A week after convening the first-ever Third Metric conference in the UK, Arianna appeared on BBC’s “Newsnight” on Monday to discuss the need to redefine success beyond money and power to include well-being, wisdom, our capacity for wonder and our ability to give back. The conversation centered on a government well-being survey , released last week in the UK, showing “small improvements” in people’s happiness in the past year. The survey posited that several marquee events -- such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and 2012 Summer Olympics -- may have boosted Britons’ sense of well-being. Explaining the need to go beyond a current definition of success that equates success with burnout, exhaustion, and sleep-deprivation, Arianna pointed to recent UK data that seemed to contradict the survey’s findings. “In one year, prescriptions for antidepressants have gone up by over 9 percent,” she said. “A third of people say they can’t sleep. Sleeping pill prescriptions are skyrocketing. Clearly there is something wrong.” Citing historical examples, from the ancient Greek philosophers to the founding fathers in the United States, Arianna urged a return to a definition of success that includes purpose and being a part of something larger than ourselves. The conversation with artist Giles Andreae, Imperial College professor Robert Winston, and BBC guest host Victoria Derbyshire, touched on human creativity, productivity, and the potential for failure and painful experiences to help us tap into our own stores of gratitude and love. “For me, that’s really ultimately what the Third Metric is,” Arianna said. “If we can bring gratitude and love into our lives, in whatever form makes sense for each one of us, we’ll have lives that are much more fulfilling.” Find out more and join the conversation at HuffPost's Third Metric page.
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