When was the last time you day-dreamed? 

 

Do you know what daydreaming is? It’s when you’re in a state of nothing-ness. So, whilst you’re losing yourself in your inner world, the brain has time to rest and file your memories; de-stress and relax, and as a result conserve energy. Daydreaming is now a simple lost luxury – like an antiquity of a culture before. If we can’t habitually slow down and be consciously present, allowing our brain to encode our memories throughout the day, rest, and repair – how can we expect to know how to communicate effectively, manage a stressful situation, and exude self-confidence, which requires us to draw on past experiences and learned behaviour? And with this, by not truly living by our values – our purpose and our intentional legacy that comes from within – we can’t be conscious in our decision-making, way of living, or feel self-confident about an aspect of our life that we don’t fully own for ourselves. Can we?

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We are all high achievers with ambition in this community; and most of you suffer with imposter syndrome at some point in your careers. We treat it as the norm. You reinforce a mindset that's stops you from acknowledging your wins, your strengths, and key contributions in the workplace. Instead, you only focus on the mistakes and the next big challenge to go after for the next rush of adrenaline - we are so worried about what other people think about us (cue assumption of ego and arrogance...).

 

Over time, we have evolved into humans living in a state of out-of-body-experiences bouncing from internal to external pressures like a never-ending game of ping-pong – battling with the inner critic and our negative mindset, then facing societal pressures to conform. If we could just relieve some of that pressure through more conscious living and taking responsibility for our personal wellbeing, would it create more space and time for us to be present? And would it also break the delusional bubble that we don’t have enough time. This programme required less than 1% of your time or 5-10 minutes to engage in habits, actions and behaviour that can make you joyful, stronger, mindful, resilient, confident etc.positively impacting your self-esteem, self-worth and confidence. Did you make it? 

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Our findings have shown that our mindset is essentially living in the future or the past; that we haven’t noticed something to be grateful for today; we may have experienced something pleasurable in the last seven days and we can’t express our needs to people in the moment, especially within the realms of our personal boundaries. So chances are… you’re not a daydreamer, but I invite you to be! 

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Let’s start discovering and appreciating the simple things in life to unlock more happiness. Can we learn more about what happiness is and how it impacts our lifetime, so we can have more control over our happiness fate? Let’s take a general look at what happiness means in our current world, and if simplicity really is a part of the happiness equation.

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Your lifetime happiness level is a U-shape

• Some studies indicate that happiness follows a U-shaped curve, with the lowest point occurring in midlife in your 40s, with your happiness rebounding at around 50, gradually increasing into your later life. Hence the term, “midlife-crisis” is real!

• The U-shaped happiness pattern was consistent across cultures and countries, as found in a study by Blanchflower and Oswald (2008) analysing data from over 80 countries.

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Your lifetime happiness in numbers 

There’s some key stats which might be of interest to you. Here’s some of them:

• According to Quartz, earning $127,000 or €117,000 is the key figure to unlocking ultimate happiness in 2023. Anything beyond that doesn’t increase your happiness.

• Finland, for the 6th time, is once again ranked the happiest country in the world by the World Happiness Report.

• According to a Gallup report in 2022, only 14% of the European population are engaged at work compared to 33% of citizens of the US and Canada.

• You’re likely to feel your unhappiest in your 40s, peaking unhappy at 47.2 according to a 2020 study.

• In 2022, the Happiness Index average was 5.54 points based on 134 countries. The highest value was in Finland: 7.8 points and the lowest value was in Afghanistan: 1.86 points. Other countries include the US: ranked 16th with 6.89; Spain: 31st with 6.44 and Japan: 46th with 6.13.

 

So, what’s Finland doing right for happiness?

Cooperation not comparison.

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Let’s look at 5 key factors I’ve identified that make Finns happy:  

1. Outlook: In 2018, 60% of Finns have a positive or very positive attitude towards cooperation with 90% of Finns participating in a co-operative. This co-operative outlook spans across all aspects of Finnish life.

2. Education: According to educationalists, early school pressurises students and can harm their mental health. So, The Finns’ schooling system starts at 7, much later in comparison to other countries; they don’t get much, if any homework; they have fewer tests; special children (23%) attend the same school with additional staff; and the mantra for schooling is no competition, only cooperation.

3. Simplicity: Finns benefit from the cleanest air and purest waters in the world; they are connected to nature and love hiking in the woods, exploring nature trails and camping under the stars; and foraging for wild food sources which they enjoy fresh and in a sustainable way.

4. Safety: Infrastructure is set up, public services run smoothly, there’s low levels of crime and corruption and there’s an earned trust between the government and the public. This all contributes to a well-functioning society and cultivates a culture where everyone looks out for the safety and interests of others.

5. Social Connection: The Finnish way of life is centred around the 3 million saunas for their 5 million population. The Finnish sauna culture is based on valuing custom and wellbeing and is integral to the Finnish culture of happiness. It ties into time spent by the 188,000 lakes available and bringing people together in the same space. The combination of saunas and lakes also means there’s plenty of space for people to sweat out the negative!

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Signing off this instalment of our journey to more happiness!

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I invite you to look closely at what your life consists of, day by day, and reflect on how simplicity could positively impact your life. Here’s what the Happiness ROI Programme was inviting you to do, simply, which you may have missed…

• Integrate mindfulness to disrupt stress building up, whilst also bringing you more focus

• Boost your mood by engaging in a short activity, or even moments, that are fun and pleasurable

• Relieve pressure and anxiety of the unknown, by reminding yourself of all that you have right now

• Reprogramme your outlook to a more supportive mindset and attitude every time you challenge an unserving thought/ behaviour/ action (internal or external) to respond to it differently.

• Trust the facts and the evidence. Treat fiction as fraud and the self-destructive path.

• Cultivate higher levels of self-kindness as the foundation of your wellbeing.