The Ikigai Journey. Francesc MirallesЧитать онлайн книгу.
and achieve an exponential leap, taking us from the impossible to the possible in each and every realm of our life.
Yet although the Shinkansen effect concept is a fascinating one, not everything in life is about doing things better and faster.
In the journey we are about to undertake, we have developed techniques to make our past fuel our present, and in turn, for our present to light the way to a future in which we accomplish what we set out to do.
In the East they call it accepting the passage of time, because the only thing that does not change is change itself. And this point is worth delving into and understanding so that we may take control of where our life is headed and know how past changes have affected us. In this way, we will be ready in the future when our tracks fork and we have to make crucial decisions.
It is essential to accept the passage of time as an opportunity if we want to be happy and pursue our goals.
Our ikigai is very similar to change; it is a constant that is always with us and mutates depending on which life phase we are in. Our “reason for being” is not the same at the age of fifteen as it is at seventy.
It is essential to be in harmony with our ikigai at every stage. Otherwise, we will feel as though we have strayed from our own path and outside forces have taken control of our everyday life.
Our ikigai is like a radio frequency – the better we tune in to it, the more we will feel that our life has meaning.
This is a route map that will help us to stay tuned throughout the inevitable ups and downs of our ever-changing existence, bringing together the past, present and future to achieve personal fulfillment by accomplishing our calling.
The Ikigai Path
With the Ikigai Path we seek a balance between our past, present and future in order to achieve complete personal fulfillment, developing our whole talent in order to accomplish our goals.
On our journey through Japan we chose three locations which helped us to divide this book into three main sections:
1. Journey through the FUTURE: TOKYO
In the Japanese capital we will take the bullet train, aiming for the stars while we design our ideal future. What we can achieve in life is limited only by the reach of our imagination. You will find exercises for planning the future to your full potential and will activate your inner shinkansen.
2. Journey through the PAST: KYOTO
We will visit this province with a slow train, which will give us time to savor the landscape of tradition and the past. The nostalgia of this train will help us to reflect upon what we have already lived through and to get to know ourselves better. The answer to the Greek maxim “know yourself” largely comes down to how we reacted to the challenges we were faced with in our past. Interpreting experiences in a positive way is both emotionally and mentally healthy. Being aware of our past gives meaning to our life story. Rediscovering the passions we had as children and teenagers gives us clues that are fundamental to identifying our true ikigai.
3. Journey through the PRESENT: ISE
The Ise Grand Shrine is over two thousand years old. Should it belong to the past? The Japanese destroy this historic building every twenty years and then rebuild it. Thus, the Ise Shrine lives in an everlasting present. This tradition will help us to see how unwise it is to allow ourselves to be dragged down by the weight of the past, since we are free to decide what we want to be and do at any time. While strolling through the Ise Shrine, we will also visit temples where we will learn to draw enso circles and understand the power that Eastern disciplines like archery have to draw our spirit into the present. We shall also see how any kind of art is a marvelous tool for anchoring us in the present and helping us reach a state of flow.
This is not just a book. If you read it carefully and apply the suggestions you will find in it to your everyday life, it will take you to a place that, perhaps up until now, has only existed in your imagination.
Prepare to experience great changes and surprises as you enjoy a new landscape.
Breathe and open your mind. The journey is about to begin. Thank you for coming with us,
HÉCTOR GARCÍA & FRANCESC MIRALLES
PART ONE
A Journey Through Our Future
Tokyo 東京
The Shinkansen effect and other techniques for creating great personal projects and developing the inner discipline to see them through
Our starting point is Shinjuku Station, which is traversed by between three and four million passengers a day and is registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the busiest transport hub in the world.
Shinjuku is the epitome of what Japan is capable of achieving:
The first challenge here is managing to meet someone, since this station has over two hundred exits, and getting it wrong can be disastrous. To make things easier for ourselves we decided to meet in the New York Bar on the 52nd story of the Park Hyatt Hotel, the very place where several scenes from the movie Lost in Translation were filmed.
Our table is candlelit and encircled by a large window offering views of Tokyo’s never-ending sea of buildings. The cityscape shines and twinkles as though it would like to transform into a starry sky.
A live jazz band is playing Miles Davis.
“Here in Tokyo, don’t you get the feeling you’re in the future?” asks Francesc as he sips on his Yamazaki whiskey.
“That’s one of the reasons why I live here,” replies Héctor. “Science fiction and futuristic stuff has always appealed to me.”
“But doesn’t it get to you? Doesn’t this obsession with perfection seem a little inhuman to you?”
“Sometimes, yes, I could spend hours telling you about how smothering it is to work in such a perfectionist business environment, but I like to look on the bright side of things.”
“Tell me something positive Héctor… if you had to choose one lesson you’ve learned from Japan after living here for twelve years, what would it be?”
“Ganbarimasu!”
“Tiramisu?” Francesc laughs.
“Not tiramisu! It’s pronounced ganbarimasu and it means ‘trying your hardest to achieve an objective.’ It’s a word the Japanese use when they’re facing a challenge, whether it’s personal, or sports, or work related. Ganbarimasu means ‘never giving up,’ and that is what I admire the most about the Japanese.”
“They don’t give up even if it’s a seemingly impossible objective…that Shinkansen effect,” adds Francesc.
“For sure, having objectives that seem impossible, or setting ourselves lofty ambitions, is what activates the Shinkansen effect in us. But if we don’t combine it with the power of ganbarimasu—the continuous effort—our dreams for the future will fade away and never become reality.”
“Get ready to activate your Shinkansen effect, Héctor! On this journey, we’re going to finish this book.”
“Ganbarimasu!”
On leaving the Park Hyatt, we moved on to one of the tiny bars hidden away in the backstreets next to Shinjuku Station.
The neon lights and the constant hustle and bustle here makes it seem as though it is never nighttime. Along with Shibuya, this is one of the Tokyo neighborhoods that never sleeps. A frenzied rhythm with no allowance made for rest,