I tried Denmark’s No. 1 secret to happiness for a year. It truly changed my life—and even made me more confident
For over four years, I’ve been a professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Before that, I worked in the corporate world at organizations like Coca-Cola and IBM.
Recently, for work, I went to Denmark, one of the world’s happiest countries, to teach a course called “Happiness Blueprint.” While there, I discovered what many had learned before me: Hobbies are integral to life in Denmark.
From cycling to sewing, I watched Danes find joy in the everyday outside of work. When I returned to the U.S., I thought hobbies could be the answer to help me take a break from my Type-A brain. Last year, I decided to put that theory to the test.
I ended up trying 17 hobbies over the course of one year — baking, cold plunging, collage-making, embroidery, golf, home DIY, horseback riding, jewelry making, mahjong, ornament making, painting, pickleball, pottery, rock climbing, sewing, tennis, and woodworking.
I came away from my experiment, stronger, braver, and more confident. After a year, I was fundamentally changed. Here’s how:
doomscrolling on a second screen.
When your hands are covered in flour, holding a paintbrush, or gripping a climbing wall, your phone is simply unavailable. I realized I had more agency and less stress when I was putting my energy towards learning new skills, rather than getting pulled under by an algorithm on social media.
baking was the furthest thing from work. It helped her decompress from the grind of being a student.
Indeed, I also found baking to be methodical and soothing. The activity was quiet in a way that my family dinner prep was not, and my efforts led to a delicious treat at the end.
Once I thought about hobbies in this light, I understood that home DIY was a hobby for me, but it was work for others. If you do something consistently and find joy in it, go ahead and call it a hobby!
your brain, one hobby for creativity, and one hobby to keep you in shape. For me that became mahjong, home DIY, and tennis.
loneliness epidemic. But I’ll tell you who isn’t lonely: the hobbyists I met through my experiment.
When I was invited to try horseback riding, I saw how tightly knit the barn community was. What struck me was people of all ages were brought together by their love of horses. When I spent time with rock-climbers, I heard how they swapped route info so other climbers could be successful.
Each group of hobbyists has a community and they are actively forming relationships and identities outside of work. My tennis team has about 20 moms. We have something like 53 children under the age of 13 between us.
Being with my teammates is always a reminder that I do have the time to pursue my hobbies.
