"I'm a proponent of following your heart in life. If you follow your heart it leads you to your higher purpose -- it leads you to your higher life. If we raise our own consciousness, we enable others to raise theirs, too," said John Mackey, 59, who co-founded Whole Foods in 1980.
Mackey's insights were part of an examination of a new definition of success that was the focus of The Huffington Post's first-ever women's conference on June 6, "The Third Metric: Redefining Success Beyond Money & Power," organized by Arianna Huffington, president and editor in chief of the Huffington Post Media Group.
"We've all bought into this male definition of success, money and power, and it's not working. It's not working for men, and it's not working for women. It's not working for anyone," Huffington said.
Hosted by both Huffington and Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the day featured conversations with many post-50 (and nearly post-50) influencers and luminaries on topics such as how to enjoy a more balanced approach to success.
Here's what just a few of them had to say:
"My grandmother, an amazing woman, told me just before she died, 'Just remember Little Miss Full Of Yourself, the most important days of your life will be the days you don't forget,'" said U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.
"President Clinton admitted that he made bad decisions when he was sleep-deprived... he didn't mention which ones," said Huffington.
"If I take a nap and I have a tiny slice of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough, I'm a better woman," said Ali Wentworth, comedienne, actress and author.
"I've been meditating for years. I haven't missed a day since the day I started... it's the equivalent of a couple hours more sleep," said George Stephanopoulos, TV journalist.
"One year I had a Golden Globe nomination. My category was at the top of the show. I told them that I couldn't be there because my daughter is performing as a warthog in a school play. So they moved the category to late in the show so I could go. When I did 'Murphy Brown,' I never went out on weekday evenings. The evenings were exclusively for my daughter," said Candice Bergen, actress and producer.
"A good healthy sex life helps in all of this... you enojoy life more if you are having a good sex life. I do my best not to talk to any of my staff on the weekends. I don't want to bother them and I don't want to be bothered. I think it's important to have the punctuation point at the end of the week," said Joanna Coles, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan.
"Taking care of yourself is what frees you to take care of other people," said Tony Schwartz, author and CEO of The Energy Project.
"It was actually yoga that got me through medical school. If you really knew what was happening when you're stressed, you'd freak out. It is not pretty," said Dr. Mark Hyman, author and physician.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. For more information on the conference, go here.
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