Book Summary: IKIGAI - The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

 


Bottom line: Reading this book has been a huge disappointment. It misuses the popular term Ikigai for higher reader reach. It actually just scratches the surface of the concept and the whole book is written with no mastery on the topic.  I dint expect to read a book written  for novices, by novices.  Since, I had made a commitment to start reading books with all the intensity, I dint keep the book down and improved my tolerance for mediocrity further.

If you ignore the term IKIGAI, which was the main attraction for me to buy this book, the bok is not that bad.  The central theme of the book is to explore the secrets of a long and happy life, and some justice is made in this regard.

The book is a useful intervention for those who are in some kind of dispair around their health and mental state. It helps to develop a level of faith and will power to proceed further. That is all.

I am personally invested in the concept of IKIGAI, and wanted to become an expert in it by digging deeper. That purpose is not served at all by reading this book.  My resolve went up never to write a mediocre book like this which sounded like a school kid's assignment. Any one can write a mediocre book like this with bit of internet research.

I am going to take revenge on the time invested on this book, by doing my own web research on the framework of Ikigai, and publish my understanding summary as a blog, and I will do this before I take up the next book to read. I am sure, the next book will not be this huge disappointment, so worst is over for me.

I ordered this book from a second tier ecommerce site in India. I paid only Rs. 170 for this book. I get a feel holding the book that this is more of a pirated version than a paperback version. It is just the vibe I get.

People who do not enjoy reading non-fiction can simply skip this book. I do not recommend this book to anyone as such, as one can get more crisp set of answers by searching on "secret to a long and happy life" on the Internent.  

Here are some links for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IULhd1UuicA

https://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/7-secrets-to-living-a-long-happy-life

https://www.entrepreneur.com/living/20-secrets-to-living-a-happier-life-and-having-a-positive/315636

https://kentuckycounselingcenter.com/unlock-your-happiness-and-find-your-ikigai/

https://www.healthshots.com/preventive-care/self-care/9-proven-secrets-to-a-long-and-happy-life-that-you-shouldnt-ignore-anymore/

There are more like these....if you are committed to this cause...

 Always, there is a bonus reward in reading a book. My bonus reward is the introduction to the concept of AntiFragility by Dr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, in a book called " Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder". I look forward to procure this book and read.   So, let me end with a spirit of gratitude here.

Namasthe

Nataraja


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IKIGAI -Web research towards clarity across the overlapping topics

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  Context: I felt that a recent best seller book I read on Ikigai confused the core concept with many other overlapping topics. It also failed to expand the core topic. So, this web research was to understand the concept clearly in isolation and then appreciate its overlap with other topics. My conclusion is that one does not need to go beyond the Venn diagram of Ikigai to appreciate the core concept here. I personally have worked on this diagram for the self for the last ten years, and have found it quite useful in self exploration and self realization. I was hoping to get into more depth on this topic Ikigai, and even after this web research, I would say that there is not much clarity beyond these four circles communicate. However, I would understand the attempt by people to define a set of principles around Ikigai to make it more marketable.  Here again, I found different definitions of these principles, but I can be compassionate with those attempts. One particular definit...
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