long as they can. 

2. Eating Until You Are Almost Full

Hara hachi bu is a saying repeated before and after a meal in Japan. It means filling your belly to 80%, according to the authors.

People in Okinawa stop eating when their stomachs reach 80% capacity. As a result, they eat fewer calories than people in the West and food that is nutritiously rich. 

3. An Active Mind Leads To A Youthful Body

As we grow older, we can become set in our way of doing things. But, according to the authors, lack of mental exercise cause our neural connections to deteriorate and reduces our ability to react to our surroundings. Therefore, it is vital to give our brain a workout.

Our neurons start to age while we are still in our twenties. It is essential to keep our brains active by remaining curious, getting out of our comfort zone, and learning new things to slow down this aging process. 

4. Stress- Key factor In Killing longevity

Research shows that stress is a significant factor in premature aging. Our bodies wear down faster during periods of crisis, per the authors. 

Ikigai compares the lives of our ancestors(cave dwellers) to ours to explain this concept. While the Cave dwellers lived in occasional periods of threat, modern humans constantly remain stressed. We work all the time and stay in a constant state of competition. Doing so sends high-stress signals to our body, keeping it in a fight or flight state periods for a long time. 

The authors advise us to change our high-stress lifestyles and practice mindfulness to avoid premature aging.

5. Having A Positive Mindset

Ikigai shares that the people who live the longest have a positive attitude and high emotional awareness. 

Those who have a positive outlook while facing their challenges and can manage their emotions better have a better chance at loving a long and happy life. 

The mind has tremendous power over the body and how quickly it ages. 

– Ikigai

Finding Your Ikigai & Staying With It

To help people find their Ikigai, the authors explore various methods, like logotherapy by Viktor Frankl. According to logotherapy, we don’t create the meaning of our life. We discover it. Our Ikigai, once found, can be adjusted many times over the years. 

In addition to Logotherapy, Ikigai introduces us to the Japanese concept of Morita Therapy. It focuses on accepting our anxieties and desires and letting them go. 

Flow: Staying The Course Of Your Ikigai 

Losing track of ourselves while doing what we love is being in a state of flow. Asking ourselves, what makes us in this state, can also help us find our Ikigai. 

Based on research by Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, this concept of flow is key to living our life of Ikigai.  

With so many distractions in today’s world, it can take a lot of work to stay on the path of our Ikigai. To help us in achieving flow, the authors offer us three helpful strategies:

1. Choose something difficult but not too difficult: A task aligned with our abilities but slightly challenging provides us a greater chance of achieving a flow state. 
2. Focus on a clear and concrete objective: We should ask ourselves what we hope to achieve before beginning anything and focus on the process. 
3. Concentrate on a single task: According to the authors, our brains can take in a ton of misinformation but can only process a few per second. When we switch between tasks, research shows that our productivity drops by 60% and IQ by 10 points.

Facing Life’s Challenges Without Letting Worry Age You

The authors share that those with a clearly defined Ikigai pursue their passion regardless of their hurdles. They are resilient. They concentrate on things they can control and don’t worry about things they don’t. 

The book shares the concepts of Buddhism and stoicism to help us better deal with life’s challenges. Though they are different, the author says, both philosophies teach us to control our pleasure, emotions, and desires. 

To help improve our outlook on life, Ikigai also explores the Japanese concepts of Wabi-sabi and ichi-go ichi-e. 

Wabi-sabi tells us that instead of pursuing perfection, we should look for beauty in flawed and incomplete things. It is only these imperfect things that resemble the natural world. 

Ichi-go Ichi-e means this moment exists now and will not come again. It reminds us to enjoy our time with our loved ones and focus on the present time. 

Ikigai, Should You Read It? 

Ikigai offers us advice on how to live our lives long and happily. It can be a great reminder to slow down and think about what truly matters. 

It touches on many concepts that can help keep our minds and bodies healthy. To keep this post readable, I have covered only a few topics of the book. 

For a complete look into what makes people live longest while staying happy, I suggest you pick up your copy of Ikigai. It’s a worthy read.