Are the people around me happy? This question worries entrepreneur Fredrik Harkort. On the streets of Berlin he asks people if they are happy and publishes the videos on his Tiktok channel “Tuwasduliebst”. But how do you come up with such an idea?
The idea came up between the years, so at the end of last year. In general, I’m actually a positive and optimistic person, but I’ve found, even at the turn of the year, that the last two years have been gnawing at me. Surrounded by rather bad news and pandemic and all, it kind of brought me down a bit. And then I said to myself: I’ll just go looking for happy people, there must be happy people out there.
Even if only happy people are shown on his channel, Fredrik Harkort also meets dissatisfied people in his conversations.
I would say my quota is this: for every ten people I ask, two to three are happy and seven to eight are not happy. Then you have a lot of people who simply say that they are dissatisfied with Corona, with politics, with all sorts of topics. Of course, I see that in the same way, but I don’t show it.
But what insight does the entrepreneur draw from so many conversations about happiness?
What I noticed and what also fascinates me personally: That’s why the people I interviewed are really heroes and role models for me, because they all showed me that you can do with so little or with so little material things can be so happy. And when it comes to happiness, actually the things like friendship, family, health, a good job are those that really make the difference and not what you might think in general terms. Big bank account, big car, business class, fly somewhere in Abu Dhabi. Everything that we get shown on Instagram doesn’t seem to be the reason why they are happy, at least for the people I’ve met, the lucky ones. And I find that totally inspiring (…) I’ve already asked a handful of people in the “tie wearers” category. But so far I haven’t found anyone who said they were happy. That doesn’t mean they’re all unhappy, but at least the ones I’ve asked so far are.
The people on Fredrik Harcourt’s channel are happy. But what about the man who is so preoccupied with other people’s happiness?
Yes, I am a happy person. And if you were to ask why now, I would tell you: Because I have a family that gives me an incredible amount of stability, with my two sweet girls, six and eight years old. Because at 42 I am in excellent health. And that’s actually very important to me, because I’m allowed to do a job that I really love. And in this combination I can say yes, I am a happy person.