Awakening Your Ikigai
by Ken Mogi
A Japanese neuroscientist's correction to the Western Venn-diagram version: ikigai is not finding your grand purpose but the five pillars of starting small, releasing yourself, harmony, the joy of little things, and being in the here and now. Short and grounded in Japanese examples.
Read it if…
you want ikigai from a Japanese author rather than a Western interpretation.
Skip it if…
you want the purpose-finding version; this argues against it.
Three things you will actually use
- Ikigai is in the small things, not the grand ones.
- Release yourself from the need to be special.
- Here and now is the only place purpose lives.
Do this first
Read the chapter on starting small and pick a small daily ritual.
Our verdict
Ikigai, corrected.
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