I’d already picked a topic to write about this week but after being part of the ‘Audience with Arianna Huffington’, sponsored by Colonial this past Saturday, that inspiration took precedence.

Those of you who were there — and there was an impressive number of us (although fellas, I think you could have done with slightly more representation!) — will no doubt understand what I mean. What an amazing woman and a thought-provoking talk! For those who have no idea what or who I am talking about, here’s the skinny:

Arianna Huffington, Greek-born author and columnist is the president and editor-in-chief (and co-founder) of The Huffington Post, an online news and blog site.

I’m a particular fan of the Healthy Living section with coverage of all things ‘wellbeing’ related, especially the exploration of the Third Metric — a term coined to define a measure of success beyond just money and power. This was the focus of Saturday’s talk and Arianna’s latest best-selling book, Thrive.

It addressed questions like: How can we make our lives more satisfying and fulfilling? What does success really mean? How do these notions fit into current business models and practices?

What I appreciate most is that the answers she provides are not just based on intuition and her own experiences, but backed up by scientific research.

Naysayers who might like to write this stuff off as woo-woo have no choice but to consider the hard evidence that we must make changes in the way that we treat ourselves, our staff and the people around us in order to get the results that we are looking for.

Arianna offered four pillars that she feels hold up the Third Metric: our wellbeing — stepping away from the stress and ‘time famine’ we too often live in; gratitude for the little things; our wisdom; our capacity to give of ourselves through the personal connections that we make.

She claims the need to make a cultural shift focus towards these elements is paramount. This was detailed here in Bermuda in an article by Raymond Hainey in The Royal Gazette this month.

“Entitled Employers facing human resources crisis”, it highlighted a recent survey that showed how organisations need to “rethink how they manage and engage people”.

I’d say it was hard for anybody not to be convinced by Ms Huffington. There were so many takeaways from Saturday’s discussion.

The salient ones for me are perhaps reiterations of what we already know, but can always benefit from hearing again:

It’s not that we won’t slip up, it’s how quickly we course correct when we do.

Our failures and our heartbreaks can be the very things that lead us to our greatest successes.

Great results come when we focus on ‘purpose’ and include the things that make us come alive.

Decide where we really want to invest our time. Sometimes “we can complete a project by dropping it”!

What matters most is not the hours but the energy we put into something — creativity and productivity happen best when rested.

And finally, a favourite was the Rumi quote, “Live life as though everything is rigged in your favour.”

• Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner on the team at Benedict Associates. For further information contact Julia on 705-7488, www.juliapittcoaching.com