Ikigai is a Japanese word that has no exact equivalent in European languages. Concepts such as the meaning of life, the search for one’s purpose, or the reason for living correspond to it most closely. There are many books on this subject for adults, but still very few for teenagers, even though it is precisely during adolescence that such information is sorely needed.
The authors of the book invite readers to imagine the search for ikigai as a bike ride. As they ride through beautiful places, they introduce us to different people, each of whom tells their life story. One of the characters earned a ton of money in their life but remained lonely. Another, conversely, always did what they loved but is now poor. A third reached the heights but was of no use to society. But is it possible to love your work, be excellent at it, earn good money, and be useful? Yes, but to do that, you need to start working now. Furthermore, it is crucial to enjoy your work—this is the key point, because not only the result is important, but every single day we spend on this journey.
This book touches on both philosophical questions (about human purpose, happiness, and freedom of choice) and gives very concrete, practical advice, for example, on how to organize oneself, and how many hours (100, 1,000, 10,000) one needs to dedicate to any given activity to reach a new level.
The book offers a multitude of ideas that might seem obvious to adults, but how long did we adults actually take to understand this? Wouldn't it have been better if we had been warned right away that:
- A passion is not discovered suddenly, and besides, it is not at all necessary to choose one single career for the rest of your life. You can and should try different options and make mistakes while looking for that one special thing
- Interesting solutions are found at the intersection of disciplines. For example, you don't necessarily have to be a great football player to connect your life to football—you could become a sports journalist
- And what about this option: not looking for the meaning of life at all, but creating it yourself?..
Wouldn't it have been nice to learn about this at 14, rather than figuring it out at 30 or 40, when much has already been lost irrevocably? Well, let our children have no reason to sigh sadly a few decades from now: "Oh, why didn't anyone tell me about this sooner?"
"Ikigai for Young Travelers Through Life" for teenagers 12–18 years old.
Leave a comment