In my position, I talk to a voice over talent community from around the world. Today I spoke with people from Egypt, England, Canada, Germany, Colombia, South Africa, the U.S., Thailand, Japan, and China. I hear things from different cultures that I never could have learned by reading books.I often wonder, ‘What country has a culture that leads them to be happier than other cultures’?
Voice talent work on a global schedule. It is a career that requires almost a surreal business schedule of ‘Anytime, anywhere, name it’. In fact, those at Voice123 do the same! You are reading this on September 10th, but I wrote this at 9pm last Friday night before Labor Day Weekend, because we were open, and love the industry. Labor Day is a holiday in my culture, but other countries may not know this. Most people I know left for vacation hours ago. Yet, I often wonder why we are the last to leave the office, work longer, we are happier, while those who live scheduled, structured lives work less hours and complain more. Personally, I do not like to see people unhappy. So...I searched for the happiest country.
In my search for the ‘Happiest Country’, I came across several different surveys, all with very different results. Most were geared towards building tourism, but there were two that appeared to be removed of selling plane tickets:
Forbes.com used a ‘life evaluation score’.
Huffingtonpost displays a study done based on positive and negative emotions.
Interesting point...Denmark:
Denmark is repeatedly in the top 3 of all surveys researched as being the 'Happiest Country' in the world. Yet, did you notice this fact?
- “Denmark is a Nordic welfare state with most of its services free to the citizens. Denmark has the worlds’ highest taxes. When buying a car for $20 000, you have to pay an additional $45 000 as taxes for the government (total of $65 000). That’s why people in Denmark ride bikes or use one of the best public transport systems in the world.”
Keep smiling!
Steven Lowell
Community Manager
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2 comments:
Thank you Steven. I now feel like a danish to go with my morning coffee:)
Greetings from the ‘Hockey-ist Country’ in the world: Canada!
Best,
Ralph
The word "welfare" has been made negative in the USA, but shouldn't a government work to ensure the personal welfare of its citizens? The statement "most of its services free to the citizens" is misleading: citizens have paid for the services through their taxes. The US emphasis on everyone having a car is a waste of resources. So, the fact that the people of Denmark are happy living in their "Welfare State" just proves that having a "Welfare State" is actually a good thing, whatever arguments the pundits make to the contrary.
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