Concept Ikigai Quotes

One easy way to start applying the concept of hara hachi bu is to skip dessert. Or to reduce portion size. The idea is to still be a little bit hungry when you finish.

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. A skilled Hansei practitioner can analyze the multidimensional failures that led to an undesirable outcome. And, in doing so, he or she can gain valuable insights that will prevent similar errors from occurring in the future.

And finally, the solution to many of our goal-setting problems can be found in the fourth concept, “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. Kaizen teaches us how to atomize big obstacles; how to break them down into their more manageable component parts so that we might build up the psychological momentum to overcome each hurdle via consistent daily action.

When our bodies are comfortable, well-fed, and safe, then our lower mind (aka our “lizard brain,” “reptilian complex,” or “limbic system”) would prefer to remain inactive. Though our conscious mind is well aware of next week’s looming deadline, our lower mind thinks that next week is a million years away. It lives in the here and now. The future is an abstract concept that doesn’t require immediate attention. Hence, it’s easy for our lower mind to ignore it.

The first concept is “Ikigai.” Ikigai is a Japanese life strategy that emphasizes the importance of finding your “true calling.” Colloquially, the word can be translated as “your reason for living” or your “reason to get out of bed in the morning.” The mindset is perpetuated by the long-lived residents of Okinawa Island—many of whom cite their Ikigai as the reason for their impressive longevity. The pursuit of one’s Ikigai is an important journey of self-discovery. If you can correctly identify the vocation that you are best suited for, then the spark of intrinsic motivation will illuminate within you—igniting the passions that power your pursuits, prompting you to accomplish momentous feats.

The second concept, “Lingchi,” is a Chinese term that is commonly translated in the West as “death by a thousand cuts.” We’ll be employing this metaphor throughout the book as it so nicely describes the nature of human failure and the difficulties we encounter when attempting to identify the root cause of our foibles. You may have noticed that your most glorious life failures did not result from just one problem. Rather, they originate from a “thousand little cuts”—a thousand little ruinous decisions that come together to create a quagmire. If you learn to recognize these infractions before they accumulate, then you can put a stop to them—preventing undesirable circumstances from escalating into situations that are detrimental to your aspirations.

At some point in our conversation, the mysterious word ikigai came up. This Japanese concept, which translates roughly as “the happiness of always being busy,” is like logotherapy, but it goes a step beyond. It also seems to be one way of explaining the extraordinary longevity of the Japanese, especially on the island of Okinawa, where there are 24.55 people over the age of 100 for every 100,000 inhabitants—far more than the global average.

We’re talking about resilience, a concept that has become influential among psychologists. But resilience isn’t just the ability to persevere. As we’ll see in this chapter, it is also an outlook we can cultivate to stay focused on the important things in life rather than what is most urgent, and to keep ourselves from being carried away by negative emotions.

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!

A complementary Japanese concept is that of ichi-go ichi-e, which could be translated as “This moment exists only now and won’t come again.

The study was done in a relatively small town in Kyoto named Kyotango.  What makes this town special and a very good place to conduct the study was the fact that its population of people above 100 years old was the highest in Japan - 3 times more than the average for any town in the country.  The program - Takeshi no katei no igaku - specifically wanted to find out what these very old - but very joyful - bunch of people in Kyotango had in common when it comes to living their daily lives.  The program followed 7 people who were already in their late 90s and early 100s from sunrise to sunset.  The program also subjected them to health checkups such as blood tests, among others.  One of the interesting findings of the study was that all of the 7 subjects had very high levels of DHEA, which is a steroid hormone produced by the body's adrenal glands.  DHEA has a solid reputation of being a miracle hormone that's highly associated with longevity.  And as the study continued following the 7 super senior citizens, they discovered another commonality:  they all did things that they really enjoyed.  Each of them had different hobbies they passionately practiced every day such as painting, fishing and making traditional Japanese masks, among others. Given these findings, is it possible then that doing something you really love to do, something you're very passionate about, is the key to higher levels of DHEA and, therefore, a much longer life?  The science on this relationship hasn't been established yet, but the program concluded that regularly doing something that you're very interested in, passionate about, and focused on can give you a long-lasting and deep sense of personal satisfaction in life, which in turn can help elevate your DHEA levels.  And when such levels are very high, a long and joyful life isn't far behind.  And guess what, the program repeatedly made mention of Ikigai in discussing this concept of conclusion.