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The Ikigai Adventure

A Journey Through the Stations of Happiness

A little over two years ago, the authors of this book completed a project that ended up going much further than we could ever have imagined.

It all started in a Tokyo park where we discussed our shared wish to visit “the village of the centenarians,” a rural enclave in the north of Okinawa with the world’s longest life expectancy.

We decided to journey to that extraordinary place and there we interviewed the eldest of its residents, who told us their secrets for living such a long, motivated and energetic life.

The outcome of that study was the book Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, which focuses on one of the keys to eternal youth; having a “raison d’être” that can provide us with the happiness that comes from always being busy.

To everybody’s surprise, it was the best seller on Spain’s most important online bookstore on the very day it was published. Two months later, it had been sold to thirty countries, including the US, Russia, China and even Japan itself.

We got hundreds of messages and letters from readers enthusing about how Ikigai had inspired them, but they also asked us: how do I find my ikigai? I know what my life’s passion is, but I am always so busy with my responsibilities I hardly have time for my ikigai. How can I realize my dream?

We authors have asked ourselves the same questions. For that reason, we resolved that our next project would be entirely practical and would help both ourselves and our readers to find and empower all aspects of our ikigai.

That was the aim. Two years on, the book you are holding is the fruit of that challenge. We are pleased to present you with a tool that can revolutionize your future by helping you understand your past so that you can live your present the way you want to.

In order to whittle the tool into shape, we set off on a new journey across Japan, the country that inspired our first collaboration, in search of essential lessons to make your ikigai the center of your universe and a driving force for change that will enable you to achieve your life mission.

Ikigai

Written 生き甲斐, ikigai is a Japanese word that has no exact translation. Ikigai is the meaning of life, the thing that makes you get out of bed each day in eager anticipation.

The word is made by joining iki, 生, meaning “life” or “being alive,” and gai, 甲斐, meaning “what is worthwhile and has value.” So, the literal translation would be “that which makes life worth living.”

The Japanese believe we all have an ikigai—or even several—inside us, even if we don’t yet know it.

The Shinkansen effect

We came across the Shinkansen effect while researching the “Japanese miracle,” which took place between 1960 and 1980, when Japan left its post-war devastation behind to become the second largest economy in the world. Up until now, this ground-breaking concept has been used only in engineering and in Japanese companies, but we are convinced we can take advantage of the same principles to accelerate our personal achievements.

Our mission in the first part of this book is to bring the “Japanese miracle” to the personal life of each of our readers and achieve an exponential leap, taking us from the impossible to the possible in each and every realm of our life.

Yet although the Shinkansen effect concept is a fascinating one, not everything in life is about doing things better and faster.

In the journey we are about to undertake, we have developed techniques to make our past fuel our present, and in turn, for our present to light the way to a future in which we accomplish what we set out to do.

In the East they call it accepting the passage of time, because the only thing that does not change is change itself. And this point is worth delving into and understanding so that we may take control of where our life is headed and know how past changes have affected us. In this way, we will be ready in the future when our tracks fork and we have to make crucial decisions.

It is essential to accept the passage of time as an opportunity if we want to be happy and pursue our goals.

Our ikigai is very similar to change; it is a constant that is always with us and mutates depending on which life phase we are in. Our “reason for being” is not the same at the age of fifteen as it is at seventy.

It is essential to be in harmony with our ikigai at every stage. Otherwise, we will feel as though we have strayed from our own path and outside forces have taken control of our everyday life.

Our ikigai is like a radio frequency – the better we tune in to it, the more we will feel that our life has meaning.

This is a route map that will help us to stay tuned throughout the inevitable ups and downs of our ever-changing existence, bringing together the past, present and future to achieve personal fulfillment by accomplishing our calling.

The Ikigai Path

With the Ikigai Path we seek a balance between our past, present and future in order to achieve complete personal fulfillment, developing our whole talent in order to accomplish our goals.

On our journey through Japan we chose three locations which helped us to divide this book into three main sections:

1. Journey through the FUTURE: TOKYO

In the Japanese capital we will take the bullet train, aiming for the stars while we design our ideal future. What we can achieve in life is limited only by the reach of our imagination. You will find exercises for planning the future to your full potential and will activate your inner shinkansen.

2. Journey through the PAST: KYOTO

We will visit this province with a slow train, which will give us time to savor the landscape of tradition and the past. The nostalgia of this train will help us to reflect upon what we have already lived through and to get to know ourselves better. The answer to the Greek maxim “know yourself” largely comes down to how we reacted to the challenges we were faced with in our past. Interpreting experiences in a positive way is both emotionally and mentally healthy. Being aware of our past gives meaning to our life story. Rediscovering the passions we had as children and teenagers gives us clues that are fundamental to identifying our true ikigai.

3. Journey through the PRESENT: ISE

The Ise Grand Shrine is over two thousand years old. Should it belong to the past? The Japanese destroy this historic building every twenty years and then rebuild it. Thus, the Ise Shrine lives in an everlasting present. This tradition will help us to see how unwise it is to allow ourselves to be dragged down by the weight of the past, since we are free to decide what we want to be and do at any time. While strolling through the Ise Shrine, we will also visit temples where we will learn to draw enso circles and understand the power that Eastern disciplines like archery have to draw our spirit into the present. We shall also see how any kind of art is a marvelous tool for anchoring us in the present and helping us reach a state of flow.

This is not just a book. If you read it carefully and apply the suggestions you will find in it to your everyday life, it will take you to a place that, perhaps up until now, has only existed in your imagination.

Prepare to experience great changes and surprises as you enjoy a new landscape.

Breathe and open your mind. The journey is about to begin. Thank you for coming with us,

HÉCTOR GARCÍA & FRANCESC MIRALLES