Find your ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) and bring meaning and joy to all your days.
"Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years." --Japanese proverb
According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai--a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world´s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai--where what you love, what you´re good at, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs all overlap--means that each day is infused with meaning. It´s the reason we get up in the morning. It´s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there´s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they´ve found a real purpose in life--the happiness of always being busy.
In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds--one of the world´s Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and--their best-kept secret--how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn´t want to find happiness in every day?