10 rules of Ikigai

 I read the book 'Ikigai' by Hector Gracia and Francesca Miralles last month and have been fascinated by this simple concept of Japanese way of long and happy life..

Ikigai means 'the reason for being' or the reason why one wants to get up everyday to face life, and it has its origins from a Japanese island Okinawa, where a lot of centenarians are living a happy and fulfilling life..
According to the book it is the combination of 4 things (if you have them all, you have the 'reason for being'):
1️⃣ What you love doing (passion)
2️⃣ What the world needs (mission)
3️⃣ What you are good at (skill)
4️⃣ What you can be paid for (profession)
Although when you read the whole book you figure out that the Okinawans find the 'ikigai' in every thing in life (be it interesting or boring) making it happy and fulfilling by just following simple rules everyday..I would say that the 'ikigai' is the goal and the rules are the process to achieve the goal.. so for me, these rules were the highlight rather than the concept of ikigai itself, which is generally more famous (you can consider me more process oriented than goal oriented!):
1️⃣ Stay active, don't retire
2️⃣ Take it slow as being in a hurry deteriorates quality of life
3️⃣ Don't fill up your stomach to the brim to live longer
4️⃣ Surround yourself with good friends
5️⃣ Get in shape for your next birthday ( basically be physically active)
6️⃣ Smile more
7️⃣ Reconnect with nature
8️⃣ Give thanks
9️⃣ Live in the moment
🔟 Follow your ikigai
Which of these rules are you following?

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