Thrive

The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Happier Life

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?

Seven years ago, suffering from exhaustion and lack of sleep, Arianna Huffington collapsed, breaking her cheekbone and injuring her eye. It was a wake-up call that prompted an appraisal of her life- one that would prove transformative. At the time, the recently launched Huffington Post was a global success and by conventional measures so was she. But Huffington realised her life was far from flourishing. So she began to re-evaluate success and the parameters for what actually makes life a fulfilling experience.

WHAT IS A GOOD LIFE?

Over time our society’s notion of success has been reduced to simply money and power – we equate success with long hours, bringing work home, never switching off and staying plugged-in 24/7. But THRIVE contends that this definition of success is unsustainable, unsatisfying and unhealthy. Building and looking after our financial capital is not enough. We need to do everything we can to protect and nurture our human capital as well.Calling for change in a world that accepts stress, burnout and hyper-connectivity as the necessary tradeoffs of success, Huffington argues that these elements are profoundly – and negatively – affecting our creativity, our productivity, and our decision making. Taking care of ourselves and understanding when we need space to breathe is vital. Alongside power and money, she’s identified a third way of quantifying success , a Third Metric that recognizes the importance of our well-being, our ability to draw on our intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for empathy and giving.

HOW TO THRIVE

THRIVE is designed as a bridge to help the reader move on from knowing what to do, to actually doing it. Deeply ingrained habits are extremely difficult to change, but Huffington is passionate that if we don’t incorporate Third Metric principles into our daily lives then we will continue to erode our health and happiness. Arianna Huffington aims to convince even the most sceptical reader that there are daily techniques, practices and tools we can implement at home and in the workplace that will help us to reconnect with ourselves, our loved ones and our community.