Well what a gorgeous lady, and what a privilege to see Arianna Huffington on her whirlwind trip to Oz.
The Peninsula room in Docklands was decorated beautifully, with incredibly low and flattering lighting, and the thousand (mostly) women in attendance were ready. The Business Chicks vibe was out and proud. And with 6 events in 36 hours it was awesome to be there for this one.
And, from the moment she opened her mouth on stage and we heard that gorgeous Greek accent, I think we were all in love.
But even more important, than her charm, wit and elegance, was her message, in learning to digital detox, reduce stress and starting to thrive.
I devoured her book Thrive some time ago, and it was great to hear those important messages once again.
In a culture that ‘men have broken’ we’re expected to view sleep deprivation as a badge of honour, and stress and burnout as a natural progression in our working lives. Its the illness of our civilisation and it’s up to us to change that. It’s interesting to note how many of our poorest decisions are based on lack of sleep and being too tired to best evaluate what we should do.
There were so many key takeouts from her story.
One tip she shared with Oprah was that we are more magnificent than our jobs.
Another is that ‘No’ is a complete sentence. Who knew?
Learn to make eye contact again and connect with our children and friends when they speak with us.
For inspiration on how others have taken up the challenge, check out the #HowIThrive hashtag and join the Thrive revolution!