Why are we wishing you an 80% summer?

Reading time: 6 min

By Alice Alessandri and Alberto Aleo

We’re sitting at a small table outside a café along the shore of the Baltic Sea. It’s a cool yet sunny day, and we aren’t alone, but there are very few people around us. We’re here partly to work and partly to unwind. We’ve had a simple meal after which one might still feel a little peckish, but it has left us feeling light. It feels like a perfect moment, without any extremes, suspended in a rare state of balance. However, precisely because it lacks a sense of climax, it doesn’t feel like a moment that needs to be represented, photographed, shared, or posted on social media. It describes a moment of peace that won’t make the headlines: a moment simply meant to be lived.

During our time in Sweden, we’ve come to realise that true well-being arises from moments like these: not worthy of a photograph, but very personal. To experience them, we need to stay away from extremes, take our foot off the pedal, let things flow without anxiously trying to seize everything immediately. That’s why we want to wish you a moderate summer, or as our title suggests, an “80% summer”. In this article, we’ll share a few tips on how to experience summer with more balance and, therefore, more intensely. 

The 80/20 rule as a philosophy of life.

We are certain that many of you, while scrolling through the social feeds of friends and acquaintances, have felt at least once that others are having much more fun than usual these days. Summer, in particular, is the season of what we might call “Extreme Posting”, i.e., the time when everyone feels entitled to be depicted holding a drink, surrounded by beautiful people who are celebrating, against backdrops worthy of the best travel brochures.

Always being at 100% seems to be an imperative in this day and age, but in the 19th century, Wilfredo Pareto had already discovered that you can achieve 80% of the result with 20% of your efforts and that for those stubborn enough to reach that elusive 100%, you need four times as much energy. Is it really worth it?

Picture yourself sipping your favourite drink on your balcony, listening to a song you love. You may have already reached such a high level of well-being that trying to go beyond that might not be worth the extra effort. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not advocating laziness. This is an invitation to appreciate what is already there, without focusing on what is missing, which in many cases is far less significant than it seems at first glance.

The secret to applying the Pareto Principle to our lives is truly identifying the 20% of activities that reward us with 80% of our well-being. Be it an ice-cold soda, the presence of someone we love, or a ride on a Vespa through the hills, what matters is knowing what our personal “wellness drivers” are and which things we can, ultimately, do without.

The Swedish formula for well-being.

Anyone who knows us is aware of our admiration for Scandinavian people, and Sweden in particular. Their philosophy of life is built around a constant search for balance between personal fulfilment and the well-being of those around them. At the core of this concept is the idea that you cannot truly be happy in a context where others and the environment aren’t enjoying a comparable level of well-being.

Think about it: how can you fully enjoy a great ice cream if you’re surrounded by the discarded wrappers of the people who ate it before you?

That’s why, even while you’re experiencing moments of pleasure, you have to think about others as well. It’s not just a matter of foresight. It’s about broadening your perspective and asking yourself whether your actions today might have unintended consequences over time and within the network of relationships you are part of, placing a heavy burden on our future well-being.

The Swedes have developed a natural ability to balance personal interest with common good, knowing where to stop so as to not negatively impact what surrounds them. In their philosophy of life, there’s always a “share” left behind for whoever comes next, almost like a tithe set aside for others so that well-being can circulate and regenerate naturally. That’s why in Sweden, you’ll almost never see anyone take the last bite from a buffet before making sure that everyone else has been served or occupy the last available chair if others are still standing. Depleted resources must first be replenished before individual needs are satisfied.

So the next time you find yourself staring at a delicious dessert or in a situation where it would be easy to take everything for yourself right away, stop, take a deep breath, and remember to leave something behind for others or even for your future self. In doing so, you enhance pleasure through sharing and feed your future desire for more. Well-being and pleasure are more intense when free from greed. 

A secret hidden in plain sight: reciprocity as a formula for well-being.

Everything we’ve said so far makes even more sense when viewed through the lens of reciprocity. We’ve written and spoken about it so often that some of you might be tired of hearing it, but reciprocity truly is the fundamental moral principle we feel compelled to advocate. It is the law that underpins not only well-being, but also success and every positive thing that happens in our lives.

Focusing exclusively on what we can gain from a season such as summer, from situations and from the people we meet, making use of every opportunity for maximum personal gain is not only ethically questionable, but also ineffective in terms of results. It may seem counterintuitive, but if you want to increase your chances of getting something, the best way to start is by asking yourself what you can offer. Even the most self-centred and individualistic among us will discover that by adopting this perspective, their exchange strategy will be more convincing and effective. Moreover, an altruistic attitude activates the gratitude mechanism, a powerful way to trigger endorphins, the hormones associated with joy.

Our advice, however, is to go even beyond this perspective: tip the balance between giving and receiving in favour of others, the environment, and everything we interact with. We are literally suggesting that you leave more on the table than you initially expect to receive. This apparent “loss” creates a difference of potential in the exchange, naturally activating a regenerative dynamic that helps ensure future exchanges and new moments of shared well-being. If you’re still not convinced, think of the opposite situation: consuming everything, filling your personal reservoir of pleasure and well-being until it overflows, without leaving any room for other people or new experiences. That would result in an indigestion that makes you lose your appetite for more and the desire to go back and experience it again. This is radically different from feeling peckish, a light and pleasant “appetite” for those who haven’t overindulged and have made room for others as well.

The reciprocity equation doesn’t only link giving and receiving; it also includes being, i.e., our core nature, into the system. When we give, we will receive, and in receiving, the very essence of who we are is enriched, evolved, and regenerated, expanding in that “apparent void” caused by an initially unfulfilled exchange. 

And that’s why we wish you an 80% summer! 🙂 

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