Over 34 years ago, when Oprah started as a morning host for A.M. Chicago, the first episode was less than a success, to say the least. In her own words, she said it was a disaster. But she made it through, kept going and…well, look at her now.
This is the same woman who was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. Then she was molested during her childhood and early teens and became pregnant at 14 only to have her son die in infancy. Also the same woman whose sister died of drug abuse and her brother died of AIDS. Yes, this is that same Oprah. But she overcame.
Many of us struggle with where we are now to where we want to be in life, so how do we get there? How do make the American dream come true in real life? Here, Lady O takes a look back down memory lane in order to give her personal tips on how to do it.
1. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” Turn your mess into a message. Don’t let your pain be in vain. Do something positive with it!
2. “You can have it all. Just not all at once.” Be patient. Have an order. Prioritize. Focus on what you want, now. Plan for what you want later.
3.“If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn’t want you, nothing can make him stay.” All you can do is be yourself, that is the only thing you can control. Focus on that.
4. “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” You know you reached a high level of integrity when you don’t even care if people know or not. You just do it.
5. “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” Never become too busy or too preoccupied to celebrate everything you have done, all that you have and all that you are!
6. “One of the hardest things in life to learn are which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.” You can’t keep all of them. You can’t make everyone happy.
7. “You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe.” There is nothing more influential than your thoughts.
8. “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” Love yourself and all the world to love you too!
9. “Only make decisions that support your self-image, self-esteem, and self worth.” Become extremely intentional with everything that you do. Be fully on purpose. Make sure everything you do supports who you are and who you want to be.
10. “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” Stress comes from thinking that things should have been different. But they have worked out this way for a reason. ALL you can do is keep moving forward.
11. “So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground.” Everything that we go through gives us new perspective, information and insight. Embrace all of it.
12. “I don’t believe in failure. It’s not failure if you enjoy the process.” There is no failure, only feedback. Everything is either what you want, or what you don’t want. But failure is not real.
And if you need a little bit more encouragement, Here is a 3-step game plan from Ms. O.
13. Find a stress-management tool. It can be yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, prayer, etc. Find a ritual that’s right for you to help combat stress, because you WILL have stress. It’s not something to run from, stress IS life. Which is why growing in life involves coping with stress in a healthy way.
14. Devise a physical fitness routine. Ideally, one that you can handle and be consistent with. Talk with a trainer or your doctor to come up with a plan that will help you succeed in both your physical fitness and healthy life goals. Also, remember that consistency is the key. If you visit places where people live a long time – Costa Rica, Sardinia, places in China, Okinawa in Japan – they all follow consistent fitness routines.
READ: Oprah’s Breast Cancer Scare
15. Have faith in a power other than yourself. Last, but not least, the wisest and most successful people on this Earth didn’t achieve what they have alone. Instead, they embraced a strong network of others who helped support and challenge them to do their best. This means everything from making yourself more spiritually healthy to picking up the phone to talk to friends and family. There’s loving support all around you – whether you realize it or not.
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