Some thoughts about happiness and entrepreneurship

Shared happiness is double happiness

It was at the end of 2020 when I had a beautiful and happy encounter. We had a visitor from Paris, a French journalist, who wanted to understand the secret of Finnish Happiness. I was asked to take her to a forest walk and tell my thoughts about happiness based on nature. You can read more about this visit here: Nature based happiness

Voit lukea tämän artikkelin suomeksi täältä: Oletko sinä onnellinen, kysyy hymyilevä yrittäjä

The weather was not very nice, but in fact, we often remember better the events when the beautiful is accompanied by a small adversity – like wet sleet in this case. Perfection is rarely a memorable experience. We usually also want to share the happiest moments with others and so was the thing in the case of organizing the event to the French journalist. I invited other colleagues to make this opportunity a special moment. That day wouldn’t have been nearly as beautiful and important to me if I hadn’t shared it with others – shared pleasure is double pleasure. Thank you Jonna (Metsänautti), Risto (Adventuristo) and Ullis ( Ullis Travel Studio)!

What makes you happy – do you agree with the PERMA -test?

Yale University has launched very popular online course known around the world called PERMA -test. It promises to tell us what the secret of happiness is. The name of the test comes from words Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Achievement.

It´s easy to agree that gratitude and the importance of not comparing ourselves to others is some of the basic factors. I have put it into practice by keeping a gratitude diary and making inner speech more merciful to myself for some years now and I feel more happy.

Kindness was mentioned as an important indicator which unites happy people. It´s easy to agree that being kind and helping others in unselfish way make us feel profoundly happy. I think that gratitude and kindness are related also to equality and non-discrimination. I have written an other article with such thoughts here: Thoughts from the happiest country in the world…

Capability to concentrate is related to engagement and achievement. As it was said in the article about happiness, we can improve our own ability to concentrate: all you have to do is meditate. Good news for many of us is that we don’t have to do any formal meditation practice according to complex rules; we can just stare out of the window or focus on our breathing.  (HS 25.12.2020 Hyvän mielen…)

Does freedom make you happy?

A Finnish philosopher, Timo Airaksinen, was asked to define happiness and answered as following (03/2021):

”If you look at people, they are looking for everything but happiness: success and a better job, a more expensive car and housing. Happiness is such an abstract concept that I would replace it with contentment”

The philosopher considers such values as goodness, truth and beauty to be quite fine when defining happiness, but unnecessarily solemn. According to Airaksinen, freedom is the most important human value. He told that his unconscious goal during the whole life was freedom and refers to free movement both in thought and physically.

Writing books, traveling – everything has been an endeavor away from normal everyday life and society for him. He also told that the purpose of life is to become as one is, to realize oneself; to become externally similar to what is internally.

Could this be a good goal and promise for all of us, not only a New Year´s promise but a lifelong goal.

Acting for better future can make us happy

Freedom makes me happy, not only in my private life but also in professional path. Starting my own business allowed me the freedom and opportunity to act according to my own values. I am grateful but I don´t want to take freedom as granted as not everyone in this world has freedom to make choices.

I am well aware that I cannot save the world from injustice or environmental problems alone, but I can do my part and make an impact with others. The best thing that happened to me in 2021 was to find like-minded people who still taught me so much new.

I attended three Regenerative Tourism courses, two of them organized by a Chilean company called Turismo Regenerativo and the third one organized by a Spanish company RegenLab. I’m still on the path to new learning in transformative way.

I got very inspired and almost confused about how life really leads to just the right people, at just the right moment. Life is really like a puzzle whose missing pieces can be found even when you don’t even know what you’re really looking for.

My special thanks this year go to Carlos Briseño, Martín Araneda (Turismo Regenerativo), Amanda Selivon (Ekoways), Anna Pollock, Anna Drozdowska, Anna Rinteinen and Nani Angulo for your genuine support and a desire to work together. Looking forward to continue to do fair and beautiful things together next year. I am honestly grateful and touched.

Freedom to find your own way to act brings happiness

Mood of Finland company has its fourth anniversary the 1st of January 2022. Now I can reveal one secret. When I started a business and made a business plan for a grant application, I got frustrated with the ready-made forms and excels although I also led students to make the same plans as part of their studies.

I have read books and studies about transmodern entrepreneurship and caring economy while finishing my Master thesis some years earlier and wanted to establish my company based on such values. I shared opinions with my Spanish friends and they supported me, but I didn´t find same-liked entrepreneurs in Finland. My plans were difficult to enter into excels.

Transmodern entrepreneurship and new tools

Then I somehow and luckily ended up in a meeting of Transformative Entrepreneurship led by Sampsa Fabritius in Helsinki. I was faced with an opportunity and a situation that strengthened my belief that there was another kind of entrepreneurship. During the meeting we were asked to write down our business idea using the Ikigai tool. It was something I needed at that moment.

Couple of weeks ago, in one of the Regenerative Tourism courses, I was asked to write down my plans again using the same tool. It is a simple method but leads to important basic values of life. It forces you to think about big things and write them down in a small space.

Now I have to make another confession; Ikigai also feels too schematic and instructive on its own and I have taken the liberty of making my own business plans by combining the methods and tools available. I am learning to use another new tool called Regenerative Flow Map and will be happy to share my experiences for others as well. Combining many methods and doctrines is what I call freedom and makes me happy now when facing the upcoming year.

Operating in a different way does not mean economically unprofitable entrepreneurship, because no business can and should continue unless it is financially viable and sustainable.

I wish happiness to all

The turn of the year, as well as the celebration of the summer solstice, have been and still are a time of magic and beliefs also here in the northernmost part of Europe.

With a loud bang, evil spirits have been harassed and happiness has been foretold and assured in various ways. It was also believed that there is only certain amount of happiness and it is only enough for some. Next year’s happiness was divided into pieces and was given at the turn of the new year. Attempts was made to ensure one´s own share of happiness, for example, by visiting as many places as possible on New Year’s Eve and staying high-spirited all day long. Believe whoever wants to – I hope there is unlimited amount of happiness and it will be shared in fair way – all the year round.

I continue the tradition I have experienced and enjoyed when living in Spain. I’ve modified it a bit so that instead of wishing, I express my gratitude. Every year I eat 12 grapes to the beat of the clock at midnight, and I thank in advance for 12 good things in my life happening next year.

Hope you all the best for 2022!

Thank you for following my blog.

With love, Anu

Finally, I will share a video in which I share the background behind Mood of Finland company in English:

Aquí les comparto un video en el que comparto el trasfondo detrás de Mood of Finland, en Español: