Ikigai combines Japanese symbols that mean ‘life,’ which is a worthwhile living. Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, the two authors of this book, touch on particular aspects of life they can learn to help them have a long, happy life. It is based on ancient Japanese techniques, known as IKIGAI, to help one realize home and life expectations.
Ikigai Book Summary
Ikigai’s book summary draws so many references from the lifestyle of an island in Japan known as Okinawa. This island was inhabited by about 24.5 million people aged above 100 years for every 1,000,000 counts.
After understanding the keyword Ikigai, the author wants you to grasp the profound art of how you can stay young as you grow old. They are using the reference of the 5 Blue Zones around the world. In those zones, the residents have lived longer than their average life, and the secret of their long life is well on display.
These five zones are Ikaria, an island found in Greece, Loma Linda, California, an Italian island called Sardinia, Okinawa, Japan, and the Nicoya Peninsula, an isolated town in Costa Rica.
The next chapter touches on stress. The author is trying to explain how stress can affect your life. When you sit a lot and you are stressed, these experiences can increase your age and, as a result, reduce your life duration. You cannot avoid a stressful situation in life. A little stress is good and can keep you going.
In the subsequent chapter, the author tries to help you dive deep to examine yourself and find the purpose of your living. The authors are stressing more about how you can discover the true meaning of your life instead of helping you create one for yourself.
Lessons to learn by reading Ikigai Book
The take-home lessons you can attain from the Ikigai book summary after reading this 194-page book include the following:
1. Classify what you do in life
It would be best to classify whatever you do daily one by one in your daily life activity. You can use them whenever you feel confused about certain aspects of life and things you do. For instance, if you are passionate about singing, you need to passionately.
Therefore, you can prioritize some of the things you are passionate about and allocate more time or resources to them. This is illustrated better with an example of a 22 year Malhar Kalambe who resides in Mumbai and loves cleaning the beaches. He continues to perform this task diligently, knowing that the world needs clean beaches.
2. Have Enough Sleeping Time
Ikigai book summary in chapter 2 is about how our bodies can age slowly. As you clock 20 years, your neurons will start to age. During this time, various functions within the body begin to slow down or begin to experience complications as you get older. You can be slow this down by reducing the stress level, taking balanced diet food, reduce your sitting down habits.
Sleeping has been proven scientifically to be a pivotal component of anti-aging. Various researches are done on supermodels when interviews have shown that most of them sleep for about nine to ten hours before gracing photo-shoot or fashion shows. This helps them to remain youthful throughout their career.
Our bodies, during sleep, generate a hormone called melatonin. This compelling antioxidant component helps us strengthen our immunity, prevent heart diseases and osteoporosis, cancer protection, and slow down the onset of contracting Alzheimer’s disease. In short, we have a secret to prolonging our life all the time, which is getting enough sleep.
3. A Reason to Live
The two authors carried out studies on various types of therapy, ranging from logotherapy to Naikan medication. They use them to compare some of the available modern psychological treatments administered in a therapy session. Each treatment had a success that varies from one individual to another from their studies. It works on others and fails on some.
Yet, from all the examples they provided in the book, it is clear that some people, as they undergo a lot of life challenges, have managed to stay alive with these forms of treatment.
For instance, through logotherapy, Viktor Frankl found out why he could survive while at the Auschwitz concentration camp when undergoing this form of therapy. Therefore he decided to make it known by publishing his manuscript to show the meaning of his life.
Whenever you can think out clearly and discover the significance of your life, it will give you enough motivation to live longer.
Who should read vs. who shouldn’t read the book Ikigai
1. Who should Read Ikigai book
When you are going through some dark period in your life, reading the Ikigai book will help you rediscover yourself and recover emotionally. Therefore, you will see positive and become enthusiastic again.
The book also encourages one to reflect on life. In life, there isn’t a future or past. One has to look to the present. The book will enable you to be mindful throughout your life even as you face so many distractions in your busy life. You can reflect on your most enjoyable and happy moments and give your dark time some turning point.
2. Who shouldn’t read Ikigai
Unfortunately, this book is suitable for every person in every walk of life; it can benefit both school children and older folks. It is worth reading if you care about your life welfare. You can gift your kids to help them improve their studies and mindset. You can also give your friends who love reading and anyone who needs this book to help them make some turning from their life problems.
My Recommendation
I recommend Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life’ Summary to anyone who has challenges finding some motivation, visualizing the meaning of their lives, and being accountable for their actions. The book will help you change your destiny to see everything around you and focus on your present situation. It is an invaluable piece of art for all of us.
