Media entrepreneur, talk show host, actor, producer, philanthropist: Oprah Winfrey’s personal journey exemplifies what it means to be an American success story. With or without her humble background, Oprah’s achievements since her modest beginnings are truly inspiring. “The great courageous act that we must all do,” she has said, “is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.” And so she has.
Gratitude is everything
“The single greatest wisdom I think I’ve ever received is that the key to fulfillment, success, happiness, contentment in life is when you align your personality with what your soul actually came to do,’ she has said. ‘I believe everyone has a soul and their own personal spiritual energy. When you use your personality to serve whatever that thing is, you can’t help but be successful.”
Oprah is a firm believer in the idea that anything you want can be achieved if you express gratitude – that knowing what you're grateful for can help you make the right decisions and find success in work and life. “I know for sure that appreciating whatever shows up for you in life changes your personal vibration,” she said in an interview. “You radiate and generate more goodness for yourself when you're aware of all you have and not focusing on your have-nots.”
I don’t think of myself as a poor, deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.
Oprah’s secret
She makes self-care a priority, despite a schedule that would make most of us collapse with exhaustion. “I’m getting better, each day, at doing something good for my body, mind and spirit,” she says. Transcendental Meditation (TM) is definitely on her to-do list. “I give myself a healthy dose of quiet time at least once a day,” she said in a post on her website, dedicated to the power of TM.
Oprah also believes in the powerful law of attraction – that if you can believe it, visualize and work for it, you can attract it. One of the key teachings of this belief is that our thoughts and actions are our own, and if we stay positive and visualize our dreams and goals, we will probably attract these things into our lives. With Oprah as our inspiration, we think this is definitely worth a try.
Creating opportunities
Oprah has been able to persuade and inspire so many people because she has consistently believed in herself and the good of others. She also doesn’t take herself too seriously, which can be an unusual trait in highly successful people!
Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.
The original influencer
In 2007, Vanity Fair magazine wrote about her: “Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on the culture than any university president, politician, or religious leader, except perhaps the Pope.” Deservedly, President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, the highest civilian honor in the U.S.A.
With her accomplishments as a media entrepreneur, actor, and mentor, Oprah is a woman we truly admire. Funny, compassionate and always genuine, long may she reign.
