A super-woman. A philanthropist. A humanitarian. A host. And a truly inspiring individual! Going from a 19-year-old news anchor who was fired from her job to one of the most influential women alive today, her work, and her beliefs have impacted millions of lives across the world. From her early days in the Oprah Winfrey show to owning the Oprah Winfrey network, she has continued to grow and contribute to the society exponentially.
Oprah’s life story is almost unbelievable, yet it is so true to inspire so many of us.
If you are facing an existential crisis or wondering whether you will ever achieve anything or if you are one of those who thinks you will leave the world without an impact then these nuggets of wisdom from Oprah Winfrey will help you to cross the dark tunnel and see the sunshine again in life.
1. Know who you are!
If you don’t know who you are, how would you know what you can offer to the world or the community? Oprah always emphasizes on the statement “Know who you are”. Answer this one question, write this down, think of an answer and everything else will start to align itself. Your job, your life, your friends, your partner will all start falling into place as a consequence. Oprah focuses on how you must know yourself in order to ‘fulfill the highest, truest expression of yourself’.
2. Having a direction
Don’t we all at some point in our lives aimlessly just flip-flop our way through life? Taking each day as it comes, waiting for Friday’s, waiting for the next trip? This is a wakeup call darlings! At some point, you need to snap out of it and assess your life. Know the direction if not the destination. As Oprah says ‘Be in the driver’s seat of your life or life will drive you’. The choice is yours.
3. Service is greatness
In one of her speeches, Oprah mentioned how Martin Luther King believed – “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service.” And in the end, when you think of the moments that truly made you the happiest, doesn’t it all involve giving in some kind or another? Service is what sets you free. Pick a service, something that you are good at, something which you can do to make this world a better place. You don’t have to be a star celebrity to make a difference. If you are a comedian, let your comedy be a source of laughter and happiness, if you are writer, let your words create an impact, if you love animals, be the favorite human for the strays in your area. It adds purpose and meaning to your life.
4. Failure
Oprah talks on failure in a way that makes it less of a failure. We hold our failures on a pedestal instead of our successes. Oprah Winfrey quotes talk on how we should look at failure. Her belief is a priceless wisdom nugget, stating, failure just points you in a different direction. What have all your failures done if not point you in a different and better direction? Even if some of you are currently staring in the face of some of your biggest failures, just know there is a blaring green sign right behind your failure that’s pointing you in a different direction. Just have the courage to look, acknowledge and move on.
5. Competition
Tell me how many times did you beat yourself over pointless comparisons and meaningless competition. The only way up is to know your worth. The worst thing you can do to yourself is to worry about the other guy. Oprah explains it in this beautiful analogy of how every time you run in a race if you waste your energy to turn back and to look where the other guy is, you are wasting energy you could have used in the race. Besides this, it also makes you nervous. We anyways have zero control over what others do! So let’s do ourselves a favor and focus on how to step up our game.
So let’s do something meaningful this week! You and me and everyone reading this. We are a tribe, aren’t we? Let’s impact someone’s life even when it’s getting extremely messy to handle our own. Feed a dog, spend time with the lesser privileged, buy your house-help a new phone and learn something more about yourself. And if you need ‘you’ the most then simply pamper yourself this week! Watch how the paradigm begins to shift, watch your life get a new purpose. What can I tell you, Oprah Winfrey has that effect on people!