Five by Five Rule: For Assured Happiness

 

 

“You have to decide your life’s priorities, and then you have to live them.”

– Oliver Blatt

 

Rule: If it doesn’t matter in five Years/months/weeks, don’t spend more than five hours/minutes/seconds on it.

 

Trivial vis-à-vis Enriching. Our lives are finite, and our time on this earth is precious. In our consumer-driven, fast-paced lives, we often find ourselves caught up in a whirlwind of worries, desires, and countless material possessions. However, these concerns fade into insignificance after pausing and reflecting on what truly matters. One should focus on what truly enriches our lives rather than obsessing over trivial matters without lasting significance.

 

Misnomer. Material possessions are transient and cannot be taken with us. Accumulating them often leads to more stress and less happiness, so measuring success or happiness with material possessions is misleading.

 

“The best things in life aren’t things.”

– Art Buchwald

 

What Truly Matters. Personal growth and memories are more valuable than objects. The experiences we gain and the relationships we build are the true treasures of life. Emotional bonds with family and friends outlast material things. Making a positive impact on society and the lives of others is enduring and fulfilling.

 

Hakuna Matata.  “No trouble”, “no worries”, and “take it easy”. Let go of anxieties about things that won’t matter in the long term. Live in the present moment and avoid placing too much importance on material wealth. This will bring a sense of relief and peace to your life.

 

Focus on.

 

    • Seek wisdom. Look at life, events, and responses from a broader perspective.

 

    • Align your actions with your actual values and life goals. This will give you a sense of direction and control over your life, empowering you to make decisions that are in line with your true self.

 

    • Prioritise and live in the present.

 

    • Accept things for what they are. Every negative emotion is self-created, caused by our resistance to reality.

 

    • Let go of material desires and embrace a minimalist lifestyle.

 

    • Invest in relationships and spend time nurturing connections.

 

    • Practice gratitude and be thankful for what you have rather than longing for more.

 

    • Seek fulfilment by engaging in activities that bring joy and meaning to your life.

 

    • Take care of your mental and physical well-being.

 

Follow the five-by-five rule, liberate yourself from needless worry and live a more purposeful, fulfilling life. Ask yourself if what you’re worried about will matter in five years. If the answer is yes, carry on. But if the answer is no, give yourself five minutes to fret, then move on.

 

Suggestions and value additions are most welcome.

 

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Information and data included in the blog are for educational & non-commercial purposes only and have been carefully adapted, excerpted, or edited from reliable and accurate sources. All copyrighted material belongs to respective owners and is provided only for broader dissemination.

IKIGAI: QUOTES

Pic Courtesy: career coaching in London

 

‘Ikigai’ (ee-key-guy) is a small word with a profound meaning. Translated from Japanese, ‘ikigai’ means reason to live.

 

It is a fascinating concept, and has many quotes related to acceptance and living in the moment, nature and beauty, health and longevity, movement, happiness, purpose, and passion.

 

 Ikigai can be defined as ‘a sense of being alive now, an individual’s consciousness as a motive to live.’

– Aikihiro Hasegawa

 

Acceptance & Living in the Moment Quotes

 

There is no future, no past. There is only the present.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

Stop regretting the past and fearing the future. Today is all you have. Make the most of it. Make it worth remembering.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

We don’t create our feelings; they simply come to us, and we have to accept them. The trick is, to welcome them.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell on the future.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

Nature & Beauty

 

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.

-Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

In Japanese culture, there’s a belief that only imperfect objects, like a cracked teacup, can truly be beautiful. This is called wabi-sabi. Try to let go of the quest for perfection, and instead accept the beauty that lies in all of life’s imperfections. The result will be extra energy, less stress and a longer life.

-Blinkist

 

Only things that are imperfect, incomplete, and ephemeral can truly be beautiful, because only those things resemble the natural world.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.

-Lord Byron

 

Health & Longevity

 

True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.

-William Penn

 

Just possibly, ikigai makes a Peter Pan of all of us. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. Let us all be twelve years old! Youthfulness of mind is important in ikigai, but so is commitment and passion, however seemingly insignificant your goal.

-Ken Mogi

 

Movement and Flow in Ikigai

 

Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.

-Japanese Proverb

 

Keep going; don’t change your path.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

Whatever you do, don’t retire!

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

As soon as you take these first small steps, your anxiety will disappear and you will achieve a pleasant flow in the activity you’re doing.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

Can someone really retire if he is passionate about what he does?

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

Happiness

 

If you can make the process of making the effort your primary source of happiness, then you have succeeded in the most important challenge of your life.

-Ken Mogi

 

Savor this moment as if it were your last breath. You can live only one day at a time, and no one can be certain that they will wake up the next morning. So let’s not postpone happiness. The best moment in your life is always this one.

-Garcia and Miralles

 

Ikigai translated into English as ‘life purpose’ sounds quite formidable, but ikigai need not be the one overriding purpose of a person’s life. In fact, the word life aligns more with daily life. In other words, ikigai can be about the joy a person finds living day-to-day, without which their life as a whole would not be a happy one.

 -Akihiro Hasegawa

 

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

-Joseph Addison

 

Ikigai is the action we take in pursuit of happiness.

-Yukari Mitsuhashi

 

Community & Family

 

Find your own ikigai by asking yourself how you want to serve your community. If you are undecided, remember your dreams from when you were younger, maybe in your youth.

-Tsutomu Hotta

 

Young people often say, ‘My life has no ikigai.’ This is obvious. People who isolate themselves can’t have ikigai – meaning or purpose. Meaning and purpose is only found in interpersonal relationships.

-Tatsuzō Ishikawa

 

“Treat everyone like a brother, even if you’ve never met them before.” It turns out that one of the secrets to happiness of Ogimi’s residents is feeling like part of a community.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

A man is like a forest; individual and yet connected and dependent on others for growth.

-Ken Mogi

 

Purpose, Meaning, & Passion

 

The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

-Robert Byrne

 

Above all, he has to find his purpose, his reason for getting out of bed, his ikigai.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

What is the one thing you’d like to change the most in the world? − Currently, what is it that makes you very happy and joyful in life? − What makes you wake up in the morning and go through your day?

-Alan Daron

 

Our ikigai is different for all of us, but one thing we have in common is that we are all searching for meaning. When we spend our days feeling connected to what is meaningful to us, we live more fully; when we lose the connection, we feel despair.

-Hector Garcia Puigcerver

 

Once you discover your ikigai, pursuing it and nurturing it every day will bring meaning to your life.

-Francesc Miralles

 

Ikigai gives your life a purpose while giving you the grit to carry on.

-Ken Mogi

 

Bottom line

 “We don’t create the meaning of our life, we discover it!”

 

Question

Have you discovered your IKIGAI?

 

Suggestions and value additions are most welcome

Please share your IKIGAI in the comments column. It may help someone else discover theirs.

 

Link to : Ikigai the mysterious word.

Link to : Five pillars of Ikigai.

 

For regular updates, please register here

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References and credits

To all the online sites and channels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai

https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-is-ikigai

https://positivepsychology.com/ikigai/

https://www.sloww.co/ikigai/

https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-is-ikigai

https://ikigai-living.com/what-is-ikigai/

https://www.brit.co/ikigai-10-things-worlds-longest-living-people-do/

https://www.cyberclick.net/numericalblogen/ikigai-4-questions-to-begin-your-practice-of-the-japanese-philosophy-on-life-fulfillment

Disclaimer:

Information and data included in the blog are for educational & non-commercial purposes only and have been carefully adapted, excerpted, or edited from sources deemed reliable and accurate. All copyrighted material belongs to respective owners and is provided only for purposes of wider dissemination.

Five Pillars of Ikigai

Pic Courtesy: career coaching in London

 

Ikigai is defined as one’s reason for being.

 

The question that arises is how to find one’s Ikigai and how to attain it.

 

Ken Mogi is a neuroscientist and has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Tokyo. He has also authored over 100 books, including The Little Book of Ikigai.

 

Ken describes ikigai as the spectrum that reflects the complexity of life. He believes that it is important to understand that often, the simple things are what make people happy, and ikigai starts from very small things. He thinks that ikigai is an integrating concept — the umbrella term to describe everything that gives people joy.

 

Ken Mogi, states that there are five pillars that provide the essential foundation to allow your Ikigai to flourish. These pillars are:

 

Pillar 1: Starting small

 

Pillar 2: Releasing yourself

 

Pillar 3: Harmony and sustainability

 

Pillar 4: The joy of little things

 

Pillar 5: Being in the here and now

 

 

  1. Starting Small. The first pillar is “starting small”. The goals can be achieved by taking small steps. Instead of trying to attain perfection, effort should be put in to strive to be better. The important thing is the process, i.e. trying to attain the goal and learning from the attempts to do so.

 

  1. Releasing Yourself. The second pillar is “releasing yourself”. Releasing yourself is about finding happiness through acceptance. Accepting yourself is one of the most important and difficult tasks we face in our lives. Indeed, accepting oneself is one of the easiest, simplest, and most rewarding things you can do for yourself. People are born with unique traits, and while they might not be perfect, they can grow through experience, accept their individuality, and stop comparing themselves to others. Everyone can be comfortable pursuing their own way of engaging with life.

 

  1. Harmony and Sustainability. The third pillar is “harmony and sustainability”. Sustainability applies not only to man’s relation to nature but also to the modes of individual activities within a social context. You should show adequate consideration for other people and be mindful of the impact your actions might have on society at large. Ideally, every social activity should be sustainable. Thinking beyond selfish needs creates harmony and sustainability.

 

4. The Joy of Little Things. The fourth pillar is “the joy of little things”. Start the day with some ikigai and get into the habit of using the little things to create pleasurable, rewarding experiences that facilitate contentment. With these embedded in one’s routine, it doesn’t matter if people get recognized for their performance; no matter what, they have still experienced moments of happiness.

 

  1. Being in the here and now. The fifth pillar is “being in the here and now”. Present helps people to bring out their inner child, as children value the present since they have no definite idea of the past or future. Bringing out people’s inner child is a key attribute that brings happiness to their lives and those of their loved ones.

 

Ikigai doesn’t have to be something extravagant; we can find it even in the simplest things — anything that gives us joy. It helps us to understand that we don’t have to make our lives complicated, but, rather, that we can simply focus on accepting and being grateful for the things that we have and making the most out of things rather than searching for something that we don’t possess. Whenever we experience discontentment, it is important to reflect on what we are focusing on, see whether we can/should readjust, and think deeply about what things really matter to us. 

 

Bottom Line

If you don’t know what your ikigai is yet,

your mission should be to discover it.”

 

Question

Have you discovered your IKIGAI?

 

Suggestions and value additions are most welcome

Please share your IKIGAI in the comments column. It may help someone else discover theirs.

 

Link to : Ikigai the mysterious word.

 

For regular updates, please register here

Subscribe

References and credits

To all the online sites and channels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai

https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-is-ikigai

https://positivepsychology.com/ikigai/

https://www.sloww.co/ikigai/

https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-is-ikigai

https://ikigai-living.com/what-is-ikigai/

https://www.brit.co/ikigai-10-things-worlds-longest-living-people-do/

https://www.cyberclick.net/numericalblogen/ikigai-4-questions-to-begin-your-practice-of-the-japanese-philosophy-on-life-fulfillment

Disclaimer:

Information and data included in the blog are for educational & non-commercial purposes only and have been carefully adapted, excerpted, or edited from sources deemed reliable and accurate. All copyrighted material belongs to respective owners and is provided only for purposes of wider dissemination.