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Druid's Book Club
Quick Take: Not an authorized biography. The author used turned news media on Huffington into a book. But, still an interesting read. Huffington has lived a fascinating life.
Longer Take:
I knew Ariana Huffington had started the Huffington Post. I knew she was a self-proclaimed sleep expert. But besides that, I knew very little about her. So, when I found this one sale, I decided to give it a try.
Huffington has not written an autobiography and has not authorized any biographies (this one included). So, the author has taken the news media available on Huffington and turned it into a book. It seems to be well researched and well written. I enjoyed how the author pointed out several contradictions between what Huffginton said in interviews and how she acted.
My one complaint, as compared to an autobiography, is that it always felt like I was 2-3 steps removed. As if I was watching her life go by a couple of blocks away.
Overall, a fascinating read. Huffington is an incredibly hard worker and an excellent example of not letting the critics bring you down. She seemed to reinvent herself many times over her life. This ability to adapt to the changing world would be an asset to any entrepreneur.
Some of My Favourite Quotes:
The style of this book did not lend itself to many quotable quotes. So I've just included several of my favorite Arianna Huffington quotes.
"We need to accept that we won't always make the right decisions—that we'll screw up royally sometimes—understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success."
"Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me."
"Why do we spend so much of our limited time on this earth focusing on all the things that our eulogies will never cover?"
"Success is commonly defined as money and power, but increasingly that's not enough. It's almost like a two-legged stool where you fall over if that's all you measure your life by."
"We have if we're lucky about 30,000 days to play the game of life. How we play it will be determined by what we value."
"I wish I could go back and tell myself that not only is there no trade-off between living a well-rounded life and high performance is actually improved when our lives include time for renewal, wisdom, wonder, and giving. That would have saved me a lot of unnecessary stress, burnout, and exhaustion."
Top Entrepreneurship Lesson: Entrepreneurs need to be continually adaptable. Huffington has been criticized for "jumping around" in her belief system. But she used this type of adaptability to her advantage. She rode the right waves at the right time.
