The latest World Happiness Report is out and the country I call home, Switzerland, is number one for happiness. I didn’t get a chance to read it the day it came out because I was too busy yodeling, eating chocolate and skiing down the alps to have time to read.
Okay, I was eating chocolate, but I don’t ski and I wish I could yodel, but, alas, it’s not my talent. None of those things were taken into consideration in the report either. Instead, the factors that are used to determine happiness are as follows:
- Income.
- Healthy years of life expectancy.
- Availability of social support.
- Generosity (i.e. how many people have donated to charity in the last month).
- Perceptions of corruption in government and business.
- Individuals’ perceptions of their personal freedoms.
I’m not sure how this translates directly into happiness, but we’ll use their terminology and assume that these things really do indicate happiness. How can you increase all of these in your own life without packing up and moving? (Although, if you choose to pursue life in Switzerland, you’ll find a robust international community so you’ll fit right in.)
To keep reading, click here: How to Be as Happy as a Swiss Person Without Moving Across the Globe
I think that this is a topic that should be explored more in the HR community. I think that the Swiss do an excelent job of doing benefits, but they do not have as much friction in deciding where to allocate extra resources because their earning per capita is so high.
Switzerland has some unique cultural things going on that would be very difficult to adopt in other countries. Nevertheless, I enjoy living here.