Get rid

A lesson from Ikigai that stayed with me was: Get rid of the things that make you fragile. This lesson does not sound easy at all. It is difficult to implement in the daily life. This is one lesson I believe we would not be able to implement to 100%. Yet I have found ways to implement the learnings to a certain extent.

One of the things that was making me fragile was junk food. Though I would mostly eat home cooked meals, sometimes I would eat unhealthy junk foods too. I have observed that confectioneries were making me nauseous; oily foods were causing digestive problems; foods laden with cheese and breads too were not agreeing well with me. I concluded that these were making me fragile. I decided to cut them from my intake. I saw the results almost instantly. Not only that I have been eating nutrient rich food, but also my expenses towards eating out went down significantly.

Second thing that was making me weak was my home loan. It was holding me back in a job that had been affecting me. I had a clear vision in my mind to clear off the loan as soon as possible. With help of my financial advisors, I was able to pay off the loan in 7 years. I felt stronger after it had been paid off.

Ikigai suggested that we should not spend on things and experiences we do not enjoy. While thinking about it, I found out a lot of activities that I was doing because my group was doing and I did not want to be a spoil sport. These activities were not helping me grow. They were not adding any value to my life. I stopped doing them. It did create a bit of friction but I felt that I was being myself when I stayed away from them.

One aspect that I am still working on is removing toxic people from life. We all know how toxic people drain the energy. Yet it is difficult to get rid of them. We cannot disconnect from a toxic colleague who works with us everyday, a toxic supervisor, or a toxic relative. But we should try to add and enforce boundaries. They will protect us.

Ikigai helped me to remove a lot of unnecessary things and activities from my life. I would not say that I was able to implement it in my life to a complete extent. But the changes that I had made in my life were significant. The results that arose from these changes were visible. The positive outcomes helped me to realise that how necessary these changes were and how positively they affected me.

Ikigai helped me understand that a successful life requires discipline and action plans. It helped me understand that a sound and peaceful mind is the key to success. It helped me to see that there will always be a room for improvement. The improvement needs to be seen and acted upon for the success. Without Ikigai I had not been able to see these opportunities and turn them in my favour.

I hope these chapters would help and inspire you to progress in your life by making small changes.

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