Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life

by Héctor García

▪ Turn off your phone before you achieve flow. There is nothing more important than the task you have chosen to do during this time. If this seems too extreme, enable the “do not disturb” function so only the people closest to you can contact you in case of emergency. ▪ Designate one day of the week, perhaps a Saturday or Sunday, a day of technological “fasting,” making exceptions only for e-readers (without Wi-Fi) or MP3 players. ▪ Go to a café that doesn’t have Wi-Fi. ▪ Read and respond to e-mail only once or twice per day. Define those times clearly and stick to them. ▪ Try the Pomodoro Technique: Get yourself a kitchen timer (some are made to look like a pomodoro, or tomato) and commit to working on a single task as long as it’s running. The Pomodoro Technique recommends 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of rest for each cycle, but you can also do 50 minutes of work and 10 minutes of rest. Find the pace that’s best for you; the most important thing is to be disciplined in completing each cycle. ▪ Start your work session with a ritual you enjoy and end it with a reward. ▪ Train your mind to return to the present when you find yourself getting distracted. Practice mindfulness or another form of meditation, go for a walk or a swim—whatever will help you get centered again. ▪ Work in a space where you will not be distracted. If you can’t do this at home, go to a library, a café, or, if your task involves playing the saxophone, a music studio. If you find that your surroundi...

What do the activities that drive you to flow have in common? Why do those activities drive you to flow? For example, are all the activities you most like doing ones that you practice alone or with other people? Do you flow more when doing things that require you to move your body or just to think?

“The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”2

“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.”

Locals eat a wide variety of foods, especially vegetables. Variety seems to be key.

They ate an average of eighteen different foods each day,

They eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

Grains are the foundation of their diet.

They rarely eat sugar,

This brings us back to the 80 percent rule we mentioned in the first chapter, a concept known in Japanese as hara hachi bu. It’s easy to do: When you notice you’re almost full but could have a little more … just stop eating!

Instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we should look for it in things that are flawed, incomplete.

“This moment exists only now and won’t come again.”

Our intuition and curiosity are very powerful internal compasses to help us connect with our ikigai.

Life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by the people who love you.