Recently, my work community faced tragedy. In times of need, you can truly see people pull together. Our community has been kind, generous, and caring during this time—which made me think, how do we hold on to these positive attributes longer?
I turned to the country of Finland, which is one of the top-ranked countries in the United Nations World Happiness report. The three categories that seem to stand out among the Finns are:
Low social comparison
Honesty and trust
Time spent in nature
The low social comparison struck a chord with me. The first thing many of my students do when I return a test is to ask other students how they did on it. No matter how I try to discourage this behavior, the students cannot help themselves.
Honesty (more about honesty) and trust are a hallmark of Finland. When psychologists left wallets on busy streets in Finland, 90% were returned to their owners. Trust is built on small behaviors like these, and when you have a very honest community, trust is easy to build.
The Finns also like to spend their vacation time in cabins in remote places. Many of these cabins lack electricity, which promotes going to sleep when it gets dark and waking up with the sun. Besides supporting good sleep habits (do not underrate sleep), spending time in nature also provides a calmness that is good for both your physical and mental health.
The challenge for all of us is to stop comparing ourselves to each other. When we do have success, keep it low-key. Secondly, be mindful of situations that build trust. Finally, while we might not be able to go to remote places, we can unplug ourselves from our electronics for a weekend.
As always, I would love to hear your feedback.
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