Latest Book Purchase: Thrive by Arianna Huffington

Bought a new book yesterday! Thrive, written by the president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington. I've been eyeing this book since a few months ago and now that I'm done with Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, I decided to finally grab a copy.

There are 3 main reasons why the book piqued my interest:

• It was written by one of the most successful and influential women of this age: Arianna Huffington. I'm very fascinated by successful women. I want to know more about their lives and this book is a great way to get to know Arianna Huffington.
• I'm very much into the self-help/memoir genre right now. I really loved The Happiness Project, a book under that genre, and it inspired me to look for similar books.
• I want to learn more about life, success, and work-life balance. As a fresh graduate currently having her first job, I want to find ways on how I could become successful in a healthy manner and avoid unrecommended habits.

 

But before I bought the book, I did a little research about it in order to have a better understanding of its topic. I watched a few of Arianna's TV guestings (Ellen De Generes, Wendy Williams, Katie Couric) which were all part of her book promotions campaign. I loved listening to Arianna because I agreed with most of what she said and she was able to clearly explain the subject of the book. I also read the preview available on Amazon and I really liked the Introduction. After all the mini-research, I considered myself convinced and I am now very excited to start reading it!

Circumstances of a Fresh Grad: Can't Let My Mind Get Rusty!

Being a carefree bum comes with being a fresh grad who's trying to land her first job. I'm in that part of my life right now and I must admit, I have a love-hate relationship with it. I want to stay as relaxed as this for a longer time but at the same time I want to start working already. But I feel more strongly for the latter, of course.

I don't want my senses and mind to get rusty so I really make the effort to learn about relevant things as much as I can. I'm currently taking up free online courses about blogging and interior decorating because I really want to learn about those two and be good at them eventually. But of course Marketing, my chosen field of profession which I took up in college, is still a good topic for me to explore. I believe that graduating from school doesn't give one the option to stop learning. Learning never stops! 

The 1-day training I had under an out-of-home advertising agency yesterday was a really good opportunity for me to learn more about a possible career path. The speaker discussed about sales and how to get clients to say 'YES'. There were a lot of key takeaways from the training and my mindfulness and senses were really sharpened after days of bumming around. Interacting, taking down notes, paying attention, and listening to new people were indeed refreshing.

After the training, my new friend Michelle went with me to a nearby mall to pick up and pay for a book I reserved last week. It's a book about blogging written by the editors of The Huffington Post. It's entitled 'The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging'. I love reading and browsing through Huffington Post because they have articles that are both witty and informative. I can't wait to start reading the book!!

After that, we went to a milk tea store and boy was I so happy to finally satisfy my cravings! I had GONG CHA's Ice Cream Milk Tea♥ It tasted so creamy and had just the right amount of sweetness! I've had it before and I'm gonna have it again and again. It's one of the best milk tea flavors I ever had!

Look at that froth and melting ice cream!

When I was about to start my day yesterday, I kept telling myself that it was going to be a good and productive day, and it turned out to be even better than I expected! I learned a lot, made new friends, got my hands on the book I've been wanting to have, and had another one of my milk tea adventures♥

The Happiness Project and Why You Should Read It

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin is the book I'm currently reading. I got it as a gift from a friend whom I had a deep hear-to-heart talk with. A few weeks after our talk, she gave me the book with a short dedication written on one of the first pages. It was so sweet and I couldn't be more thankful.

In the course of the book, Rubin was researching and testing the different theories of political dignitaries, philosophers, scientists, writers, and religious figures about how to achieve happiness. It was like a journey on the road to happiness which made reading it amusing and fun. The book also discusses different aspects of life and how we could improve each through resolutions relevant to it. These life aspects are: Vitality, Marriage, Work, Parenthood, Leisure, Friendship, Money, Eternity, Passion, Mindfulness, Attitude, and Happiness. These 12 aspects are discussed per month.  Even though you find some aspects not applicable to you (Parenthood and Marriage in my case), it's still good to read the chapters dedicated to them because there's so much to learn. Overall, the book is filled with theories, ways, and tips on how to be happy.

The Happiness Project is a self-help book, and this is my first time reading one. However, it doesn't have the imperative or know-it-all tone at all. It's just like reading the diary of Gretchen Rubin. It's really authentic and full of her own experiences, insights, and emotions. I can read it for hours without stopping because it's just like listening to a friend telling her stories. Reading this book made me add Gretchen Rubin in my Favorite Authors list, actually. Also, I seriously learned a lot about life and how we could enhance each aspect of it by coming up with our own resolutions. This book really emphasized the importance of goal-setting and monitoring our own behavior, which I liked very much because even before I read this book, I'm already the type of person who loves setting goals and keeping track of my progress. 

This book is for those who want to be as happy as they can be. So if you're on your journey towards achieving HAPPINESS or want to start one, or you think you're already pretty happy but still want to make the most out of life, then this book is surely for you. Go to your nearest bookstore or just click away on Amazon!

Official Blog of Gretchen Rubin

Buy it on Amazon