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199 reviews for:
Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
Arianna Huffington
3.58 AVERAGE
199 reviews for:
Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
Arianna Huffington
3.58 AVERAGE
A friend started reading this and asked out lady circle to consider it for our next group read. We had done Lean In together and share articles about life/work balance on the reg, so I went into it game for another discussion.
I wasn’t crazy about it, although I do think she makes some valid and important connections. It reads like a survey course, taking the best of others ideas and trying to make it work under the branding of a Third Metric. But that concept is never really clearly communicated and starts to sound like a platform to take Huffington into the next series of conventions, lectures, and HuffPo articles rather than a viable movement. Wisdom and Wonder are strong sections, connecting Huffigton’s own experiences to these themes in a way that was incredibly engaging. But there is still an overall feeling of this being cobbled together (frequent inclusion of quotes that take you outside of the writing, frequent callbacks to the work of others).
As with Lean In, the focus remains on women in positions of high-power, male dominated fields who put place central emphasis on their work. (“Right now you may just want to be better at your job, or help your company become more successful, and that’s the reason you start meditating, or practicing mindfulness, or sleeping more.” Right that – and not all of the health and wellness reasons she spent pages discussing prior to this paragraph). But it seems as if Huffington doesn’t know if it is a book just for women or just for those in positions of power/experiencing burn out.
Throughout each part, there is a great emphasis on disengaging with technology and connecting with a community and family. And yet, the appendix is largely tech tools to help you stop using tech. That’s sort of a good summation for the book as a whole – it bites its own tail too much.
I wasn’t crazy about it, although I do think she makes some valid and important connections. It reads like a survey course, taking the best of others ideas and trying to make it work under the branding of a Third Metric. But that concept is never really clearly communicated and starts to sound like a platform to take Huffington into the next series of conventions, lectures, and HuffPo articles rather than a viable movement. Wisdom and Wonder are strong sections, connecting Huffigton’s own experiences to these themes in a way that was incredibly engaging. But there is still an overall feeling of this being cobbled together (frequent inclusion of quotes that take you outside of the writing, frequent callbacks to the work of others).
As with Lean In, the focus remains on women in positions of high-power, male dominated fields who put place central emphasis on their work. (“Right now you may just want to be better at your job, or help your company become more successful, and that’s the reason you start meditating, or practicing mindfulness, or sleeping more.” Right that – and not all of the health and wellness reasons she spent pages discussing prior to this paragraph). But it seems as if Huffington doesn’t know if it is a book just for women or just for those in positions of power/experiencing burn out.
Throughout each part, there is a great emphasis on disengaging with technology and connecting with a community and family. And yet, the appendix is largely tech tools to help you stop using tech. That’s sort of a good summation for the book as a whole – it bites its own tail too much.
When I first started reading this book I was glad she was advocating more sleep because it was pretty much putting me to sleep. Once I got further in it became much more interesting. It's ironic that she spoke so much about connecting with others but threw so many facts in my face. It was when she shared her own story (or stories of others) that I most enjoyed the book - and felt most connected with the ideas she was trying to get across.
This book didn't captivate me enough to read straight through, although I did finish it. A lot of the things said we're pretty common sense, but I enjoyed it when I picked it up. The writing style was good - although I did wish there were more examples from outside the HuffPost and Huffington worlds so it seemed less like a self-pat-on-the-back. Overall: interesting but not Earth shattering. More of a reminder to take care of yourself than anything else.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
When reviewing this book, it is important to remember the context of when it was written. Thrive is just shy of a decade old and the self-care industry has changed significantly since its original publication. This does not mean that Huffington’s messages are not useful, but they may not seem as revolutionary as they did in 2014. A lot of the habits the author promotes are ones that have been adopted by others and could be considered mainstream today. The major takeaway from Thrive is that a life well lived is one spent with compassion and love. The maintaining of relationships, between oneself and others, is crucial. If we embrace these habits we will be more successful in our goals and be able to live our lives to the fullest.
The premise of this book is that there needs to be a different was to measure success than just money and power. It had some good points but it really wasn't anything that I hadn't heard or read before.
I'm aware of the irony of an extremely successful woman writing a book about well-being. And yet, I found it real, shockingly relatable and inspiring. Admittedly, Thrive might be best for people who are aware of questionable habits and ready for change versus someone who has no idea their constant iPhone could be the culprit to a handful of their issues. I found Thrive to be the perfect 'nudge' to start making some small but impactful changes in my life. Two weeks in, I've had some success and failures but I can see a difference and am committed to keeping it up.
It took me nearly a year to finish this book because I picked it up when I most needed to hear it's messages. I think because I read it this way I got much more out of it then reading it straight through. I've marked many pages to revisit and highlighted several passages. I received this book free from attending a conference where Arianna Huffington was the key note speaker. I would never have picked it up otherwise. Also, I've added several booked to my to-read list that were referenced within.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced