Japan is one of the world's most homogeneous countries, with approximately 98% of the population being ethnic Japanese. The Japanese secret to a long, happy, and meaningful life is “ikigai.” Ikigai is where your passion meets your mission, vocation, and profession. It is the intersection of:
What you love
What you are good at
What the world needs
What you can get paid for
For those of you that know me or follow my blog then it will come as no surprise that Japanese culture is near and dear to my heart. And this curiosity has led me to find out more about the concept of ikigai.
In Japan, true ikigai is not about making money. It’s not about what the world needs from you or what you’re good at, or even what you love. It’s not any lofty goal to achieve. True ikigai is embracing the joy of the little things, being in the here and now, reflecting on past happy memories and cultivating a state of mind that can lead to a happy future.
The 10 rules rom the book IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret To a Long and Happy Life, are:
Stay active, don’t retire
Take it slow
Don’t fill your stomach
Surround yourself with good friends
Get in shape for your next birthday
Smile
Reconnect with nature
Give thanks
Live in the moment
Follow your passion
c/o Sacai @ Lane Crawford
In 2016, I managed to fulfil a lifelong ambition and traveled to Tokyo and Kyoto as I have been fascinated by Japanese culture throughout my life. I was not disappointed, Japan was exactly as I imagined. I worked with Beams way back in 1990, and I subsequently worked with all the major Japanese department stores.
I think you cannot successfully tell a story to the outside world for long which is opposite to the culture you actually have. We didn’t invent culture to inform capitalism, we invented capitalism so our culture could get better.
- Culture defeats strategy every time.
- Culture is people like us do things like this.
- Culture is how we make decisions.
Would you like me to look into your culture?
