HUFFINGTON
02.23.14
THRIVE
people—are toppling over.
So what I pointed out to the
Smith College graduates was that
the way we’ve defined success is
not enough. And it’s no longer sustainable: It’s no longer sustainable
for human beings or for societies.
To live the lives we truly want and
deserve, and not just the lives we
settle for, we need a Third Metric, a
third measure of success that goes
beyond the two metrics of money
and power, and consists of four pillars: well-being, wisdom, wonder,
and giving. These four pillars make
up the four sections of this book.
First, well-being: If we don’t redefine what success is, the price
we pay in terms of our health and
well-being will continue to rise, as
I found out in my own life. As my
eyes opened, I saw that this new
phase in my life was very much in
tune with the zeitgeist, the spirit of
our times. Every conversation I had
seemed to eventually come around
to the same dilemmas we are all
facing—the stress of over-busyness,
overworking, overconnecting on
social media, and underconnecting
with ourselves and with one another. The space, the gaps, the pauses,
the silence—those things that allow
us to regenerate and recharge—had
all but disappeared in my own life
and in the lives of so many I knew.
It seemed to me that the people
who were genuinely thriving in
their lives were the ones who had
made room for well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving. Hence the
“Third Metric” was born—the third
leg of the stool in living a successful life. What started with redefining my own life path and priorities
led me to see an awakening that is
taking place globally. We are entering a new era. How we measure
success is changing.
And it’s changing not a moment
too soon—especially for women,
since a growing body of data shows
that the price of the current false
promise of success is already higher for women than it is for men.
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.
Those who have just started out
in the workforce—and those who
haven’t even yet begun—are already feeling the effects. According
to the American Psychological Association, the millennial generation
is at the top of the chart for stress
levels—more so than baby boomers and “matures,” as the study
dubbed those over sixty-seven.