Winter Grit: Discover Sisu - The Finish Art of Courage

December asks a lot of us. When cosiness falls short, a Finnish concept called sisu offers something tougher and far more useful: quiet resilience, steady resolve and the confidence to keep going until the year turns.

December has a habit of presenting itself as soft and sparkly. Candles, carols, velvet ribbons, the promise of rest. But for many of us, it is one of the hardest months of the year. Dark mornings, social pressure, financial stretch, end of year exhaustion and the emotional weight that the festive season tends to surface rather than soothe.

Which makes this the moment where hygge starts to feel a little insufficient.

Enter sisu.

While we have spent years leaning into Scandinavian cosiness, there is another Nordic concept that feels far more useful in December. Sisu, a Finnish term rooted in endurance and quiet resolve, is not about making life prettier. It is about getting through it.

Sisu is the steady determination that carries you through when the calendar is full, the energy tank is empty and opting out is not always an option. It is what helps you show up to the work do, have the difficult family conversation, keep moving your body when the weather is hostile and finish the year without completely unravelling.

Joanna Nylund, author of Sisu: The Finnish Art of Courage, describes it as an action oriented mindset. You do not talk about having sisu. You practise it. It is the unglamorous decision to keep going without drama or self pity.

And crucially, sisu is not reserved for catastrophe. It applies to the small, daily acts of resilience that December demands. Getting up in the dark. Holding boundaries. Saying no without guilt. Saying yes when it matters. Feeding yourself properly. Going outside anyway. Doing what needs to be done, calmly and with intent.

Unlike the festive narrative that insists this month should be joyful at all times, sisu allows for something more honest. It acknowledges that December can be heavy and still insists that you are capable of carrying it.

Sisu is not about forcing cheer or powering through at all costs. It is about steady progress. One decision. One step. One day at a time. And when January arrives, you are not starting from nothing. You have already proven to yourself that you can endure.