Review of: Thrive by Ariana Huffington

Summary: Thrive by Ariana Huffington (published by Harmony Books) focuses on Huffington’s creation of the Third Metric of success, which is comprised of well-being, wisdom and wonder. Huffington argues that the Third Metric needed in order to truly be successful. Basically, power and money are not the be-all end-all to success. Huffington walks us through the components of the Third Metric, each with its own dedicated chapter, and explores giving in a fourth chapter. This book claims to give pointers on how to disconnect from technology and balance work-home life to be a more successful, productive person.

Content: I felt that the first chapter, Well-Being, was on point. It really emphasized that we must take care of our bodies physically and mentally in order to thrive and be effective at work and at home. She discusses sleep, exercise, free time and work productivity. Huffington gave many examples of how she changed her life to increase her well-being and connect with her family/friends. This chapter really inspired me to focus on creating a stable work-life balance so that I can be more effective at both places.

The Wisdom chapter started to wander off and I felt the Wonder chapter just lost focus entirely. The Wonder chapter started talking about how coincidence is due to the existence of God and talked about death a lot. The content was not really brought back to thriving, success or productivity. There was also a fourth chapter on Giving that was choppy and basically a summary of research that concludes volunteering and giving are good for you. Giving was not named as part of the Third Metric, so I was surprised when there was a fourth chapter. I felt Huffington’s voice was lost the further into the book I got. She went from talking about changes she has made personally in her life to disconnect from technology and to “thrive” to listing off research findings.

Huffington did not talk about her own routine as much as I would have liked. What does her typical day look like? Does she truly disconnect from technology, and if so, how often? I would have liked to see more of her suggestions in action, and perhaps have set challenges for the reader to try.

The book also did not touch much upon how technology and hyperconnectivity is affecting real-life relationships. Are social skills degrading? Is anxiety rising because we always need to be “on”? How do you limit kids’ technology use at the risk of them not developing skills necessary to navigate today’s world?

Voice/Writing Style:  The writing style itself made the book easy to read. However, the writing style and voice changed throughout the book. Like I said, I felt Huffington’s voice got lost at points and the narrative just became a listing off of research findings. I felt some disconnect between the earlier and later parts of the book.

Applicability to Life: This book had great potential to be applicable to everyday life. I think this book can be whatever you take out of it. It can be a great motivator to start making some changes, like “no tech time” or getting more sleep. I feel a companion book outlining challenges to help people thrive would be a big-seller.

Rating and Recommendation: I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. I would recommend it for those who are having a hard time with work-life balance and/or those who are really obsessed with their gadgets. This book may be able to kick start some change. It was an easy and fast read so even if every chapter wasn’t totally applicable I didn’t feel like I wasted my time. I would definitely recommend the “Well-Being” chapter.