For the seventh year in a row, Finland has been found to be the happiest country on Earth. What makes it that way? DW finds out why.
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00:00Finland has been declared the happiest country in the world for the seventh time in a row.
00:04What makes the Finns so happy?
00:06Saunas. The saunas make people happy.
00:08So people are nice and kind and they help each other.
00:11I think that's our like strength.
00:13You're safe to live here.
00:14Finnish people are just kind of casual and they don't take things so seriously maybe.
00:20What is so special about Finnish lifestyle?
00:22It's called sisu.
00:23It's sisu.
00:24Sisu.
00:25What is sisu?
00:27What does it have to do with Finnish happiness?
00:29And what can we learn from the Finns in order to live a happier life?
00:33I traveled to the Finnish capital of Helsinki to find out.
00:38Around five and a half million people live in Finland in the north of Europe.
00:42The country is known for its many lakes and forests, sauna culture, the northern lights,
00:48and a very long winter.
00:51Finland tops the list of the world happiness report 2024,
00:54while my country Germany is only ranked 24th, just behind the US on 23.
01:00It seems my happiness could use a boost.
01:03That's why I'm meeting three happiness ambassadors.
01:06They were hired by the Finnish Tourism Board Visit Finland for a PR campaign.
01:10I'm interested in learning more about Finnish happiness from them.
01:14My first mentor of the day is Lena Salmi.
01:17Hi, I'm Lena.
01:19The former sports journalist is still very active at the age of 71.
01:23Besides swimming and bouldering, she's passionate about skateboarding,
01:27something she discovered in her early 60s.
01:30Can skateboarding make me happy too?
01:33I used to skateboard as a teenager, but Lena is reminding me of the basics again.
01:39I'm also learning a few new tricks.
01:44So what's Lena's recipe for a happy life?
01:48Don't think what the other thinks.
01:51Just do things you are interested in to do.
01:54And if it doesn't work, who cares?
01:58Try another one.
01:59But don't, especially when you're a little bit older,
02:04don't stay at your home sitting on sofa.
02:08Go out.
02:09Go out.
02:11The United Nations world happiness report uses interviews
02:15to determine how happy people are in different countries.
02:18General life circumstances as well as positive and negative emotions
02:23are decisive for the ranking.
02:27Finland scores particularly well for its good living conditions.
02:30Most Finns have a decent income and benefit from a strong social system,
02:34high degrees of freedom and little corruption.
02:37Furthermore, there's a high level of trust in institutions and the government.
02:43Let's see if Finnish design can make me happy.
02:46I'm on my way to meet happiness ambassador number two, Tero Kuitunen.
02:52Art was never my strong suit at school,
02:54but as I learned from Lena, it's mainly about having fun.
02:59Okay, Tero, what are we about to do now?
03:01We are actually going to do this ceramic sausages.
03:03So that's one of my kind of most popular product.
03:06Okay, I got to warn you, I'm a little bit clumsy.
03:10Don't worry, I think we will survive.
03:12Tero is one of a total of five Finnish happiness ambassadors,
03:16so-called happiness hackers.
03:18They're supposed to give insights into the Finnish lifestyle,
03:21each of them in their own profession.
03:26Design is highly valued in Finland.
03:28For Tero, his work as a designer is about more than just aesthetics and functionality.
03:36What I love in ceramic also is kind of meditative.
03:38So you really like to meditate.
03:40It's kind of meditative.
03:41So you really like just focus on it and you don't think anything else.
03:44You are not online, you are not like looking the news or thinking what is happening.
03:50You're just focusing the one thing that you're doing with your hands,
03:54manufacturing things.
03:55And also like it can be baking, it can be like knitting, making food.
03:59And you actually make something that from the start to the end
04:03and get the kind of final product.
04:05So I think that's something very fulfilling
04:08and something that makes me happy at least.
04:17Maybe it's down to one aspect of the Finnish mentality
04:20that is key to their happiness.
04:23It's called sisu.
04:24To quote Mika Häkkinen,
04:26it's basically having the **** to go fast in a corner.
04:30It's just like the mentality to kind of get through things, whatever happens.
04:34Like an attitude that you are not going to give up,
04:38but you just keep going and good things will come.
04:41I hope good things await me at my last stop of the day.
04:45I'm meeting up with happiness hacker number three,
04:47chef Luka Balac.
04:54He runs three restaurants in Helsinki with two business partners.
04:57Besides good food, they focus on sustainability and a zero waste approach.
05:02Like here in the Elm restaurant.
05:04It offers Mediterranean and seasonal cuisine.
05:08And how can he make people happy as a chef?
05:11Cooking for me means bringing families together
05:14or people that you like around one table.
05:18And that means generating happy memories together.
05:22So definitely food has a high impact on happiness.
05:31At the end of the day,
05:33at the end of the day,
05:34happiness is very subjective and can be found in many different ways.
05:38As I learned today, staying true to yourself, pursuing your passions
05:42and sharing good moments with others are some of the keys to a happy life.