30 Days of Genius- Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington's words are in bold. My comments are in italics.

• "It’s not about exclusivity anymore. It’s about ubiquity. You produce content, you want it to be everywhere."
• Opportunity comes when everyone is helped. Huffington Post's world of journalism is a reflection of, or perhaps a leader in, the value of sharing. Content is made more powerful when it is globally sourced and globally distributed. We can extrapolate this to ourselves and our work. Help yourself, and few will care. Help others, and the world will notice. 

• "Remember- you are not your job."
• When asked “what do you do?” or “who are you?,” we often answer immediately with how we make money. And because of this deep association between ourselves and our jobs, we pour the entirety of our effort into something that should be just one role, not the entire cast, of the play that is our life. We are our interests, our friends, our knowledge, and our health are just as much- or perhaps more than- we are our job. Find the balance you need to remember this. 

• "We’ve convinced people that exercise and nutrition are important. The third and most important leg of that stool is sleep." 
• Today’s world is hyper-competitve, and it creates the illusion that every minute spent sleeping is a minute lost working. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” and “you snooze you lose” prevail through our society, giving sleep a misleading and unfortunate reputation as a crutch for the weak. This is more than just wrong- it is dangerous.
• Sleep’s benefits are everywhere. Dreams can be the source of imaginative inspiration. Sleep revitalizes our systems to make us more productive when awake. It is scientifically more vital to our overall health than even exercise or nutrition. A lack of sleep causes urges for ruining nutrition and dangerous over-extension during exercise
• We take better care of our phones than we do of ourselves. We know how much battery our phone has at all times, and if it ever falls low, we freak out. Why do we treat the metal in our pocket with more tender respect than we do ourselves?
• Don’t punish yourself. You are not “losing” if you sleep more. Working longer is not the same (and can be the opposite) or working better. Prioritizing sleep will make you better when shifting focus on other parts of life.
• Routine is as important with sleep as with everything. Arianna’s most important advice- get away from your technology before going to sleep. It ruins dreams and sleep cycles and causes unnecessary stresses. 

• "The best ideas come out of stillness"
  • Decrease inputs to increase outputs has been a theme of the 30 DOG series. Arianna uses Steve Jobs’ reference to zen meditation and Bill Gates’ walks through the woods as the inspiration for their best ideas. Quiet- in the form of sleep, meditation, or solitude- is an essential component for creativity.