For many years Sweden and other Scandinavian countries have been ranked among the happiest countries in the world. One factor contributing to these countries being happier than others, might be the presence of the Lagom lifestyle.
Living a Lagom lifestyle means to reject excess or deprivation, and aim for balance. Just as the Swedish translation of the word lagom says, "Just the right amount."
In this post, I will share five essential tips to perfect your Lagom Lifestyle.
1. Make the best of your situation.
To make your way towards a more balanced, happier life, you need to observe your current situation and decide to make the best of it.
Life is hard, and the amount of challenge we encounter constantly change. There is no running away from uncomfortable, challenging and painful situations. We all inevitably encounter them sometimes.
Therefore, you can develop a superpower if you decide to make the best of your situation, no matter the circumstances.
Walt Disney, the man behind one of the world's biggest media companies (Disney), was at a young age fired from his job at a newspaper for "not having enough imagination or creativity". With barely any money left he moved to California and started making animations in his uncle's garage.
From that situation, he managed to become a film and animation pioneer that sparked the imagination of people around the world. This can only be done when you decide to not be a victim of your circumstances, and make the best of your situation.
Practice applying this mindset in your daily life. Aim to replace your negative words and thoughts with positive ones. Replace seeing limitation with possibility, and life will become simpler, and more doors will open.
Make the best of your situation.
2. Embrace Imperfection
You have probably aimed for the unattainable goal of perfection once or twice, and failed. Or at least practiced wishful thinking that you or your life would eventually be perfect.
The thing is, life will never be free of worries and imperfections.
But deciding to embrace the incomplete, unique and imperfect, might bring you as close to perfection as you can get. The limitations and imperfections we are born with are what makes us humans. And that is also what makes life beautiful.
I have a crooked tooth, almost like a goofy vampire in my upper set of teeth and I have always disliked it. When I was younger I used to sit and try and push it in with my hand, to get a more aligned smile. Of course, that didn't work.
To my surprise, when I explained this to my partner, she told me that she had always seen that specific tooth as my best one. Even though I might not agree with her, it shows that what we believe is "perfect" may just be our own illusion.
You are imperfect, so is everyone and everything around you. And it is alright; it is natural and beautiful.
Do not strive to become something "perfect". It is simply an illusion.
Embrace the imperfections of the world.
3. Experience Comfort and Discomfort
Allowing yourself to rest, relax, and enjoy is an important part of a balanced life. But the key to a balanced, Lagom lifestyle is to voluntarily expose yourself to discomfort as well.
Breaking out of your comfort zone on a regular basis is actually a recipe for becoming happier. Ways you could do this include:
Exercise (physically)
Greet and talk with strangers (socially)
Create or share a song, painting or album (creatively)
Anything that takes you out of your comfort zone once in a while can be a healthy challenge, and to allow yourself some pleasurable rest, is much more rewarding after a challenge.
One of the best ways to challenge yourself and experience discomfort on a regular basis is exercise. Going to a gym, going for a run, a proper hike. All these things can be great challenges, and will reward us with greater health.
When I take the time and discipline needed to exercise or take a cold shower, I instantly feel a surge of energy, joy, and a sense of accomplishment. It seems to be one of the strongest medicines that acts as a quick and natural happiness pill. It also helps when we prove to ourselves that we can do hard things.
The formula for a Lagom lifestyle therefore includes:
Comfort + Discomfort = Balance
4. Spending Time With Family and Friends
Humans are born as social beings, and for thousands of years we have naturally lived in societies or tribes to help each other through life. This is just as important today as back then.
In today's society we can easily spend all of our time at home, we don't even have to leave to get food or groceries since they can be delivered. Even though we can easily stay in our own comfortable homes, we all thrive from socializing and spending some time with family and friends once in a while.
I have always spent most of my time alone, working on hobbies and projects. Even though I have always had friends nearby, I have often declined invitations and decided to stay at home.
As I have gotten a little bit older, I realize that I have to treasure and upkeep my relationships with friends and family more. The joy and love we can experience can be much more rewarding when it's shared with others.
Being able to share life experiences and hold a strong bond with a family member, partner, or friend is worth gold. If you have not seen your siblings, cousins, parents or long lost friends in a while, why not reach out and revisit that connection.
If you and your partner and have been missing out on quality time for a while, make sure that you do something fun in the near future. After all, our time here on earth passes by quickly, and we never know how long anything will last.
Investing your money into stocks is a great long term move, investing some time into friends and family will reward you much more, short and long term.
So spend some time with family and friends!
5. Spend Some Time Alone
The one person you will never be rid of, is you. You are going to accompany yourself forever, through good and bad. This is why, you should also dedicate time for yourself.
It is very rare to be alone and undistracted in the modern world. We are constantly distracted by social media, videos, texts and entertainment and rarely get to encounter our own thoughts and being undisturbed. And when we do, we are often terrified and want to escape to more distractions.
This is why we need to dedicate some time alone once in a while, with our thoughts and feelings, to feel safe within ourselves. If you are uncomfortable with being alone undistracted, a great way to start this is through meditation sessions.
Meditation can be done in various ways: guided or unguided. By sitting still in silence and focusing on your breath for a while, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes or longer.
You can also spend time alone doing your favorite hobbies or creative outlets. Music, painting, writing, blogging or whatever else might be on your list.
The key to balancing this with number four, spending time with friends and family, is to sometimes say no and spend time with yourself. It is a balancing act, and it's best for us to experience both in moderation.
So, once in a while, spend some time alone.
The Formula For a Lagom Lifestyle
Make the best of your situation
2. Embrace Imperfection
3. Experience comfort and discomfort
4. Spend time with family and friends
5. Spend time alone
The key to a Lagom lifestyle is finding the sweet spot, embracing moderation. Adopting these key principles into your life will help you live a more balanced, meaningful life.
Now this path is something you can start right here and now. Simply take a breath and decide that you will start applying these key principles into your mindset and daily life.
I hope you enjoyed this post, and that it helps you on your journey to a Lagom lifestyle. If you have any thoughts or ideas, make sure to get in contact with me or comment down below!
Take care,
Kind regards
-Axel
Opmerkingen