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The 5 Pillars of Ikigai
Ikigai Explained by a Neuroscientist
‘There are many ways to define Ikigai. One way put it is to say that Ikigai is the reason you get up in the morning. It could be something very small like having a cup of coffee and a chocolate. And something that makes your day go on. That is Ikigai.
On the other hand — Ikigai can be a life-defining, very big goal, like going to Mars or winning the Nobel Prize or becoming the Prime Minister of a country. So Ikigai can be something small or something big. So in a nutshell, Ikigai is a spectrum. And the complexity of Ikigai actually reflects the complexity of life itself.’ — Ken Mogi
A book worth reading on the subject of ikigai is Ken Mogi’s book, The Little Book of IKIGAI: The Essential Japanese Way to Finding Your Purpose in Life. It’s an enjoyable read, providing great insight into ikigai, with fascinating real-life examples of Japanese living their ikigai on a day-to-day basis.
Throughout the book, Ken refers to his five pillar framework, offering the reader guidance and the foundation to explore their own ikigai. If you want to understand what ikigai means to the Japanese then I recommend this book.
This book puts ikigai in many contexts using a variety of examples, stories, and explanations giving the reader a full picture of what…
