5 Takeaways from the amazing ‘Ikigai’
Hello peeps,
This week I am taking you on my journey from a writer to a reader. After reading AND finishing 3 books in last 6 months (I know it’s not a lot but good enough to create a reading habit <try for yourself :)>), I can finally say with confidence that I have created a reading habit now.
Now, the latest book I read was — Ikigai. I am sure no introduction is needed for this book but for those who are new to reading, the book is all about LIVING. The reason I picked up this book is because of its size. But this book is filled with information and ideas just like any other 300 page book. I usually write book reviews but this book needs NO REVIEW. Instead, I decided to write about my takeaways from this book. While reading, I have realised that this book is so philosophical and full of thoughts that everyone who reads it will take something different.
Things I takeaway from this book
Eating until you are 80% full
This is an amazing trick if you’re trying to eat healthy and nutritious. Since I read this, I mindfully tried to eat until I feel 80% full and not more than that. I feel less bloated, drink much water than before and feel happy and not tired with all the food baby :D. I would definitely recommend it to everyone.
According to the book, it not only helps to keep your health in check but also makes you more agile, happy, mindful and have anti-aging effects. The idea is to take one serving of everything and fill your plate with sufficient food. Then you try to finish the meal and not take extra servings which we do when we eat something tasty or homemade. It is one of the key habits which Japanese follow and that’s how they live in the village Okinawa.
The word — IKIGAI
This is another new thing which I learnt and is more of a concept. I think that this is one of the most beautiful words and the meaning is quite powerful. Ikigai simply means ‘purpose of life’. But the way it is defined in the book is mesmerising. Being a visual reader, I imagined the village of Okinawa as each person able to find his or her purpose of life which need not be anything vast or complex but a simple task of picking flowers can be pleasurable and make one happy.
In my opinion, this word has a transformational impact especially for us in our 20s who are searching for their Ikigai.
Finding your Ikigai
After reading this book, I feel more curious towards finding my own Ikigai. And as the book suggests, it can be anything and not necessarily something big. For me, there are plenty of things which I feel connected to such as reading, writing, beaches, decorating and much more. Now I can more relate to the concept and grow towards it a little every day. This is something which I really liked about this book and hence recommend it to you as well.
The ‘FLOW’ state
I have read many blogs and articles on how to reach a flow state of your work and there are many techniques to do that. A simple google search will list out hundreds of ways. But the way it’s explained in this book is the most I could connect with.
According to the book, the FLOW state is experienced when you are working through something you have interest it and it specifies a very good process to find it. So, the flow state comes when the task we are doing is CHALLENGING but not too much so that you are flabbergasted with it.
Ikigai in Sweden
Living in Sweden, I naturally asked myself that if I can see some mirror image of Ikigai in this country. And not surprised at all, The Ikigai of Sweden is defined as LAGOM. It means doing something in a moderate way — nothing over or under. I also discovered through one of my friends that this book is actually part of a series which covers Swedish way as well as Danish way of living too.
This week, I also decided to add some stats for the books I’m reading to share with all of you. So here’s how this book did so far:
READ THE BOOK STATS ON GOODREADS
Thanks for reading. See you next week :)
