Sweden is frequently ranked as one of the best, if not the best, countries to live in, based on things like overall happiness, productivity, health and overall quality of life. Now, much of this is due to things that are bigger than just the individual. We have amazing paid parental
leave, free education among other things. And clean tap water. And the best pizza in the world. And yes, Iāve been to Italy. With that being said, itās not the āperfectā country. There sure are problems here as well, just like there is everywhere else in the world. / I
do also realise that no place in the world is perfect or free of problems. Sweden isnāt perfect. Swedes arenāt perfectly happy. There are plenty of problems here too. But Iām not here to talk about the macro stuff. Letās look at the individual ā the habits and the rituals
ā that I personally think contribute to some of those statistics. Because you guys are from all over the world, and I want you to feel inspired by the end of this conversation; to feel like you can apply these things to your own life, no matter where you live.
Fƶrst tƤnkte jag att det hƤr vore den perfekta videon att gƶra pƄ svenska, fƶr jag har ju velat gƶra en video pƄ svenska sƄ lƤnge, men alltsƄ det kƤnns sƄ konstigt, jag vet inte varfƶr, sƄ vi kƶr pƄ engelska, men dƤr
iallafall. Some background about me in case youāre new: Iām Swedish. Born here. Raised here. Have lived in Stockholm for almost my entire life. Lived in the US for two years. Productivity Sweden ranks as one of the most productive countries in the world. As for how productivity is being
defined and measured in this context, I can leave a link to an article for you for further reading if youāre interested. Itās kind of a long article, one that Iām not personally super interested in, although I am interested in the key takeaways, so I just used Shortformās AI
tool to quickly summarize it. Oh you didnāt know? Yeah, you can do that and a lot more with Shortform, our sponsor for todayās video! If youāre not familiar, Shortform offers book summaries but on steroids, because you can do more than simply look up book summaries. As I mentioned,
you can use their AI tool to quickly generate high-quality summaries of articles, emails, blogs and even YouTube videos. Now, personally, I enjoy reading entire books, from beginning to end, most of the time. However, I donāt really like focusing on taking notes while reading and/or thinking too hard about
what the key points are. And so once Iāve finished reading a book, I like going to Shortform to sort of get a comprehensive overview of what Iāve read. And that way, I also remember it better. I also like doing that because within Shortform, when you go look up
a book, within the summary, they add insights to certain parts. And this is genuinely one of my favorite features. So for example, since weāre on the topic of productivity, I recently read Feel good productivity by Ali Abdaal, and then I went to look it up on Shortform. And
here, letās see, so, āAbdaalās final type of burnout, mismatch, happens when your work doesnāt line up with your interests and principles.ā And then Shortform has added a little insight, Iāll just read the first sentence, āAbdaalās advice to match what you do with what you want closely resembles the
concept of ikigai, a Japanese word that roughly translates to ālifeās purposeā. Isnāt that so cool? This is what I mean when I say itās more than just a book summary platform, like, youāre literally learning more things and being introduced to new concepts and ideas too. The final reason
for why I really like Shortform Iād like to highlight here, even though thereās more and you should really check it out yourself, is that you can simply use it for inspiration. So sometimes, Iāll be like, yeah, I want to read a book on ācommunicationā. I can simply go
to Shortform, pick the category, and many of the most popular books will pop up. And so I may randomly pick one, start reading the summary, and then Iāll kind of get an idea of what the book is about and if I think I will enjoy it, and if
I do, Iāll go and buy the book. Motion Motion, which must come from the word MOTION, means āregular physical activity to maintain your health and bodily functionsā. Basically, staying physically active, but it doesnāt need to be high-intensity like lifting weights at the gym. But rather, even low intensity
things like walking or doing work in the garden counts as motion. You guys know that I love walking; Exploring on foot is how I make sense of things. I want to feel the air and to smell the different places. Iāll walk anywhere that I can walk to, UNLESS
itās too humid outside because by the time I get to my destination my hair will be an absolute mess, and if my hair is a mess, Iāll be in a bad mood. And Iād rather have good hair. Anyway, that is one of the things that was a bit
of a culture shock when I lived in LA in the US. There werenāt nearly as many people on the streets as there were in cars; not even in popular places like Rodeo Drive. I come to think of one instance in particular that truly shocked me. I was living
near campus at UCLA, and I wanted to go to Beverly Hills, and so I thought āIāll just walk there.ā It was going to be about an hour and a half walk. And look, on one hand, that walk was so lovely. Obviously you have the amazing LA weather, the
beautiful palm trees. On the other hand, I barely saw any other people on that entire walk. The streets were so empty. The roads were not, however. There were tons of cars, people were driving so itās not like the city was empty, but the streets were so empty. Cars
were flying by, but the streets were empty, even in popular areas. That surprised me about LA. I remember wondering if I was doing something wrong or if people would think Iām being weird or if I was lost. Anyway, letās not make this conversation about LA vs Stockholm, I
just think itās interesting. Point is, if you want to embrace some of that Swedish culture, and if your city allows it, walk more! Get all the motion that you can get! Lagom The Swedish concept of Lagom (pronounced ālah-gomā) roughly translates to ānot too little, not too much, just
right. Thereās actually a couple of books on this concept, one is called āLagomā and itās written by Linnea Dunne. I read it recently and it was quite fun. I cannot tell you how often Iāll speak to an English speaking person, and theyāll ask me a question or something
and Iāll want to find a word to say ālagomā, but it feels weird to say ānot too little, not too muchā because who says that? Like when someone asks how much milk you want in your coffee, or how far away the restaurant is that weāre about to walk
to, or how much cheese youād like on your pasta. I think itās a cozy word too. Like being lagom tired is nice, you know? Like, youāre a little bit tired where youāre starting to feel a bit slower and cozy, but you still have enough energy to watch a
movie and eat a snack and get cozy. I want my home to be lagom bright. I want a lagom amount of carpets. I want my closet to be lagom big. I want to spend a lagom amount of money on my next trip. Within a satisfactory range. Fika Did
you know that Swedes are in the top three of the biggest coffee consumers in the world? Personally, Iām not at all a genuine coffee drinker ā Iāll have about 25% espresso and milk for the rest. But thatās besides the point. Fika is basically when you take a break
from doing, by having a small bite, usually something sweet like a piece of cake and a coffee. Now you might listen to this and think āsoā¦ a coffee break?ā. Yeah but not really no. Itās more than a coffee break. Itās not even about the coffee. Itās about taking
a moment, or an hour, or longer, to pause, to relax and to connect ā with yourself, your loved ones, colleagues or a book. Fika is oftentimes how we socialize here. Itās perfectly acceptable to ask someone out on a fika, or to meet up a friend that you havenāt
seen in a long time over some fika, or sometimes even going for a fika pause while youāre at work. Fika is a love language all swedes understand. Itās about unplugging, disconnecting, being present. And coffee. I mean, itās about coffee too. We donāt wear shoes inside. Can we please,
once and for all, discuss the whole wearing-your-shoes inside? Niksen (the art of doing nothing) I actually recently learned that thereās a Danish concept, or word for this. āNiksen Is the Dutch Lifestyle Concept of Doing Nothingā. Hereās what this article says that I found: āPracticing niksen could be as
simple as just hanging around, looking at your surroundings or listening to music ā āas long as itās without purpose,ā she says, and not done in order to achieve something or be productive.ā Source Think āsimply sitting in a chair or looking out of the window.ā. Whereas mindfulness is about
being present in the moment, niksen is more about carving out time to just be, even letting your mind wander rather than focusing on the details of an action. I love this. This is one of my new favorite words, and it feels very scandi. Traditions When I think of
Sweden, I think of a place where people find a reason to celebrate life. There are lots of traditions and holidays. We have midsummer for example, s a celebration of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, but it is also a celebration of life and love. And
then we have all the days where we celebrate different foods and pastries, like the day of the cinnamon bun, which is when people will meet up with a friend and stand in long lines at cafƩs to get hold of some cinnamon buns, and many of the work offices
will offer cinnamon buns to their employees. Similarly, we have the day of the semla. We have krƤftskiva, crayfish party, which is a party each year where we at lots of crayfish. Valborg. Thereās a long list of celebrations that take place, and I love that. I think traditions creates
togetherness. And I think no matter where you are in the world, you can absolutely find reasons to celebrate life, and I think Swedes prove that it can be something small, simple, and seemingly silly, like cinnamon buns.
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