Ikigai & Kaizen: The Japanese Strategy to Achieve Personal Happiness and Professional Success (How to set goals, stop procrastinating, be more productive, build good habits, focus, & thrive)

by Anthony Raymond

You must set and accomplish new goals (of one form or another) each and every day, until the day you die.

As the American author David Deida wrote: Every moment of your life is either a test or a celebration.

we lack the conviction and willpower necessary to see a long-term goal to its completion. Unfortunately, we humans often find it difficult to engage in the self-directed pursuit of a lengthy project, especially when there are no external drivers prodding us to action. Momentous life goals require us to commit to the completion of strenuous activities each day. But inactivity is the default state of man.

Your brain exists to help you survive, not to thrive.

Our mind often seems to be pursuing two contrary sets of goals. The activities that we should be doing are often not the activities that the lower mind necessarily enjoys doing.

Ikigai is a Japanese life strategy that emphasizes the importance of finding your “true calling.”

“Lingchi,” is a Chinese term that is commonly translated in the West as “death by a thousand cuts.”

The third concept is called “Hansei” (honest self-reflection). Hansei is a Japanese method for understanding “what went wrong.” It’s about seeking clarity of thought through careful consideration of past mistakes.

“Kaizen,” — often translated as “continuous improvement.” With Kaizen, we understand that the answers to life’s biggest quandaries do not come in the form of a magic pill. Instead, our most momentous accomplishments are typically the result of years of concentrated effort and dedication.

Ikigai is a Japanese term comprised of two words: “iki” and “kai.” The first half of the compound (“iki”) translates to “life” or “alive.” The latter half (“kai”) means “benefit” or “effect.” So a casual English translation of the term Ikigai might be “that which brings benefit to life.”

First, you can think of your Ikigai as being comprised of four parts:

Passion Vocation

Mission Profession It’s best to ponder these four attributes in the form of four questions. Each time you encounter a new career opportunity, ask yourself: Could this be my Passion? How much do I love this skill? Could this be my Vocation? How good am I (or could be) at this skill? Could this be my Mission? How much will this skill benefit the world? Could this be my Profession? How likely am I to get paid well for this skill?

To procrastinate is to voluntarily delay an intended course of action—despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.

In English, the term “Lingchi” has been traditionally translated as: “death by a thousand cuts.”

Lust: unbridled sexual desire. Gluttony: the overindulgence (or overconsumption) of anything (food, sex, power, etc.). Greed: the rapacious pursuit of material possessions. Sloth: a reluctance to work or an apathetic approach to daily activities. Wrath: uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage, and hatred. Envy: resentment about the traits or possessions of others. Pride: excessive hubris or misplaced self-confidence.

Lustful sexual desire makes human mating possible. Gluttonous hunger prompts us to seek out sustenance. Greed (or the pursuit of material goods) is essential in that we must own some possessions just to survive. Sloth can prevent us from devoting energy to activities that may not result in a net benefit. Wrath can be justified in times when self-defense is necessary. Envy can incite us to action and drive us to improve our position in life. Pride can be properly displayed in the form of a spirited and self-confident persona.

Goal Killer #1: Inactivity

Goal Killer #2: Toxic People

Goal Killer #3: Crippling Fear

“Han” means “to turn over and examine.” And “Sei” means to “look back upon in review of the past.” So Hansei could be directly translated as “past examination” or (most commonly) “self-reflection.”

Hansei is sometimes employed as a team-development exercise in which participants engage in a critical analysis of their past work performance.

Principle 1. Avoid self-justification—even if you’re convinced that the problem is not your fault.

Principle 2. Don’t beat yourself up during Hansei

Principle 3. Accept that painful memories might resurface

Principle 4. Remain humble in success and failure

Principle 5. Don’t make the same mistake twice

two Japanese words: “Kai” and “Zen.” The first word, “Kai” can be interpreted as “change,” and “Zen” means “good” or “improve.” So a direct translation of “Kaizen” might be “change for the good,” “change for the better,” or just “improvement.”

Kaizen is a goal-achievement technique that encourages continuous improvement via daily incremental progress.

Kaizen Principle 1: Start working toward your goal immediately, even if your first action is laughably small.

Kaizen Principle 2: Use a “Continuous Improvement Process” (CIP)

Kaizen Principle 3: Interpret success and failure correctly

Kaizen Principle 4: Use the “Five Whys” technique to identify a problem’s root cause

Kaizen Principle 5: Your actions should be daily, not weekly.

Kaizen Principle 6: Measure your results ritualistically

“Jeet Kune Do” (aka “Way of the Intercepting Fist”) is the name of Bruce Lee’s personal style of martial arts. It is commonly referred to as a “formless form” of Chinese Kung Fu—not reliant upon any specific style or rigid technique.

“Naive practice” is what we do when we merely “show up” to work.

“Deliberate practice” occurs when the practitioner is forced to get out of his comfort zone—called upon to display a level of mastery that he has not been capable of in the past.

The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say “no” to almost everything.