I recently finished reading Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life and wanted to share some of my favorite takeaways.
Ikigai, a Japanese concept often translated as “reason for being,” is a philosophy centered on living a balanced and meaningful life. Rooted in the traditions of Okinawan culture, it is said to promote longevity, happiness, and inner harmony.
At its heart, ikigai calls for aligning four key elements: your passions, mission, vocation, and profession.
The book highlights 10 key principles inspired by the lives of Okinawa’s centenarians. These principles serve as a guide for cultivating purpose and joy. Below, I’ll explore these principles and share my favorite ideas from this inspiring read.
1. Stay Active, Don’t Retire.
This is a relief! You can throw all the messages you’ve received throughout your life about working yourself to the breaking point so that you can retire early out the window!
According to many centenarians, one of the secrets to a long, fulfilling, and meaningful life is NOT to retire but to keep engaging fully in life, doing meaningful work to you.
Having a purpose keeps your mind and body engaged. Even after traditional retirement, the authors encourage us to continue to pursue activities that bring us joy and meaning. Staying active, mentally and physically, brings a sense of contribution and fulfillment, something we all truly need.
** Learn more about offering your unique contribution here.
2. Ikigai Reminds Us to Take It Slow.
Living at a slower pace allows you to experience the present moment fully. Avoid rushing through life—appreciate small joys and connect deeply with each activity.
Okinawans seem to maintain a graceful pace throughout life. This is a common theme we learn from many of our modern-day masters.
Yet, we still feel the need to push ourselves and view moving slowly as negative.
We can take a lesson from the centenarians here!
To learn more, read lessons from my favorite teacher, Eckhart Tolle, here.
Also, learn more about slow living here.
You can read about slowing down to find calm and clarity here.
3. Don’t Fill Your Stomach.
The principle of “hara hachi bu,” or eating until you’re 80% full, is challenging to do in practice but may be worth trying.
Not overstuffing ourselves supports physical health and mindfulness while promoting gratitude for nourishment.
I guess it ties into our need to move quickly. We often eat so fast that we don’t even know we’re full.
I can imagine that slowing down to eat mindfully has many benefits, including increasing our very own life expectancy!
4. Surround Yourself With Good Friends.
Science has taught us that strong connections contribute to emotional well-being and resilience. Share your life with others who uplift and support you is a secret to living happily and healthily.
Do you prioritize spending time with loved ones? And do you truly understand on some level that doing so is actually beneficial to your health?
We need each other to get through the ups and downs. And we can make more for this in 2025. It’s not too late!
Read about the importance of connection here.
Be open to embracing the many kinds of friends in your life here.
And be inspired by words about nurturing female friendships here.
5. Ikigai Encourages You to Get in Shape for Your Next Birthday.
We know that physical health is a key aspect of mental clarity and emotional groundedness. Try to embrace the Okinawan lifestyle and incorporate small, sustainable activities like walking or yoga into your daily routine. They also enjoy tai chi and qigong.
And don’t forget gardening! This is the peaceful activity enjoyed most by centenarians.
How are you doing with this? Do you find it hard to make time?
I have a new obsession for you! Check out Pvolve. You can bring the lightweight equipment with you wherever you go. The workouts are also very manageable, ranging from 20 to around 45 minutes, and they are geared toward long-term strength and flexibility. I started it in January and am 100% hooked!
6. Smile.
This one goes without saying, but having a positive attitude can enhance your quality of life.
It’s empowering to know that we can always view our situation with a more hopeful, positive spin or with a more negative one. We are capable of reframing almost every problem we’re facing in an uplifting way.
This knowing can bring us closer to a long, happy life.
Read more about reframing your thoughts here.
Learn more about how your perspective is EVERYTHING! Check out my new podcast here.
7. Reconnect With Nature.
Spending time outdoors helps you feel grounded, refreshed, and connected to the larger world around you.
Whether it’s a peaceful walk in the park, a hike through the woods, or tending to a garden, connecting with nature can bring a sense of calm, clarity, and lasting joy.
Do you make an effort to spend time in nature? How does it make you feel?
Discover more about nature’s ability to heal us emotionally here.
8. Give Thanks, Ikigai Style.
Being grateful puts us in alignment with our highest good. We draw a connection directly to our higher power.
Do you have a daily gratitude practice? Some people write their gratitude in a journal, while others say it aloud while driving to work. There are so many ways to do this, but the bottom line is that we need to do it already!
No tool is discussed more consistently in wellness than expressing gratitude, and we can try to embrace it more in 2025.
Read tips on practicing gratitude here.
9. Live in the Moment.
Mindfulness is at the heart of ikigai. It’s so easy to dwell on the past or worry about the future, while being fully engaged in the present moment brings the clarity and satisfaction we seek.
My favorite section of Ikigai is the part where they talk about living in the flow. I often struggle with the question of whether I should be doing this or that…
The book introduces the interesting idea of microflow, where it’s possible to feel peace and ease while performing the most mundane tasks. The authors further discuss the value of meditation in finding our flow. We can practice and train our minds to feel like we “carry a spa” everywhere we go.
We can also enjoy rituals. They “give us clear rules and objectives, which help us enter a state of flow. And the more you flow, the closer you will be to your ikigai.”
10. Follow Your Ikigai.
Your ikigai lies at the intersection of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be rewarded for. Identifying your unique reason for being and aligning your decisions and choices with this guiding principle is possible.
In Ikigai, the authors share a story about Viktor Frankl, which served as his own case study:
“Frankl had a goal to achieve, and it made him persevere.” Even after being forced into Auschwitz, his internal drive to share the compilation of work he had done before gave him the strength to survive. He was determined.
However, the authors state that we don’t all know our ikigai, and that’s okay. The tools listed above can help guide us along the path to finding it.
Final Thoughts about Ikigai:
It’s fascinating to learn that from one of the places on earth where humans live long, fruitful lives, we can distill their secrets into a short list of 10 ideas.
Some people reading this may be very lucky and are currently doing all ten, while others are not doing any.
The good news is that it’s never too late to start.
We can learn to discover our ikigai by incorporating these ideas into our daily lives.
My personal experience:
I feel closer than ever to my goal, especially since training to become a life coach. I am invigorated by this work, which tells me I must be on the right track.
And I want to improve my ability to stay in the moment and settle into the flow. Although I have experienced this, I still struggle with mundane tasks.
What about you? Where are you going to focus in 2026?
Ikigai asks us to find the intersection of what we love, what we’re good at, what the world needs, and what we can be rewarded for. But for many women, the deeper question isn’t just “what is my ikigai?” — it’s “what’s been blocking me from living it?”
Old beliefs, outdated stories, and patterns we’ve outgrown have a way of keeping us stuck even when we know what we want. That’s the work I do with women through The New Lens Method™ — helping you clear what’s in the way so you can step fully into the life and purpose that’s already yours.
If this resonated, I’d love to connect.
Thank you for reading!
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