Huffington Magazine Issue 51 | Page 34

HUFFINGTON 06.02.13 THE THIRD METRIC me. In fact, “I think every woman should sleep her way to the top.” She actually means sleep. And with that, she started to worry about me, offering advice and opportunity. Arianna is a modern-day, hot, fairy Godmother. She shares her success with other women, expecting nothing in return but the joy of being able to do so. Together as friends, we have addressed sleep deprivation, overmedicating, food issues, marriage, relationships, parenting, exhaustion, and every other challenge that successful, but overstressed working women face every day. We came up with the idea for the conference at a hastily put together breakfast in Washington, D.C., during the inauguration, after weeks of having to reschedule in our home base of New York City. We were having a tough, deeply personal conversation about life, relationships and our many work projects. Arianna confronted me about my ability to take care of myself while balancing so many different challenges and opportunities. I had few answers, if any. Mostly, I stuttered and hemmed and hawed — a sign that trouble was on the horizon for me if I didn’t learn fast. So what did we do? We made a plan — a plan based on our friendship and hope to help others — to solve this terrible riddle together. Out of that conversation at breakfast, “Redefining Success, the Third Metric” was born. The goal: to share success with others, but to also share secrets of success, especially secrets behind achieving the Third Metric. We have addressed sleep deprivation, overmedicating, food issues, marriage, relationships, parenting, exhaustion, and every other challenge that successful, but overstressed working women face every day.” I will be moderating panels all day next Thursday and can’t wait to see what we all learn. Mika Brzezinski is co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, a columnist for Cosmopolitan and a three-time best-selling author, most recently of Obsessed: America’s Food Addiction — and My Own.