Ikigai

The Book in 1 Sentence

A boring self-help book that takes half lessons from other books and combines it partial interviews with centurions.

Brief Review

I really thought this book was going to be closer to Wabi Sabi, but this is 100% just a self-help book. It takes half lessons from other books like Flow but not introducing anything that would extend the book to be anything other than surface level.

Why I Read this book

I thought it was going to be an extension of Wabi Sabi.

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

I am really not sure how to review this since it was so superficial. Most of the entry point of the book, we will say the first half, are very surface level items have been said in other places. "Finding purpose can help you live longer," "Eating fruit and veggies is good for you," and other things like that.

The premise of the book is to talk to centurions, people who have lived longer than 100 years, asking them why they think they have lived longer than most humans inside their "Blue Zone" and what they would recommend to people. A lot of the later information is about the specifics of what these communities do and that is a lot of fun, but it isn't a surprise that people who are active after leaving their career do better. There are a number of stories that I have heard about people retiring and then dying within the next year or so due to the drastic change in their life.

What I really did like about this book outside the information about the centurions' community and what they do. Part of what they do is Tai Chi, focus on Stoicism, and Zen. I think these last few things that have been chalked up to mysticism and really could help with reducing your "stress" and providing you with an outlet for your time. It was interesting.

How my life / behavior / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

I have been reading "The Daily Stoic" and have been making an effort to be more mindful of what is going on in my life. This book provides very few way to do that and so I am thinking them through.

Rating

This book is so terribly light that it only is 209 pages and 100 of them are fluff that is mentioned in another book. It isn't nearly what I wanted, what I expected, or worth reading over all if you have read something similar. It is just too light to be worth your time. It is a sad 6.

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