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Lessons from Oprah

Lesson # 1: Set High Goals   

“I always knew I’d be a millionaire by age thirty-two,” said Oprah in 1987. “In fact, I am going to be the richest black woman in America.” 19 years later, with a net worth of $1.4 billion, Oprah became not only the richest black woman in America, but also one of the richest people in the world. She ranks 235 on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list and almost 30 million American houses tune in to her show daily to hear her talk about everything from relationship problems to business investments to human rights abuses around the world.

This success has not come by chance. Oprah has made her fortune by setting clear and ambitious goals on both the professional and personal levels. “The big secret in life is that there is no big secret,” she says. “Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”
According to Oprah, the biggest hurdle people need to overcome in order to be successful is their belief that there are limits to how much they can accomplish. Goals need to be set and set high; expectations need to be limitless; and ambition cannot be restrained. “If you believe you can only go so far, it is an obstacle.”

Gut instinct has been one of the largest driving factors behind Oprah’s success. “Be quiet,” she says. “Part of your responsibility is to honour the quiet inside yourself so you can hear the call.” Her prescription for doing so is to “take five minutes to centre yourself in the morning…set your intention every day…if you don’t have five minutes, you don’t deserve to have the life of your dreams.”

Oprah’s gut instinct was responsible for the move of the entire production of The Oprah Winfrey Show from L.A. to Chicago. An impulse decision, Oprah and the crew then dedicated themselves to working around the clock, taping two shows every day, to successfully ensure their ratings did not slip by even one point. “Follow your instincts,” she advises. “That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.”

When Oprah’s impulse also told her to change the direction of the show and take the content to a higher ground, there was a real concern among the others involved who worried the show would drop in the ratings. But, Oprah trusted her gut, saying, “It took a lot of courage to take the high road, but I would rather be significant with six million people watching a show with meaning, than everyone watching a show with no meaning”.

Her desire to set and have control over her own professional goals is evidenced by the creation of Harpo Studios, a production company founded by Oprah herself to produce The Oprah Winfrey Show, among other pursuits. On a personal level, Oprah decided to finally conquer her lifelong challenge with weight by losing almost 70 pounds. “Whatever you fear most has no power,” she says. “It is your fear that has the power.”

When she first began her television career, Oprah established the goal of hosting a successful talk show for 20 years, after which time she would happily quit. That time has since come and gone and Oprah shows no signs of slowing down. She continues to be a hugely successful talk show host, actress, publisher, and producer and is constantly looking to the future for new opportunities. “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for,” she says. “Always continue the climb.”


Lesson #2: Rise Above Your Obstacles

“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity,” says Oprah. “Don't fight them. Just find a different way to stand.”

Oprah is a woman of extremes; she is extremely successful, extremely powerful and extremely passionate about what she does. But, her success has come at the end of a long road of other extremes: obstacles. From sexual molestation to drug abuse to racism, Oprah has endured an inordinate amount of both personal and professional challenges on her path to becoming the richest woman in America.

Born as a poor, black, and out of wedlock child, Oprah already had the odds stacked against her. Raped at the age of nine and sexually harassed by family members for the next four years, Oprah turned to a life of rebellion and drugs. It was not until she went to live with her father, who imposed strict discipline on the young Oprah and encouraged her education that she began to turn her life around. With a renewed focus on school and the encouragement of her father, she overcame the mental trauma of harassment and went on to win a scholarship at a reputable university.

Reflecting on her youth, Oprah says, “You can take from every experience what it has to offer you. And you cannot be defeated if you just keep taking one breath followed by another.”
She has extended this philosophy into the professional realm as well. Faced with both racial and gender discrimination in the world of American broadcasting in the 1980s, Oprah was even more determined to succeed.

Ironically, Oprah also experienced racism from African Americans, who believed she was only hired as a ‘token’ minority due to quotas that were imposed following the riots of the 1970s. To this, Oprah responded, “Yeah, but I'm a paid token.”

Despite the blows she was routinely dealt, Oprah never stopped fighting to achieve her goals. She became the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville’s WTVF-TV.

Initially unsuccessful as a news anchor and thrown off the air due to her tendency to get emotional, the event made Oprah realize her passion for television. “I came off the air and said to myself, ‘this is what I should be doing. It's like breathing.’” Fueled with this newly ignited desire, she re-invented herself as a talk show host and used her ability to relate to people to propel her into becoming the most successful female television talk show host of all time.

“We are each responsible for our own life – no other person is or even can be,” says Oprah. That is why it is crucial not to let challenges, be they your own characteristics, events, people, or other uncontrollable factors, act as barriers between you and your goals.

“Energy is the essence of life,” she says. “Every day you decide how you’re going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus.” Overcoming the obstacles present in your life is precisely what will give you the confidence to achieve your goals.

Having triumphed over those hurdles she faced on her meteoric rise up, Oprah continuously faces new challenges with the increasing scope and success of her media empire. The difference now is that she is better equipped to deal with the challenges. “You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more,” she says. “The right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it.”    ###