IkiIkigai (pronounced ee-kee-guy) isn’t a millennial term for your creepy neighbour. It’s an ancient Japanese philosophy that’s shining a light on how we should live – finding purpose and joy in simple things... keeping busy, but slowing down when we feel overwhelmed.
When Héctor García and Francesc Miralles studied the village of Ogimi on the island of Okinawa for their book Ikigai – the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, their aim was to better understand this ancient cultural concept. Okinawa is known for the longevity of its inhabitants. With a ratio of about 50 centenarians per 100000 people, the island is one of the four anthropological ‘blue zones’ (geographical areas where people live longest) in the world, as identified by bestselling author Dan Buettner.
Although finding your true ‘purpose’ in life can seem like a complicated and perplexing process, ikigai isn’t about going on a sabbatical to contemplate the reason for your existence. It’s about doing the exact opposite: paying more attention to what makes your soul sing daily. The key word here is daily: this isn’t about life’s big purpose – it’s about all the things, great and small, that get us out of bed every day and that we need to keep in balance.
HOW TO FIND YOUR IKIGAI
Ask yourself these four questions:
What do you love?
What are you good at?
What does the world need from you?
This story is from the January 2018 edition of Fairlady.
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This story is from the January 2018 edition of Fairlady.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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