Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder

We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.

And every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, “This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!” And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart and say, “No. This is what’s important.” —IAIN THOMAS

I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.

it is very telling what we don’t hear in eulogies. We almost never hear things like: “The crowning achievement of his life was when he made senior vice president.” Or: “He increased market share for his company multiple times during his tenure.” Or: “She never stopped working. She ate lunch at her desk. Every day.” Or: “He never made it to his kid’s Little League games because he always had to go over those figures one more time.” Or: “While she didn’t have any real friends, she had six hundred Facebook friends, and she dealt with every email in her in-box every night.” Or: “His PowerPoint slides were always meticulously prepared.” Our eulogies are always about the other stuff: what we gave, how we connected, how much we meant to our family and friends, small kindnesses, lifelong passions, and the things that made us laugh.

If you take care of your mind, you take care of the world.’

Have you notices that when we die, our eulogies celebrate our lives very differently from the way society defines success?

It’s not ‘What do I want to do?’, it’s ‘What kind of life do I want to have?’

Treat people like family, and they will be loyal and give their all.

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin—real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. —FR. ALFRED D’SOUZA

And whenever I’d complain or was upset about something in my own life, my mother had the same advice: “Darling, just change the channel. You are in control of the clicker. Don’t replay the bad, scary movie.

We may not be able to witness our own eulogy, but we’re actually writing it all the time, every day.

Today we often use deadlines—real and imaginary—to imprison ourselves.

We forget we’re mostly water till the rain falls and every atom in our body starts to go home.

Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say “so what.” That’s one of my favorite things to say. —ANDY WARHOL

A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.

just change the channel. You are in control of the clicker. Don’t replay the bad, scary movie.

The people we invite on the train are those with whom we are prepared to be vulnerable and real, with whom there is no room for masks and games. They strengthen us when we falter and remind us of the journey’s purpose when we become distracted by the scenery. And we do the same for them. Never let life’s Iagos—flatterers, dissemblers—onto your train. We always get warnings from our heart and our intuition when they appear, but we are often too busy to notice. When you realize they’ve made it on board, make sure you usher them off the train; and as soon as you can, forgive them and forget them. There is nothing more draining than holding grudges.

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life. —WU MEN

What is success? It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace. —PAULO COELHO

Imagine how our culture, how our lives, will change when we begin valuing go-givers as much as we value go-getters.

We all have within us the ability to move from struggle to grace.

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. —WILLIAM JAMES

And yet we spend so much time and effort and energy on those résumé entries—entries that lose all significance as soon as our heart stops beating.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.94 “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” –CHEROKEE LEGEND

You are not your bank account, or your ambitiousness. You’re not the cold clay lump with a big belly you leave behind when you die. You’re not your collection of walking personality disorders. You are spirit, you are love. —ANNE LAMOTT

Meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but recognizing that we are more than our thoughts and our feelings.

My heart is at ease knowing that what was meant for me will never miss me, and that what misses me was never meant for me.

Whenever we look around the world, we see smart leaders – in politics, in business, in media – making terrible decisions. What they're lacking is not IQ, but wisdom. Which is no surprise; it has never been harder to tap into our inner wisdom, because in order to do so, we have to disconnect from all our omnipresent devices – our gadgets, our screens, our social media – and reconnect with ourselves.

Making money and doing good in the world are not mutually exclusive.