Arianna Huffington, co-founder, president, and editor in chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, writes in her book “Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder” that “in terms of the traditional measure of successful which focuses on money and power, [she] was very successful. But [she] was not living a successful life by any sane definition of success.”

She explains that in April 2007, she fainted and fell in her home office due to exhaustion. She writes that “I was on the cover of magazines and had been chosen by Time as one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People. But after my fall, I had to ask myself, was this what success looked like?” She says she “found [herself] going from doctor to doctor, from brain MRI to Cat scan to echocardiogram, to find out if there was any underlying medical problem beyond exhaustion. There wasn’t.” Huffington points out her revelation that “our eulogies celebrate our lives very differently from the way society defines success…They’re not about our résumés – they are about cherished memories, shared adventures, small kindnesses and acts of generosity.”

Huffington goes on to explain that since her fall, “[Gazelles] are [her] role models. They run and flee when there is a danger – a leopard or a lion approaching – but as soon as the danger passes they stop and go back to grazing without a care in the world.” Huffington enjoys that Gazelles have the ability to rest as well as the focus when it is important. She compares life to a stool, “Two legs stand for the pursuit of money and power. The third is what humans apparently need to be fulfilled and stable. (And not fall over.) We must slow down, reflect each moment, unplug devices, and give.”

Huffington believes that this third metric for defining success important because “how we measure success is changing… especially for women.” She goes on to say that “Women in stressful jobs have a nearly 40 percent increased risk of heart disease, and a 60 percent greater risk of diabetes. In the past thirty years, as women have made substantial strides in the workplace, self-reported levels of stress have gone up 18 percent.” According to the American Psychological Association, “the millennial generation is at the top of the chart for stress levels.”

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, British journalist and author reviewed “Thrive” on Independent. She writes, that, “we know vast ambitions can lead to mental disharmonies, stress and perpetual dissatisfaction. The world would be a better place if bosses and nations were not so greedy, were kinder to themselves and others.” She goes on to say that, “Huffington’s heroes reach this nirvana after they get rich and powerful. They don’t leave or lose the rat race… That said, the book offers persuasive arguments, is full of fascinating research, much fire, and passion.”

“Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder” can be purchased on Amazon for as low as $8.13 on Amazon.com or be found at local libraries.