Some respondents saw sisu almost as a kind of magic power, one that helped them move through extreme challenges – whether that challenge was one they opted into, such as a marathon, or one they had to face against their will, like an illness.

OK, hands up: who thinks that they might have embraced sisu a long time ago without even realising it? Because it might be a distinctly Finnish quality, but it sounds startlingly familiar to me. Most women, I think, will relate to that feeling of digging deep in order to access previously untapped energy resources; of pushing through the psychological pain barrier in order to simply do everything that needs to get done.

That day when you made it to a 6am gym class, dealt with three full-blown work crises, stayed in the office until 8pm to meet a major deadline, dashed to your sibling’s birthday drinks, put a load of laundry on when you got home, then got up the next morning to do it all again? That’s sisu (OK, I haven’t technically confirmed this with the Finnish researchers, but I’m calling it). That day you felt ill and exhausted but still managed to get your children to school on time, deliver a killer presentation at work, and meet your heartbroken best friend for a consoling dinner, even though you just wanted to sleep? Sisu. That time you had to organise the catering for a funeral, and deliver the eulogy, and you weren’t sure if you’d even be able to walk you were so grief-stricken, but you got through it? Sisu, my friend. Sisu.

You’ve probably been living by this Finnish lifestyle concept for years