I studied, I met with medical doctors, scientists, and I’m here to tell you that the way to a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life is: getting enough sleep.
Don't buy society’s definition of success. Because it’s not working for anyone. It’s not working for women, it's not working for men, it's not working for polar bears, it's not working for the cicadas that are apparently about to emerge and swarm us. It’s only truly working for those who make pharmaceuticals for stress, sleeplessness and high blood pressure.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Success is often defined by societal standards, which may not be beneficial for everyone.
Arianna Huffington's quote challenges the traditional definitions of success imposed by society, indicating that these standards are detrimental to individuals—including both men and women—as well as to the natural world. Instead of pursuing success as defined by external pressures, she advocates for a more personal understanding of success that considers holistic well-being rather than material achievements, suggesting that current societal pressures lead to widespread stress and health issues.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a seminar on personal development, this quote could be used to encourage attendees to rethink their values.
More from Arianna Huffington
All quotes →Women need to lead the way to change our culture of burnout - both for their sake and also for the sake of successful men who desperately need a new model of success. And the still-very-macho world of STEM is a great place to start.
Don’t just climb the ladder of success - a ladder that leads, after all, to higher and higher levels of stress and burnout - but chart a new path to success, remaking it in a way that includes not just the conventional metrics of money and power, but a third metric that includes well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving, so that the goal is not just to succeed but to thrive.
We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.
Failure is not the opposite of success; it's part of success.
But, in fact, there is nothing that can bring you closer to fearlessness about everything else in the world than being a parent - because everyday fears - like not being approved of - pale by comparison to the fears you have about your children.
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Without your involvement you can't succeed. With your involvement you can't fail.
If you want to be an actor and you love acting, you can do it whether you're doing something else or not. You can be connected with community theater or make your own little movies. But if you want to be a movie star, you've got a tough road ahead of you.
...treasure what it means to do a day's work. It's our one and only chance to do something productive today, and it's certainly not available to someone merely because he is the high bidder. A day's work is your chance to do art, to create a gift, to do something that matters. As your work gets better and your art becomes more important, competition for your gifts will increase and you'll discover that you can be choosier about whom you give them to.