The Little Book of Lykke: white text in front of a wheat field background

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Introduction to The Little Book of Lykke

If you’re looking for a book about happiness, The Little Book of Lykke is exactly what you need! Short, sweet, and filled with cheerful stories and pictures, it’s the perfect antidote to the blues. I recently wrote about The Little Book of Hygge, a similar book by the same author (Meik Wiking). This is the perfect companion, as it extends the idea of hygge and asks the questions: how can we become happier? And what can we learn from different cultures and initiatives? I promise it’s well worth your time.

Summary

The Little Book of Lykke dives deeper into some of the topics in The Little Book of Hygge. Specifically, it examines how we can improve our wellbeing and happiness no matter where we are.

The book is structured in nine different chapters and broken up by photos and illustrations. The main chapters of the book center around six facets of happiness: togetherness, money, health, freedom, trust, and kindness. There are also chapters reviewing his methodology, some helpful background information, and a summary of ideas. Wiking then dives deep into each of these aspects, dissecting them and providing concrete examples along the way. Told with his charm, charisma, and humor, the book is an easy and useful ready about a topic that is difficult for so many to obtain.

Context

Meik Wiking is a Danish scientist and the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute. He has dedicated a significant portion of his life toward figuring out how to increase humanity’s happiness globally. As a researcher and scientist, he has gotten to travel around the world, pursuing various studies and interviewing people about this topic. This book represents a compilation of that work, also informed by Danish people’s own practices that keep them at the top of the happiness charts.

As a side note, I have (obviously) become very interested in Wiking’s work. It’s worth your time to read some of the research compiled by the Happiness Research Institute. Wiking also posts some of their publications on LinkedIn. Just the other day, there was a very interesting paper about work satisfaction. Funnily enough, I read that not too long after finishing The Burnout. Some great food for thought!

Review: The Little Book of Lykke

Just like The Little Book of Hygge, this book was a perfect embodiment of what it aimed to teach. It was cheerful, direct, and colorfully illustrated. It reviews several statistics and global case studies on happiness, but never once does it feel too academic for the average reader. Overall, I found The Little Book of Lykke to not only be a wonderful read, but also very informative and easy to apply.

As aforementioned, Wiking breaks Lykke down into six parts: togetherness, money, health, freedom, trust, and kindness. I found it to be incredibly insightful. Yes, it goes over some ideas that are obvious: you’re less happy if you’re lonely, money doesn’t mean everything, etc. However, it explores these ideas in a thought-provoking way.

One thing that I really liked about this book was that it countered the consumerist perception of the previous book (The Little Book of Hygge). I wasn’t sure why some people thought that the message of that one was that you need to buy various things to be happy. However, The Little Book of Lykke reinforces the message that it’s not about things; it’s about the ideas surrounding them and the culture you build.

When we discover that our happiness does not rest on the foundation of money, we have found true treasure.

Meik Wiking, The Little Book of Lykke

The idea of hygge is still very much present with ideas like food and fire rituals, being together, having a routine, and living in a safe and supportive environment. What stood out to me the most was how Wiking built in the idea of culture, society, mindset, and how all of these affect us.

For me, the chapter on money was perhaps the most interesting. I’m from the US and Wiking is from Denmark. The ideas about taxes, money, healthcare, savings, etc. are so different. This isn’t to debate what’s right and what’s wrong–or to simplify the beliefs of all people in a nation–but it was interesting to read about the differences between those two nations, as well as many others, and the corresponding science.

For me, his (seemingly obvious) statement that it’s not about money but rather about the lack of money was mindblowing. It’s a glass half empty/full situation. Most of us aren’t necessarily worried about having the money. We’re more worried about not having it and not being okay. That’s why we make so many of our decisions based on desperation, security, and fear, even if they lead us away from happiness. Yes, a lot of it is rooted in what we need to do to survive and to provide for ourselves and/or others. Yet it was interesting to see how that differed between countries and how it correlated with happiness.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants.

Epictetus, quoted by Meik Wiking in The Little Book of Lykke

This leads into Wiking’s discussion on the idea of freedom. Freedom, at least in the US, is often correlated with money to a degree. The more money you have, the more choices you (usually) have. Wiking poses the following question to his readers:

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life? What is certain is that having the freedom to choose what we do with our lives–feeling that we are the captain of our destiny–is linked to happiness.

Meik Wiking, The Little Book of Lykke

And isn’t he right? How many of us are stuck in a job or living situation or economic situation that we wish was different? Again, this is based partially in culture and the opportunities that we have. Whether it’s perceived or realistic “stuckness,” it explains a lot about why so many of us feel unhappy. As I read, I felt that he hit the nail right on the head.

No people can be truly happy if they do not feel that they are choosing the course of their own life.

The 2012 World Happiness Report, as quoted by Meik Wiking

Finally, Wiking transitions into the areas of trust and social connection. You’ve probably heard a million times about how loneliness kills. However, it was interesting to read about how cultures (and individuals) encourage or discourage social connection, as well as the impact that it has. Like with choice, knowing that you’ll be supported if you deviate from the “approved” path is critical to your happiness–as are equity and knowing that we belong.

After discussing this, Wiking ties it back to work culture: how does this help or hinder us? How are we going to feel if we have a micromanaging, oppressive boss? And what effect does that lack of trust have on employees? How do they carry that into their personal lives? Most importantly, how can we move ourselves to feel more empowered, more connected, and happier? He shares an example of one man who did just that:

I just got to this point where I was doing things that didn’t seem to have any kind of meaning. Commuting, working, and struggling with it. Just feeling a bit lost. I imagined myself five years down the line, doing the same thing, and had that feeling that somehow it didn’t feel right. So I quit.

The Free Help Guy, quotes by Meik Wiking

I end with that quote because I feel it summarizes the book well. So many of us are searching for something more. There’s a reason that Positive Psychology and talk about wellbeing and solutions for growing issues (here’s an article with some stats about mental health in the US) are increasing. The Little Book of Lykke describes research and a philosophy that are simple, yes, but profound at the same time. For that, I would recommend it to anyone.

Recommendations A La Carte

Conclusion

If you are remotely interested in happiness and the science behind it, I highly recommend The Little Book of Lykke. It is undoubtedly an appealing book for a bookshelf or coffee table, but what’s inside is far more valuable than the cover. If you want a pick-me-up or something to remind you to smile, this is your book. Have you read it? Let me know your thoughts!

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