17 Dec 2025 · 6 min
Brian Johnson explains ikigai, the Japanese concept of your reason for getting up in the morning, and why people in Okinawa's blue zones live longer because they have one. He contrasts it with Western retirement, which didn't exist until Bismarck invented it in 1889, and shares his own ikigai: to help you optimize.
You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More wisdom in less time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another micro class. This one's on Ikiguys. It's inspired by the Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha. Icky guys. That's how you pronounce ikigai, a Japanese word which basically means your reason for getting up in the morning. Getting up in a.m. you're icky guy. Why is it relevant? Well, because in Okinawa, part of the island is home to some of the longest lived people on the planet who live on average 7 healthy years longer than the average American. Right? So in the blue zones, which I need to cover soon, they talk about this fact and they identify one of the factors that they believe leads to their longevity. They also have the most people over 100 years old. Pretty amazing stuff. And Neil says, hey, what do you think Okinawan people call retirement? What's the word they use for retirement? And he says, drum roll. They don't have a word for retirement. And there's a big reason. That's one of the big reasons why they live as long as they live. They have a reason for getting up in the morning, an icky guy throughout their life, which leads to both longevity and more vitality in the near term. And Neil goes off on retirement and. And how it's a very modern creation, right? Otto von Bismarck in 18, when was it? 89. He arbitrarily decided to create retirement. If you were 65 years old, you needed to retire to free up jobs for younger individuals. Right. In Germany, 1889, yeah. What was the average life expectancy in 1889? 67 years old. So it was 65. And at the time, you know, 67 was the lifespan. Right. And then in the 20th century, more countries started adopting retirement. They took his arbitrary 65. It had no basis in anything other than it's kind of close to 67. And now we, after being marketed to people, had to spend a ton of money to convince us that leisure was awesome, that work kind of sucked, and that retirement was what we should look forward to as we get older. Again, Okinawa, Ikigai. Ikigai, rather, they don't even have retirement. But we got conditioned to believe that retirement was what it was all about. Whole nother conversation. Retirement, if we're interested in longevity and we're interested in vitality through our lifespan, is a horrible idea. We want to have a strong, powerful reason for getting up in the morning. And our work tends to be one of the most powerful. So what's Your icky guy. What's your reason for getting up in the morning? Neil created little cards for him and his wife. His wife's ikigai card says something along the lines of to turn young minds into future leaders. That's her icky guy. That's her reason for getting up in the morning. His was to remind himself and others how lucky we are to be alive. That's cool. And then he had another one when he was writing the book. Oops. There you go. To finish the book was a Zeke guy, right? What's your icky guy? My icky guy is to help you optimize. Help you optimize. As I create the greatest collection of wisdom I possibly can. Now that's pretty exciting for me. That's a strong reason for getting up in the morning. I get out of bed, I high five my icky guy, and I get to work. We need to create your icky guy. What's your reason for getting up in the morning? And know that it can shift and it should shift. You're not going to have one icky guy for the rest of your life, but you need to have one for tomorrow morning. What's firing you up? High five your Ikey guy. Have another awesome day. See ya. Hi, this is Brian. I hope you enjoyed that micro class. If so, I think you'll enjoy everything else we offer at BrianJohnson. Me two basic things. One, our free newsletter. It's called the Optimizer. Over 50,000 people start their day with it and they tell us it's pretty awesome. And two, our Optimal Living membership program. This is where I put all my best stuff. Ten bucks a month for a ton of wisdom. Two primary things in there, philosopher's notes plus optimal living 101 classes. When you sign up, you'll get instant access to 250 philosopher's notes, which are basically six page PDFs and 20 minute MP3s where I capture my favorite big ideas from great books. The PNTV episodes are kind of a mini version of all that goodness. You'll also get instant access to all my optimal living classes. This is where I take all the ideas we cover in the Philosopher's Notes and boil it down to the most practical stuff you can apply today. Classes include Confidence 101, Getting Stuff Done 101, Relationships 101, Habits 101, et cetera. You'll also get access to what we call micro classes that I think you'll love. We aim to astonish and we're blessed to have thousands of members telling us we're helping them change their lives and that this is the best 10 bucks they invest in themselves every month. Go to BrianJohnson ME membership to learn more. Thanks for your support and have an awesome day.
