A comprehensive guide to the Finnish attitude of courage and determination in the face of adversity.
Discover the Finnish quality of sisu and how cultivating it can help you lead a life of greater purpose and happiness.
This ancient Finnish word describes an attitude of courage, resilience, grit, tenacity and perseverance. This key psychological competence enables extraordinary action in times of adversity. To have sisu confers a further dimension of doing so with honesty, integrity and humility.
By cultivating sisu you can:
Sisu is a universal trait. It may have been bottled and labelled by the Finns, but it is within reach of everyone. It lies within you, and you are very likely to have used it already.
Joanna Nylund was born and raised in Finland, where she started her writing career doing music reviews for a local magazine at age 15. After studying English literature at university and living in the UK for a few years, she has been working as a translator, journalist, copywriter and photographer. She resides in Helsinki with her husband.
Aside from writing for Finnish newspapers and magazines on topics of culture, literature and history, Joanna is a regular contributor to ThisIsFinland, the Finnish Foreign Ministry's portal on all things Finnish, and SCAN Magazine. She has to rustle up a bit more sisu whenever cold autumn winds begin beating the Helsinki shoreline where she goes running, but secretly enjoys the challenge.
Find out more about Joanna on Instagram @joannaulfsdotter, Facebook @joanna.nylund or her website and blog at www.joannaulfsdotter.com.