What the h#&% is Sisu?
And why do ex-pastors need it now more than ever?
In January of 1940, the opening paragraph in a full-spread article titled, “Sisu: A word that explains Finland,” the New York Times stated, “It is not easily translated, because no other language has its precise equivalent.”
It’s a 4-letter word that you need in your lexicon, even if it takes a conversation to explain what it means. Here’s why.
Full disclosure, I’m not Finnish, I don’t speak it, and I’ve never been there. But I do have a Finnish wool cap my son brought back from a deployment with the Finn Marines.
The Finnish concept can be described as grit, bravery, resilience, tenacity towards a purpose, stoic determination, undaunted drive, and hardiness. It is all of those without even trying because it’s woven into the DNA of Finnish culture.
The root comes from the Finnish word “sisus,” which means inner, inside, guts, and inner strength. Fins don’t tend to say, “I have sisu;” they show it through actions that demonstrate the grit and determination embodied in the word. There are no sisu participation prizes. Yoda would love it—you do, or you do not; there is no try in sisu.
Sisu shows up when everything works against you. The greater the opposition, the harder sisu leans into it. The date of the NYT article is important; Russia invaded Finland in the dead of winter with overwhelming forces. The Finns stopped the Russian army and then drove them back. The victory wasn’t due to better equipment but sheer force of will and an absolute refusal to stop fighting until the Russians went home; a living example of an “unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.”
How does that apply to what’s ahead, moving from the ministry to the marketplace?
It’s the perfect framework for facing the dark days, disappointments, frustration, roadblocks, and endless grind ahead. Sisu may sound like our idea of grit or maybe moxie. But those are more emotionally driven expressions of sisu’s unstoppable, steady progress. I can choose to grit it out, but I have sisu which means the only option is to keep making forward progress.
Grit certainly plays a part in successfully leaving the ministry and thriving. It tends to rely more on self-talk and a conscious decision to keep going. Sisu won’t let you quit.
Sisu simply never stops. When it hits an obstacle, it overcomes it, no matter what. The more I learn about it, sisu almost sounds like the human equivalent of the Terminator T-800—it adapts, overcomes, and never, ever, stops.
Sisu functions as a powerful psychological potential that an individual can tap into for mental strength beyond their pre-conceived resource limits. Tapping into sisu in the face of adversity helps individuals push through what first seemed like the boundaries of their mental or physical capacities.
In contrast to grit, sisu is an action mindset that equips the individual to choose to take on challenges beyond their observed capacities, beyond what many think is even possible. It fuels the final push when most would hesitate to act or quit. In short, Sisu doesn’t settle with weathering the storm; it takes action against all odds. In the 1939-1940 winter war, the Finns didn’t just stop the Russians—they sent them running home.
Luckily most Finns believe anyone can cultivate sisu. And it’s not limited to hardship and conflict. It emerges in family and love, enjoying nature, thriving wherever you find yourself, and making the most of what you have on hand.
That means no matter what might have made you stop or throw in the towel in the past, the future can hold a different outcome. You are not your past. You are not your failures. Don’t get distracted by what you’re walking into, and don’t forget who’s walking into it with you.
If you feel the call to leave the ministry or find yourself thrown onto that path, sisu will be an indispensable ingredient in your success. God is in this, and somewhere deep inside is the strength, grit, and sisu you need to overcome everything between you and the victory He’s crafting with you.
There is nothing wrong with you, and you are not alone.
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If you’re looking for a great read, Grit, by Angela Duckworth, is excellent, as is Mindset, by Carol Dweck. Both describe how individuals with grit consistently outperform more talented and promising competitors by their inner drive and refusal to quit. The study on how “gritty” Westpoint cadets outlasted and outperformed highly ranked cadets from wealthier and “better” families to consistently upend the best dropout predictions is worth the read alone.
