Arianna Huffington – Putting Yourself First

It’s no surprise that founder and CEO of Thrive Global, cofounder of The Huffington Post and author of 15 books, Arianna Huffington has been
named on Time Magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people and the Forbes Most Powerful Women list.

Back in 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read and frequently-cited media
brands on the Internet, which she stepped down from after a decade at the helm. Admittedly becoming ‘obsessed’ with reducing the impact of stress on our daily lives, Arianna created the health and wellness platform, Thrive
Global.

In these extraordinary times of uncertainty, anxiety and stress, Arianna says that taking care of your well-being is more important than ever.
Her personal wake-up call came in the form of a broken cheekbone and a nasty gash over her eye — the result of a fall brought on by exhaustion
and lack of sleep. After going from MRI to CAT scan to echocardiogram looking for any underlying medical problems beyond exhaustion, she wondered: is this really what success feels like?

“After my collapse from sleep deprivation and exhaustion in 2007 I became more and more passionate about the connection between well-being and performance. And as I went around the world speaking about my experience, I saw two things: First, that we’re facing a stress and burnout epidemic. And second, that people deeply want to change the way they work and live.”

“That’s why I launched Thrive Global – to go beyond raising awareness and create something real and tangible that would help individuals, companies and communities improve their well-being and performance and unlock their greatest potential.”

Arianna spoke with Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, for a heartwarming discussion about the importance of optimism and empathy during these testing times.

“We have to use this time as a catalyst for building a world that’s better, fairer and more compassionate than the world we are leaving behind,” Arianna said.

“I feel it’s an opportunity now to change the world that we’re going to go to, instead of going back to a world fuelled by stress and burnout, which is why I founded Thrive.”

“It’s kind of amazing that the leadership skills that have been traditionally identified with women like empathy, team building and collaboration are now more needed than ever,” she shared in the chat which was brought
to life by Optus’s #GDayADay series.

Arianna believes that to achieve success, taking care of your own well being is of utmost importance.

“I have three favourite micro steps – too small to fail,” Arianna said. “One is to focus on my breath every time I’m feeling stressed, the other thing is to constantly remind myself of three things I’m grateful for, and my third step is to set a cut-off point for news and social media consumption,” she told Jess Barron of Livestrong.com.

For Arianna, getting a full night’s sleep and exercising enables her to be more creative in her workday. By prioritizing her well being, she can place the best bets on herself.

She often quotes Rumi as an inspiration to “live life as if everything is rigged in your favor,” because if you have a positive outlook on circumstances, then it’s most likely that good things are always around the corner.

She believes putting yourself first because by putting others first, you can get left behind. Running on empty diminishes your ability to be successful, so if you are taken care of, you will have more energy to give to the things that matter, such as work, family and friends.

“Our relentless pursuit of the two traditional metrics of success – money and power – has led to an epidemic of burnout and stress-related illnesses, and an erosion in the quality of our relationships, family life, and, ironically, our careers,” she says on Thrive.com.

Thrive uses the latest groundbreaking research and scientific findings in the fields of psychology, sports, sleep, and physiology to show the profound effects of meditation, mindfulness, unplugging, and giving.

Arianna Huffington is proving it is a delusion that burnout is the price we must pay for success.