If you're a fan of either the internet or sleep, then you're most likely familiar with Arianna Huffington. Named one of the most influential women in media [1] and one of the most powerful women in the world [2], the boss lady is responsible for the Huffington Post media empire and, more recently, has been leading a sleep revolution [3] along with her latest venture, Thrive Global. [4] She is also one of the nicest women I've ever met!
In her book of the same name, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder [5], Huffington lays out how to rethink our modern-day definition of "success" so it's less about struggle and sacrifice and more about, well, thriving. Pick up a copy of Thrive [6] or The Sleep Revolution [7] so you or your favorite career gal [8] can start any day off right!
Power Your Happy Q&A
And still today, as I travel more than I ever have, it's allowed me to work on behalf of The Huffington Post and now Thrive Global and still find joy in what for many would just be dreary business travel. Part of that is because I'm very deliberate about prioritizing sleep while traveling.
I would say it's a lesson I learned from my mother about failure — that it's not the opposite of success, it's a stepping stone. And I've had a lot of stepping stones. But they're much easier to persevere through and learn from when you think of it like that.
For example, my second book was rejected by 36 publishers, which was one of the low points of my life. By about rejection 25, you would have thought I might have said, "Hey, you know, there's something wrong here. Maybe I should be looking at a different career." But, being my mother's daughter, I remember one day, depressed and running out of money, I was walking down St. James's Street in London when I saw a Barclays Bank. I had an idea. I asked to speak to the manager and asked him for a loan. Even though I didn't have any assets, the banker actually gave me a loan. It changed my life, because it meant I could keep things together for another 13 rejections — and finally, an acceptance. Very often, the difference between success and failure is just simple perseverance.
I have a few different versions of happy. One common to pretty much every parent is simply connecting with my daughters — hanging out with them, talking to them, and, most of all, knowing they're safe and happy.
Another would be when I feel connected with myself — when I'm well-rested and recharged. It's in periods like that when I have my best ideas, I can think through problems, and I don't react in a stressed-out or emotional way to daily challenges and setbacks. So in that way, it's not necessarily about finding a thing or experiencing a special moment, but staying in it.