OMD's ABCs #271: Book Review: Hygge by Meik Wiking, Quantifiable Loyalty, Fountain Pens, Investing Journal...
Hello!
This week’s newsletter starts with Hygge. It’s a word that showcases the foundation of Danish culture to describe that feeling of snuggling up in a cozy nook, staring out at a rainy day, with a cup of coffee and a good book. Hygge is a book explaining this phenomena to give insight into Danish culture and how we can replicate the systems that foster one of the happiest people on Earth.
After the book review and notes is an essay on quantifiable and unquantifiable loyalty. It’s a thought inspired by Geoff Gannon from Focused Compounding and I wanted to muse through the loyalty difference people might have for Costco over Louis Vuitton.
Finally comes the system update. I found a fountain pen I love recently and I’m working through how to make investing something a daily muscle I train for.
The ABC’s of the OMD learning function are below. Feel free to pick and choose the segments that interest you and I hope they make you think about something you didn’t before, raise an eyebrow, or leave you satisfied.
Art: Books, Movies, Creations
Business: Investing, Systems, Work
Culture: People, Self, Observations
Art: Books, Movies, Creations
Book Review of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well — Meik Wiking
Review & Rating: To Feel Hygge / 10
This was a wonderful little book about Danish culture and the word that seems to encompass the Danish way of life: Hygge. Written by the Happiness Research Institute, I felt a sense of calm and comfort throughout the entire journey with the book.
I could feel my mind relax and feel snug and I think that was one of the draws to not put the book down. The words combined with the wonderful pictures made it quite the experience of awe and giddiness. So, even if you weren’t so curious about the Danish way of living, if you wanted a sense of peace and comfort…this might still be a worthy read.
None of these words really do justice to what I felt reading the book. That is, I felt hygge.
What is hygge? Well, Hygge is a Norwegian word meaning “well-being” from when Norway and Denmark made up the Kingdom of Denmark.
Hygge is a noun, adjective, and verb all used to explain a sense of belonging, safety, joy, comfort, coziness, hominess, etc. It’s that entire feeling one gets nestled in blankets in a reading nook that looks out the window on a rainy day surrounded by candlelight with someone they love nearby. A peace.
This is a book that gives insight into Denmark. The country where universities are free, health care is free, minimum paid vacation is 5 weeks, people with children leave work at 4 pm, and where they make Lego.
But it’s also a book that gives readers a system for creating hygge in their life. Unlike most non-fiction, this book was quite instructional. There were chapters dedicated to food recipes, suggestions for what to do, a DIY hygge kit, suggestions for interior design, where to visit in Copenhagen to experience hygge, etc…
It’s a book that’s expanded my imagination one step further with what’s possible and out there in the world. I recommend you take the step with me as well.
Book Notes:
Hygge is a Norwegian word meaning “well-being” from when Norway and Denmark made up the Kingdom of Denmark.
Hygge is a noun, adjective, and verb all used to explain a sense of belonging, safety, joy, comfort, coziness, hominess, etc. It’s that entire feeling one gets nestled in blankets in a reading nook that looks out the window on a rainy day surrounded by candlelight with someone they love nearby. A peace.
Denmark’s welfare model is one that focuses on reducing risk for its people. Taxes are seen as investing into society whereby the system can backstop extreme unhappiness. It’s an example of giving society a margin of safety.
This mindset is reflected in hygge because the word is the embodiment of a feeling that brings calm, peace, and togetherness…happiness.
Why hygge? To be happy. Actually, to limit unhappiness. To create a base of calm and relaxation. Both are required to have any remote chance of feeling happy.
Hygge is a system. Hygge is about creating happiness through social relationships, which cause more happiness. The same is applied to work and this bleeds into greater society. Hygge is seen as part of policy decisions in Denmark where the wealth of the nation is about making sure the lowest levels of society still experience happiness and feel safe, relaxed, and taken care of. This creates a trusting society that likes simple living, is humble, and prefers things that take time over the convenient and fast. It builds a society that not only sustains itself but becomes stronger.
Happiness is subjective and we are the best judge of our personal happiness. Hygge is used to give a language, objective, and method for planning and preserving happiness. Hygge is about making the most of every single day to squeeze out happiness.
“Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasure that occur every day than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom.”—Ben Franklin
Given the difficulty of explaining what is hygge, I’ll list of what constitutes as hygge:
Candles - more the better. Danes are the world’s largest consumers of candles
Lamps - hyggeligt. Again, more the better. Key is dim lighting with many lamps to light a room. Shadows and light crawling into places is hygge
Nooks - hyggekrog; the kind of reading space by the window
Blankets, pillows, sheep hide - all comfort blankets thrown over couches, beds, nooks
Open fireplace
Things made of wood
Wool socks - hyggesokker
Coffee - Kaffehygge. Danes are 4th biggest coffee drinkers in world
Cake, chocolates, pastries and sweets - not for excess consumption. moderation, Danes are 2nd in world for sweet consumption
Meat - Danes love pork and everything hearty
Time - the longer a meal takes to cook the more hygge
Presence - no phones
Small groups: 2-4 people is optimal per 77% of Danes. It’s hard to break into social groups. It may take years. But once you’re in, you’re in for life. It’s not like NYC or Toronto. They don’t fuck around with relationships here. It’s important because the ability to be yourself around people is also hygge
Quiet, meaningful conversation
Books: A home library. Reading a book with a warm drink
Board games, not video games
Christmas
Humble. slow, simple living: flashing your Rolex is frowned upon. Extravagance is anti-hygge. The more prestigious something is, the less hygge.
Casual clothes - no suits, no flashy clothes, no bling, no showing off luxury goods. Most Danes wear black. It’s a view that one doesn’t have to show-off with clothes because you’re at peace with yourself.
Staying at home: hjemmehygge. Danes have the most square metre per resident in Europe and that’s because most social gatherings are at someone’s home. They rarely eat out and hygge is achieved inside one’s house.
Bikes and walking. No cars. It doesn’t just make the entire population healthier but also brings a sense of community whenever is closer together with bikes instead of meters apart while separated by steel plates. Driving has shown to decrease trust amongst people. A healthy society is one where all the rich and important people feel safe to take public transit or cycle around the city like everyone else.
“Human beings are like children. As soon as they get new toys, they throw away their culture and the orgy starts.”—Poul Henningsen
They have different priorities. It’s not by price, product or place but by the hygge factor that many decisions are made. That’s the start, the Type 1 thinking if we used Kahneman’s model.
"Danes are obsessed with cosiness. All of them. Even the toughest leather-clad biker will recommend a bar based on its “hygge” factor.”—Lonely Planet
Throughout the book, I also got a glimpse of how hygge is prioritized in Danish culture:
Preference for organic: they are the largest consumer of organic products. That’s not just food. They don’t get candles with smells because it’s viewed as artificial. Organic is something that’s closest to its purest form with minimal human alterations it seems
Work to live: people with children leave work at 4, those without leave at 5. Staying past 5:30 or working on weekends makes one an outcast. The view is that families shouldn’t be strangers who hope to reacquaint on weekends.
Work needs to be hygge: 78% of Danes believe work too should be hygge, a kind of harmony where work too must bring out happiness
Eat at home: Most Danes don’t eat out. There are no fast food drive-thrus. Most Danes leave work early so they can prepare dinner.
Socialize at home: Most gatherings occur at someone’s home, not at a bar. The nightlife is near non-existent. All gatherings happen at someone’s house so making homes hygge are very important. It also means that social groups have to be tight-knit and one of the reasons why the barrier is higher since it means inviting someone to your home often. It’s also why Danes are obsessed with interior design since they spend most days indoors (it also rains for more than half the year).
Trust strangers: It’s hard to enter a social group. But Danes still hold the same bar of social trust for strangers and everyone. That means they don’t fear leaving a laptop at a coffee shop or leaving strollers around unlocked, etc.
Tight social relationships: 2-4 is optimal and they may last a lifetime once you make it into a group.
Duration: the longer something takes to make or cook, the more hygge. There’s an appreciation for something that takes a long time to do.
A mindset: “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.”—popular Danish saying; don’t blame what can’t be controlled. Put another way, maybe that’s why they may want to control everything they can?
Business: Investing, Systems, Work
Quantifiable & Un-Quantifiable Loyalty
Geoff Gannon from the Focused Compounding Podcast, mentioned—I’m paraphrasing here—how an unquantifiable competitive advantage showcased strong brand loyalty. From the outset, it seems almost obvious that non-quantifiable loyalties such as our emotional attachment to brands are far superior than our loyalty based on who sells something for the cheapest.
It’s not a novel concept as the intangible value of brands has been a common topic of debate for a while. Not to mention the human desire to categorize everything as black or white has led to the fool’s errand of PhDs trying to quantify such things as why someone loves a Ferrari or LV. But this brought forth a question of whether unquantifiable loyalty was indeed "better" and if that was even a question worth asking.
To start, what is quantifiable loyalty? I think of it as when a customer chooses to shop at Costco because they know they get better value. It’s why I buy most things on Amazon because I get it for cheaper than everywhere else when I factor in additional costs like search time and shipping.
On the other hand, unquantifiable loyalty might be when someone loves Coke above all else or why some car nuts obsess over Ferrari over others or why a Rolex seems to have such prestige over other luxury watch brands. It’s not just about a brand being luxurious or having prestige. Some brands just have loyalty despite not being cheaper or better value.
It’s not that price or any idea of value isn't part of the equation for such unquantifiable loyalty. The reason why someone might buy a Ferrari or a Gucci or even San Pellegrino water over other alternatives has an unquantifiable nature to what each consumer prioritizes.
It isn’t that they won’t be entirely price sensitive. But rather, the quantifiable nature (value and price) are far lower down on the priority list of why these customers are loyal to some products. The priority spot is dedicated to some emotional component like prestige, some kind of social standing, confidence, joy, nostalgia, etc.
The nostalgia is why I stay loyal to Ferrero Rocher chocolate. It definitely isn’t the best nor is value and price the major factor here. Same for Apple products. I’m too lazy to change anything. I’m in the Apple ecosystem so I’ll stay. Within the ecosystem, I’ll try to find the best value I can. But the monetary value is secondary to my priority for convenience.
Such intangible priorities have made companies like Apple, Lululemon and Louis Vuitton stand out as great luxury businesses in their primary categories (tech hardware, athleisure, leather goods). I don’t think I’m saying anything outside of the obvious here. But I don’t think these businesses are absolutely better than those that compete on the quantifiable nature of their product.
A business like Costco, GEICO, or Amazon are only as valuable as the value they provide their customers. Once their price rises above the value provided, customers will axe them. It’s a transactional relationship, no matter how much the businesses will try to make it emotional with great customer service. The only reason I use one bank or one note-taking software over others is entirely based on price. They all do the same stuff and my loyalty is because I get the best value.
But these companies know this too. That’s how they got to the size they did. They know that the value discipline and execution is paramount for their success—nay, survival. The need to constantly provide value makes them engage in the daily knife fight in a manner resembling constant paranoia.
It makes sense when their scoreboard is literally quantifiable. This forces the entire organization to be in constant ‘pressure-mode’. They can’t rest on their laurels because once they slip, it’s over. The room for error is slim and that’s why some might say this makes them weaker businesses than the luxury goods companies that rely on factors like prestige (i.e. that lack of margin of safety in execution).
But I think this tight margin for error makes such companies great businesses. That’s because the ones who want to thrive will build a culture where they’ll be razor focused on the details. It’s not a choice if they wish to survive. Wouldn’t you do the same if you knew your entire livelihood predicated on something that was measurable?
Companies that rely on intangible loyalty factors might have a harder time understanding why customers want them. Take this newsletter for instance. I have no idea why people read what I write. I just know some like it and I continue on trying to keep the single constant (i.e. me) the same.
But expand this to an entire organization that lives on a factor like prestige. How could they know exactly what breeds the loyalty and desire when most of their customers might not even know where the loyalty comes from themselves? This can give greater room for error since the connection is far more emotional. Now, this emotional nature might result in the customers being far more patient since it’s not a transactional relationship. But it’s also plausible to say this customer loyalty might switch off all of a sudden and these brands might not know why.
There is also an argument that can be made that these non-quantifiable loyalty businesses might not face the same type of pressure. I mean, of course they won’t when their business isn’t predicated on making every cent work.
Now, if we had a killer culture with exceptional execution discipline running a business that runs on unquantifiable loyalty, now that’s the holy grail. And maybe the top luxury brands of today that have shown dominance over decades are emblematic of that phenomenon. I’m just unsure how to think about that yet.
None of this was to state whether one type of business is better over another or even preferred. I started wondering if such qualitative loyalty factors should always be opted for. But I don’t think there can be such a blanketed answer. Once again, it depends to each business and what they decide to make of their situation.
Culture: People, Self, Observations
My Tools: Fountain Pens
First, come the tools. The Pilot Metropolitan fountain pens have been my go-to writing utensil for my morning journal. I bought two after losing my only one last year. But I pivoted and tried the Lamy Safaris and I’ve converted.
For anyone who writes with a pen daily or have been curious about fountain pens, I would recommend getting the Lamy Safari from your local pen store. Get the extra-fine nib, it’s not that fine.
The Lamy Safari and Pilot Metropolitan are the two beginner fountain pens often recommended. My experience is that the Safari is far sturdier. It’s the every-day rough and tumble pen for clumsy people like me. The Metropolitan looks sleek and comes with a case and the metallic case can be a little slippery. It’s also more delicate…as in I’ve had the ink leak/blow up in Toronto 30-degree Summer humidity or in the airplane. The Safari has proven to be resistant to that thus far and I can toss it in my bag no problem without needing to worry about ink blowing out.
The writing experience is slightly different for both but equally remarkable. I loved my first Safari so much that I bought a second one the week after.
A New Habit
I currently have two daily journals. I have my morning journal and my powerlifting journal. The morning journal is pen on a notebook while the powerlifting journal is in my Evernote. I also keep a separate investing journal but I’ve only logged entries opportunistically whenever a thought arose.
But I noticed I forgot to make an entry or dismissed an idea/thought far too often. The solution? To keep a daily investing journal. This means I might have days when I have nothing to write. That’s fine. It’s not about saving paper or anything, since it’s all digital. The focus is to not lose any fleeting insights and it’s far more important to force myself to think every day and recount any learnings and thoughts I’ve had and translate them to practical investing.
The question is whether to make this the end of day (i.e. late afternoon) or at night. It should be a time that will be the easiest…to guarantee the highest adherence. At the moment, I think the end of day in the late afternoon would set me up for success…more so than at night when I might get a little too tired.