According to the World Happiness Report, Finland is the "happiest country in the world" based on responses to a number of global Gallup polls. And Finland has held the top spot for several years. Frank Martela, a psychology researcher at Finland's Aalto University and author of A Wonderful Life, thinks he knows why. His claim is that "to maintain a high quality of life," there are three things people in Finland "never do." Never is a very long time, and I'm generally skeptical of societal-scale generalizations, but Martela's list does highlight several common habits that are undoubtedly worth breaking. From CNBC:
1. We don't compare ourselves to our neighbors.
There's a famous line by a Finnish poet: "Kell' onni on, se onnen kätkeköön." Roughly translated, it means: Don't compare or brag about your happiness[….]2. We don't overlook the benefits of nature.
According to a 2021 survey, 87% of Finns feel that nature is important to them because it provides them with peace of mind, energy and relaxation[…]3. We don't break the community circle of trust.
Research shows that the higher the levels of trust within a country, the happier its citizens are.
