Last week I had the pleasure of attending the C2MTL conference in Montreal where Arianna Huffington was one of the speakers.

C2Mtl brought together some of the brightest business and creative minds from around the world. The goal of the conference was to see how creativity could be used to answer commercial questions.

Give People What They Need

In a conversation with Mitch Joel, Huffingtion discussed the motivation behind her new mobile app, “GPS for the Soul” launching in June.

The app will use your smartphone camera and through your finger detect your stress-level and help you course correct through-out the day. Users can upload pictures, quotes, songs and create what Huffington calls “Guides” and use these throughout their day to bring them back to a more creative, harmonious, less stressful place.

Why this app and why now? Not your typical app from a media company!

“Successful innovation follows the zeitgeist, give people what they need and you will have the wind at your back.” says Huffington.

And right now people are overwhelmed and stressed. More and more people are claiming that they only sleep 4-5 hours a night and thus perceived to be more “productive, busy” when in fact it is only hampering their health, productivity and creativity in the long run, argues Huffington.

And she would know, having worked herself to the point of exhaustion, fainting and then requiring stitches after falling.

Innovation, Creativity & SLEEP!

More nuggets from Huffington:

• Joy is fuel for creativity.
• Key to innovation is iteration. Listen to feedback, be flexible and quick to respond.
• Breate deep, meditate and SLEEP!

Personally, it was refreshing to hear a super successful woman talk about the importance of finding joy, meditating and getting more sleep. Not the typical advice you hear at a business conference!

In the TED video below, Huffington shares some of the insights that were covered at the conference last week.

Would love to hear your thoughts!