FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS FOR OVER THREE DECADES

AND HAS CREATED ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR

WEBSITES IN THE WORLD, "THE HUFFINGTON POST."

SHE'S WRITTEN A LIFE-CHANGING NEW BOOK CALLED "THRIVE,"

AND I LOVED IT.

PLEASE WELCOME ARIANNA HUFFINGTON.

[cheers and applause]

HOW ARE YOU?

[cheers and applause]

HELLO, ARIANNA.

WELL, FIRST OF ALL, YOU'RE JUST AN AMAZING WOMAN.

EVERYTHING YOU'VE ACCOMPLISHED, EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE SO FAR,

AND THEN I READ THIS BOOK,

AND I JUST THINK YOU HAVE SO MANY IMPORTANT THINGS

THAT I URGE PEOPLE TO READ THIS BOOK.

I'VE GIVEN IT TO EVERYONE I KNOW.

- THANK YOU. - I LOVE THIS BOOK.

TELL EVERYONE WHAT THE BOOK IS BASICALLY ABOUT.

- SO THE BOOK, WHICH IS CALLED "THRIVE,"

STARTS WITH MY OWN WAKE-UP CALL.

IN 2007, APRIL 6,

I CAME BACK FROM TAKING MY DAUGHTER,

WHO IS IN THE AUDIENCE, AROUND COLLEGES.

AFTER TWO YEARS OF LAUNCHING "THE HUFFINGTON POST,"

AND I WAS EXHAUSTED BURNT OUT,

THE FEELING THAT MANY OF US HAVE.

I COLLAPSED FROM EXHAUSTION.

ON THE WAY DOWN, HIT MY HEAD ON MY DESK,

BROKE MY CHEEKBONE, GOT FOUR STITCHES ON MY RIGHT EYE.

AND IT STARTED ME ON THIS JOURNEY

OF QUESTIONING WHAT SUCCESS IS.

BECAUSE BY CONVENTIONAL DEFINITIONS OF SUCCESS--

WHICH MEANS TWO METRICS:

YOU KNOW, MONEY AND POWER--

I WAS SUCCESSFUL.

BY ANY SANE DEFINITION OF SUCCESS,

I WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL IF I WAS LYING IN A POOL OF BLOOD

ON THE FLOOR OF MY OFFICE.

[laughter]

SO THAT WAS REALLY THE BEGINNING.

AND NOW I CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA

THAT WE NEED A THIRD METRIC OF SUCCESS

THAT INCLUDES OUR HEALTH AND WELLBEING FIRST OF ALL.

BECAUSE IF WE SACRIFICE THAT, WHAT DO WE HAVE?

OUR CAPACITY TO TAP INTO OUR OWN WISDOM,

OUR OWN SENSE OF WONDER AT THE BEAUTY OF LIFE

THAT WE SO OFTEN MISS.

AND OUR CAPACITY TO GIVE AND BE KIND,

AS YOU SAY ON THE SHOW, ELLEN.

AND YOU KNOW, WHEN I LOOK BACK AT YOUR LIFE,

IF YOU HAD DEFINED SUCCESS THE CONVENTIONAL WAY,

MEANING, YOU KNOW, HAVE A SUCCESSFUL SITCOM,

YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE TAKEN THE RISK TO COME OUT.

BECAUSE YOUR LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEFINED AS,

"I'M SUCCESSFUL.

"I HAVE THIS SITCOM.

I CAN'T RISK ANYTHING, BECAUSE THAT'S WHO I AM."

SO REALLY WHAT I'M ASKING PEOPLE TO DO

IS TO REALIZE THAT WHATEVER OUR JOB IN THE WORLD,

WHATEVER OUR DREAMS,

WE ARE BIGGER THAN THAT.

AND IF WE CAN FIND THAT, WHO WE REALLY ARE,

AND LIVE FROM THAT PLACE,

LIFE IS TRULY AMAZING,

NO MATTER WHAT THE CHALLENGES AND THE OBSTACLES.

- YEAH, I--

YES. [cheers and applause]

I THINK THAT'S-- I THINK SOMETIMES I--YOU KNOW,

IF YOU FOLLOW THE SPIRITUAL PATH, WHICH I HAVE--

AND I THINK THAT--I KNOW THAT I'M BIGGER THAN THIS,

AND I KNOW ALL THAT INTELLECTUALLY,

BUT THEN YOU FORGET SOMETIMES.

AND YOU JUST GET ON THIS TREADMILL

OF WORKING AND SUCCESS.

AND I THINK YOU TALK ABOUT THIS IN THE BOOK.

NUMBER ONE, SLEEP IS SO UNDERRATED.

WE NEED SLEEP.

THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

AND THEN THE BURN OUT FACTOR THAT MOST WOMEN HAVE--

BECAUSE WOMEN ARE WORKING, TAKING CARE OF KIDS.

AND TALK ABOUT THE BURN OUT FACTOR.

- YES, WELL, THE BURN OUT FACTOR

IS PARTICULARLY INTENSE FOR WOMEN.

AND WE WOMEN HAVE A 40% GREATER RISK OF HEART DISEASE

AND A 60% GREATER RISK OF DIABETES

IF WE'RE IN STRESSFUL JOBS,

WHICH IS PROBABLY EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM.

BUT FOR ME, THE ONE HABIT THAT I CHANGED FIRST WAS SLEEP.

I WENT FROM FOUR TO FIVE HOURS TO SEVEN TO EIGHT HOURS.

AND THAT'S WHY THE BOOK IS FULL OF LITTLE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE,

BECAUSE I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO JUST AGREE WITH ME

BUT TO MAKE SMALL LITTLE BABY CHANGES.

AND SLEEP IS THE FIRST BABY CHANGE.

YOU KNOW, BASICALLY THIS IS AN AUDIENCE OF LARGELY WOMEN.

I HAVE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE FOR YOU:

SLEEP YOUR WAY TO THE TOP.

[laughter]

[cheers and applause]

AT "THE HUFFINGTON POST," YOU KNOW, IN OUR NEWSROOM,

I INSTALLED TWO NAP ROOMS.

AT FIRST, PEOPLE SAID, "WHO IS GOING TO BE SEEN INTO--

WALKING INTO A NAP ROOM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON?"

NOW THEY'RE PERPETUALLY FULL, ALL OF THEM.

AND THE OTHER DAY, I WAS WALKING BY ONE OF THEM,

AND I SAW TWO PEOPLE COMING OUT OF IT,

BUT I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW,

"WHATEVER IT TAKES TO RECHARGE YOU."

[laughter]

- THAT'S RIGHT.

I--WE RAN INTO EACH OTHER THE OTHER DAY SOMEWHERE,

AND I--I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF READING IT.

AND WHAT REALLY RESONATED WITH ME

IS THIS THING YOU CALLED TIME FAMINE.

AND BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE I NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TIME.

I AM ALWAYS TRYING TO FIT SO MUCH INTO MY DAY AND--

I HAVE--AND I TAKE ON--

AND I THINK EVERYONE CAN RELATE TO THAT TIME FAMINE.

- YES, I HAD THIS AMAZING MOTHER TO WHOM THE BOOK IS DEDICATED.

AND SHE CONSTANTLY WOULD SAY TO ME, "DON'T MISS THE MOMENT."

BECAUSE REALLY, THAT'S ALL WE HAVE.

AND SO OFTEN, OUR MINDS TAKE US TO THE FUTURE.

EITHER WORRYING ABOUT THE FUTURE OR JUDGING OUR PAST,

ESPECIALLY WE WOMEN.

I MEAN, I STARTED LIFE AS SO SELF-JUDGMENTAL.

I CALL THAT VOICE IN MY HEAD

THE OBNOXIOUS ROOMMATE LIVING IN MY HEAD...

[laughter]

WHO IS, YOU KNOW, ALWAYS PUTTING ME DOWN,

TELLING ME I'M NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

AND LEARNING TO ACTUALLY DEAL WITH THAT VOICE

WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR,

MAYBE GETTING IT TO DANCE WITH YOU.

I DON'T KNOW.

I'M SURE YOU HAVE SOME WAYS TO DEAL

WITH THAT OBNOXIOUS ROOMMATE

SO THAT WE CAN EVICT IT FROM OUR HEAD.

AND THEN WE'RE MUCH MORE PRESENT.

AND THEN THE TIME FAMINE THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT

IS REALLY WHAT DRAINS US.

BECAUSE IT MEANS WE ARE NOT HERE.

WE ARE SOMEWHERE ELSE WITH OUR MINDS.

- YEAH.

IT'S--WELL, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A BREAK.

WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT NOT JUST ALL THESE PROBLEMS,

BUT THERE'S SOLUTIONS AND SOME TIPS.

AND WE'LL COME BACK AND TALK ABOUT THAT

WITH ARIANNA HUFFINGTON.

[cheers and applause]