It’s September 1st and, according to the meteorological calendar, the first day of Autumn. I love the seasonal changes and embrace the beauty that each one brings.
With summer holidays coming to a close for many of us, did you manage read a book that resonated and became one of your faves?
I did! In addition to a couple of my fictional ‘must reads,’ I had non-fiction favourite that was both interesting, enlightening and, being a professional coach and trainer, resonated with much of what I value and believe in.
Title: Ikigai Authors: Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
What is our Ikigai?
Based on the words of Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, our ikigai is hidden deep inside us and finding it requires a patient search. According to those born on Okinawa, the island with the most centenarians in the world, our ikigai is the reason we get up in the morning.
Our ikigai incorporates our passions, our mission, our vocation/job/career, and our profession. This, in turn, is linked to what we love, what we are good at, what we can be paid for and what the world needs.
Why Did I Love This Book?
1. Each day is different although, if you have discovered your reason or purpose to jump out of bed each morning, then that’s a big tick! I love to see the body language and energy of someone who has found this. The challenge is about finding your reason or your purpose. For some, this may be something that they identify from an early age whilst for others (quite possibly the majority of us) this can take years. It encompasses many areas of our lives, as mentioned above.
2. For me it’s about making the years not necessarily perfect but, overall, fulfilling against my own personal values and purpose. I am one of many who has had some incredibly challenging periods in my past, but I look back on these as my learning years. There are a huge number of positives to take from these experiences. Would I have done some things differently? Of course, in hindsight, but I only know that because of the value of this reflection and my learning.
3. The book covers such topics as giving your brain a mental workout, interacting with others, continual learning, and the mental impact of feeling that you are getting better at doing things. Two phrases that I am a daily advocate of are, ‘having natural curiosity’ and ‘having a lifelong desire to learn.’ These lend themselves to exploring your mind, your personal life, your professional life, your friendships, your passions, your motivations, etc, and can be continued throughout life. These contribute to keeping your mind active – believed to be a key element of ikigai.
4. The book also looks at stress and how modern-day life has an impact on the stress hormones released. With my background in neuropsychology, neuro-linguistic programming, negative emotions, and re-framing thoughts, this is of huge interest to me. I coach people in having more awareness of negative emotions, the associated thoughts and feelings, and strategies and techniques to reframe these. This is linked to how we overcome some of the challenges in our lives and move forward more positively. Long term and extreme stress (note: it’s different for each of us) has a degenerative effect over time and, as someone who thought that they could ‘ride the stress wave’ then had an unexpected and very scary seizure, I advocate stress management in its various forms enormously. It all starts with awareness. Have a read of our Athena Blog ‘Calming Thise Unhelpful Thoughts’
5. Now and then I do like to have a book on the go that you can dip in and out of and then re-visit. This was certainly one of those.
6. As well as being fascinating and inspiring, it also served as a bit of professional development for me. As an advocate of lifelong learning in its many shapes and forms, this is great! Part of my ikigai you could say.
I won’t spoil the book for you – over to you to read it if you’re interested. The book takes a look at the basic tools needed to move along your ‘purpose/reason’ path, finding flow in the tasks you choose to do, eating in a balanced and mindful way, exercising (note: you don’t have to be a triathlete), and learning not to give up when you encounter difficulties or challenges (resilience is a key component of ikigai). To do this, you have to accept that the world is imperfect but, nonetheless, remains full of lifelong opportunities and growth.
I will definitely be revisiting my tabbed sections of the book to refresh, reset, remind, and revisit areas that were pertinent to me. For example, I have a tendency to worry (mostly about others), and I loved some of the sections that delve deeper into this, especially the techniques that I naturally use without even realising it. Let’s celebrate what you already do well as well as having ideas around what else could work for you. I also love the sections that explore what resilience really is. It’s a word that we hear daily but what does it truly mean for each of us as it is more than the ability the persevere.
Japanese Proverb: Fall Seven Times, Rise Eight
So, thank you Hector and Francesc for a lovely holiday read. I’d be interested in your thoughts if you have read this or another book on ikigai.