Disclaimer: I take no credit for this article. I am publishing it in my blog because it fits in with the theme of my blog and I admire Oprah's success. The source of this article is mentioned in the end.
1) Don’t let others define you or tell you what you can’t do.Oprah Winfrey said: “Nobody had any clue that my life could be anything but working in some factory or a cotton field in Mississippi. Nobody.” For her entire life people have been telling Winfrey what she can’t do— and why. But Winfrey hasn’t listened to them. Rather, she says, she listens to her own instincts. “Gut [instinct] is what got me where I am today,” she said in 1998.
2) Take responsibility for your life.That doesn’t mean you have to absolve others of wrongdoing if you’ve experienced that in your life. It just means you still have to overcome it. As a victim of sexual abuse, Oprah Winfrey had the triggers that have led countless others to drug and alcohol addictions. But Winfrey wasn’t looking to check out from life; she was looking to lead a productive and fulfilling life. She took responsibility for how her life would turn out. “I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good,” she said.
3) Embrace God.Oprah Winfrey said: “There’s only one way I’ve been able to survive being raped, molested…only one way to cope with fears of pregnancy, my mother on welfare…my faith in God got me through.” Reading the Bible has been part of Winfrey’s everyday routine. She has said: “I act as if everything depends upon me and pray as if everything depends on God.”
4) Have compassion for others.Winfrey had a compassion she just couldn’t, and maybe didn’t want to, hide. While this was considered a “negative” for a news anchor by her bosses, it proved to be one of her great strengths as a talk show host.
5) Study the competition.When Winfrey was starting out, Phil Donahue was the king of the talk shows. “I watched Phil every day to see what I could learn,” she said.
6) Just be yourself.Winfrey’s genius lay in just being herself. She said, “My head hurts when I have to be in any situation where people are being phony. So if I can’t be myself and take my shoes off when my feet hurt, then I’m not going to do very well.”
7) Live your life with passion.Winfrey’s audience could see that from the start she was engaged in something she loved when she was doing her show. “I’m a person who lives my life with great passion, and I think that comes across on camera. …I believe you’re here to live your life with passion. Otherwise, you’re just traveling through the world blindly—and there’s no point in that.”
8) Pursue quality in your work first—money will follow.Pursue the work you love, which allows you to do it to the best of your ability. It is only then that money will follow. Today Winfrey’s net worth is estimated at around one billion dollars, making her one of the wealthiest women in the world. But the pursuit of money was never her objective, only the pursuit of quality. “Part of the reason why I am as successful as I have been [is] because success wasn’t the goal. The process was. I wanted to do good work,” she said.
9) Have a generous heart.After the murder of four-year-old Angelica Mena at the hands of a convicted child abuser, Winfrey hired former Illinois governor James Thompson to draft a 1aw that would create a national registry of people convicted of child abuse. Winfrey then lobbied hard for it. In December 1993, the National Child Protection Act, which was nicknamed the “Oprah Bill,” became law. Winfrey has also used her wealth to give her family better quality of life and to help needy and worthy students attend college on scholarships, in addition to other numerous charitable causes. “Education is freedom, and that is one way you can make a huge difference in someone’s life,” she said.
10) Read.As a little girl, Winfrey could almost always be found with a book in her hand. Reading brought her comfort and perspective, especially when she was young and troubled. “Books showed me there were possibilities in life, that there were actually people like me living in a world I could not only aspire to but attain. Reading gave me hope. For me, it was the open door.”
11) Continue to grow—personally and professionally.By 1990 Winfrey decided that her topics, which had helped bring her to the top, were for the most part too frivolous. She wanted to do shows of more substance that made a difference in people’s lives. By growing as a host, Winfrey has stayed influential and relevant. “I want to use television not only to entertain, but to help people lead better lives. I realize now, more than ever, that the show is the best way to accomplish these goals,” she said.
12) Guard against hypocrisy.In January 1995, during a show that dealt with a guest talking about her drug use, Winfrey admitted her own drug use when she was in her early twenties. She called it her “great shame.” She said: “I would have felt like a hypocrite, not saying [I had smoked cocaine], talking to people about baring their souls and standing there like I didn’t know what they were talking about.” Regarding her relationship with her half-sister, Patricia Lee, who sold the tabloids the story of Winfrey’s teenage pregnancy and her premature baby’s subsequent death, Winfrey said: “I didn’t feel I could continue to go on the air speaking to people about forgiveness if I couldn’t do it myself. There was a lot of pain, a lot of stuff let out. But I did it so that we could go on and live with each other.”
13) Strive to be the best.“The greatest contribution you can make to women’s rights, to civil rights, is to be the absolute…best at what you do,” Winfrey said.
Source: http://lovemorenyatsine.wordpress.com/watering-your-spirit/
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Most Powerful Tools: Your action, Your Words
I grew up often confused by the behaviors and actions of other people. Too often, people would say one thing then do another. Naturally, I assumed this was how things were done. After many years using this method, I started to question this way of doing things, but only after I suffered much heartache and pain from my decisions and actions. But wisdom grows out of our mistakes.
Maybe you wish you would have made better choices in life, thus far. Perhaps you wish you would have been kinder, more generous or a better friend. If you could do it over again, maybe you would do things differently. But none of that matters because each moment gives you another chance to make a different choice—right now. In each moment, you can start again.
No one knows how you are feeling or anything about you except what they observe. What you show other people through your demonstration will tell them everything they need to know about who you are today. Your actions and words are your most powerful tools for self-expression; they reflect neither your past nor your future, but represent only this very moment.
And who you are in this very moment is exactly who you choose to be. Your present behavior has a way of erasing unfavorable past actions or behavior and shapes more positive future conditions.
Be kinder to yourself. Stop giving undue thought to what you haven’t done in the past; stop feeling guilty for what you don’t think can do in the future. Think only of what you are doing now and do it with all your strength, with all your conviction, and with all your heart.
Your words and actions grow out of your beliefs and thoughts. In order to live an exceptional life, you must live your life from your highest truths and exemplify your greatest ideals.
Be patient with people who appear to be wrong. Be grateful for people who appear to be right. Always listen carefully, take a deep breath, and think before you speak. Let your humble heart and your sincerest truth shape your words, not your ego! Don’t be so arrogant as to cherish your own opinion to the exclusion of other possibilities. Always be willing to accept new truth and greater awareness when it’s time to do so.
What are you demonstrating to other people? In every exchange with another person, are you expressing your highest ideals and beliefs? Live your life from your highest truth and give others the freedom to live from theirs.
Maybe you wish you would have made better choices in life, thus far. Perhaps you wish you would have been kinder, more generous or a better friend. If you could do it over again, maybe you would do things differently. But none of that matters because each moment gives you another chance to make a different choice—right now. In each moment, you can start again.
No one knows how you are feeling or anything about you except what they observe. What you show other people through your demonstration will tell them everything they need to know about who you are today. Your actions and words are your most powerful tools for self-expression; they reflect neither your past nor your future, but represent only this very moment.
And who you are in this very moment is exactly who you choose to be. Your present behavior has a way of erasing unfavorable past actions or behavior and shapes more positive future conditions.
Be kinder to yourself. Stop giving undue thought to what you haven’t done in the past; stop feeling guilty for what you don’t think can do in the future. Think only of what you are doing now and do it with all your strength, with all your conviction, and with all your heart.
Your words and actions grow out of your beliefs and thoughts. In order to live an exceptional life, you must live your life from your highest truths and exemplify your greatest ideals.
Be patient with people who appear to be wrong. Be grateful for people who appear to be right. Always listen carefully, take a deep breath, and think before you speak. Let your humble heart and your sincerest truth shape your words, not your ego! Don’t be so arrogant as to cherish your own opinion to the exclusion of other possibilities. Always be willing to accept new truth and greater awareness when it’s time to do so.
What are you demonstrating to other people? In every exchange with another person, are you expressing your highest ideals and beliefs? Live your life from your highest truth and give others the freedom to live from theirs.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
"If I wrote a note to God"
I absolutely love this song....it is so inspirational. To all of you who are struggling....don't give up. This song will lift your spirits up.!
There are no failure-just experiences and your reaction to them.
I had a set back and I didn’t do too well in one of my exams. As my inspirational videos indicate there are several ways I can handle this setback. Yes, I had my moments of sadness and disappointments. But I also have choices in how I choose to move forward. I can choose to continue to wallow in it or choose to pick up, go on and learn from it. Enclosed is a video that inspired me to look at the glass half full rather than half empty.
Set back and failure is part of life but your reaction to them will determine the success of reaching your goals in the the future. The key is how you choose to handle it and how you choose to deal with it. It’s important to acknowledge your disappointments but also important not to wallow in it for too long.
I acknowledge that I won’t be gifted in every subject in my program and that I will struggle in some of the subjects. But I know that I can learn and push myself to do better. My attitude in how I choose to deal with failure and set backs in the program and in my life will determine the success of reaching my goals.
Who I am today and in the future is a reflection of my thoughts. And I choose to think that I will overcome this and I will learn from this. I will also choose to think that I will do much better in the exam I will rewrite. I need to believe that I will succeed and do well.
Know that set back and failure is a part of life. How you handle to deal with it is the key to success. I choose to deal with my set-back with a positive mental attitude. Spending more time studying the subject, will ensure that I grasp the concepts, in turn it will give me the knowledge and confidence to do well in my job.
Set back and failure is part of life but your reaction to them will determine the success of reaching your goals in the the future. The key is how you choose to handle it and how you choose to deal with it. It’s important to acknowledge your disappointments but also important not to wallow in it for too long.
I acknowledge that I won’t be gifted in every subject in my program and that I will struggle in some of the subjects. But I know that I can learn and push myself to do better. My attitude in how I choose to deal with failure and set backs in the program and in my life will determine the success of reaching my goals.
Who I am today and in the future is a reflection of my thoughts. And I choose to think that I will overcome this and I will learn from this. I will also choose to think that I will do much better in the exam I will rewrite. I need to believe that I will succeed and do well.
Know that set back and failure is a part of life. How you handle to deal with it is the key to success. I choose to deal with my set-back with a positive mental attitude. Spending more time studying the subject, will ensure that I grasp the concepts, in turn it will give me the knowledge and confidence to do well in my job.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Take the Time to Renew yourself
Hello from Denmark
I’m on a vacation de-stressing after four months of continuous stress. It is important to de-stress your body, spirit and mind in order to renew yourself. That is why time out and vacations are so important. It can be as simple as a three day retreat but it has to be absolute stillness, where your body, mind and soul is totally relaxed.
People who do not take this time out, are more than likely to develop post traumatic stress symptoms, all sorts of diseases and ailments. There are many benefits to de-stressing the mind, body and soul. Research have proven the benefits are endless and the bottom line is you cannot get away with not de-stressing. It is medicine that is needed to help renew and rejuvenuate your vibrant body, mind and soul. Many successful people have this as one of their secret receipe to their success.
Denmark is a beautiful country and I’m embracing the culture. I’m just going with the flow and not stressing too much about anything, especially my diet. I am a vegetarian and since I have been here I pretty much let that go. But I am OK with it and I am not sweating it too much. I want to experience the small window of opportunity and embrace their culture to the fullest. Some things are just not worth stressing over and for me, I let my diet go. So far, it has been a wonderful experience.
For my next goals, I’m looking at seeking part time employment while pursuing my MBA and at I found myself stressing out about it. Even my prayers began to sound demanding and stressful. Than, I began to realize I just needed to let go and put my life and trust in my higher power. Instead of pleading in my prayers, I changed the tone to surrendering each day to my higher power and the universe in employment opportunities. I needed to put my trust in knowing that my higher power is looking out for me and pray more for guidance and direction. When I did that, I felt the load lifted, and it was the most amazing feeling. The stress of just letting all the worries go was unbelievable feeling.
I know it's not easy for many, especially in this difficult economic crisis and many people are suffering. But faith always seems to help me in times of distress.
This does not mean, I don’t visualize the type of work I want or that I can't create affirmations. I still have to do these activies. I just need to trust and believe that my higher power/universe is working to create that perfect job for me.
I send blessings to each and every one of you :)
I’m on a vacation de-stressing after four months of continuous stress. It is important to de-stress your body, spirit and mind in order to renew yourself. That is why time out and vacations are so important. It can be as simple as a three day retreat but it has to be absolute stillness, where your body, mind and soul is totally relaxed.
People who do not take this time out, are more than likely to develop post traumatic stress symptoms, all sorts of diseases and ailments. There are many benefits to de-stressing the mind, body and soul. Research have proven the benefits are endless and the bottom line is you cannot get away with not de-stressing. It is medicine that is needed to help renew and rejuvenuate your vibrant body, mind and soul. Many successful people have this as one of their secret receipe to their success.
Denmark is a beautiful country and I’m embracing the culture. I’m just going with the flow and not stressing too much about anything, especially my diet. I am a vegetarian and since I have been here I pretty much let that go. But I am OK with it and I am not sweating it too much. I want to experience the small window of opportunity and embrace their culture to the fullest. Some things are just not worth stressing over and for me, I let my diet go. So far, it has been a wonderful experience.
For my next goals, I’m looking at seeking part time employment while pursuing my MBA and at I found myself stressing out about it. Even my prayers began to sound demanding and stressful. Than, I began to realize I just needed to let go and put my life and trust in my higher power. Instead of pleading in my prayers, I changed the tone to surrendering each day to my higher power and the universe in employment opportunities. I needed to put my trust in knowing that my higher power is looking out for me and pray more for guidance and direction. When I did that, I felt the load lifted, and it was the most amazing feeling. The stress of just letting all the worries go was unbelievable feeling.
I know it's not easy for many, especially in this difficult economic crisis and many people are suffering. But faith always seems to help me in times of distress.
This does not mean, I don’t visualize the type of work I want or that I can't create affirmations. I still have to do these activies. I just need to trust and believe that my higher power/universe is working to create that perfect job for me.
I send blessings to each and every one of you :)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Journal to Achieve Your Goals
There are so many great ideas out there to help you achieve your goals. The ideas are endless and they’re all great. You have to choose what works best for you. We are all different and what works best for me, may not work for you.
Research has shown over and over, successful people have some kind of ritual that helped them to believe in themselves. Some pray, some do affirmations, and some journal. Whatever it was they believed these rituals helped them to achieve their goals.
One of the rituals I absolutely swear by is journaling. I get most of my ideas through journaling. I always start my journal by listing what I have achieved that day so that I could see what I have accomplished. Then I just ramble about what I’m feeling. Usually it’s something I’m not happy about, or I wished I had done differently, or need to improve.
Then immediately after I assess my feelings or emotions I start to go into tackling problems and ideas start to flow. I come up with all kinds of ideas in how I can improve and make my life better. A lot of times its about creating schedules and times to exercise, study, and plan meals or I need to apologize to so and so. and etc. Sometimes it’s just emotional, and I acknowledge my feelings and deal with it. If I need to make changes in my life to so that I emotionally feel better than I work that out in my journaling.
Our greatest enemy can be our negative thoughts. Journaling and affirmations are great tools to help us exercise positive thoughts. Like our body needs food, our minds need daily exercise of positive. I have read so many books on how our mind produces more negative thoughts than positive. Like exercise for our bodies, we also need to exercise positive thoughts.
I use journaling to attack those negative thoughts by rewriting those negative thoughts into positive ones. Then I use these positive thoughts in my daily affirmations until I don’t need them anymore. If they come back, I have my affirmation stored in my computer.
Journaling allows you to be absolutely free with your thoughts and it is a tool to help you assesses yourself or your day. Did we achieve what we accomplished to set out today? Was I kind to a person today? What do I want to work on so that I am a better person? What did I achieve today? If I’m not happy about something, what choices can I make to improve this?
Once you come up with great ideas to make changes. It’s important you put that in a different form of writing other than your journal, like a contract, calendar, check list etc.. to help you fulfill those changes. Don’t expect perfection. The first step is acknowledgement and the second step is doing something about it. Most importantly, give yourself a pat on the back for your achievements that you accomplished that day.
I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Delphine
Research has shown over and over, successful people have some kind of ritual that helped them to believe in themselves. Some pray, some do affirmations, and some journal. Whatever it was they believed these rituals helped them to achieve their goals.
One of the rituals I absolutely swear by is journaling. I get most of my ideas through journaling. I always start my journal by listing what I have achieved that day so that I could see what I have accomplished. Then I just ramble about what I’m feeling. Usually it’s something I’m not happy about, or I wished I had done differently, or need to improve.
Then immediately after I assess my feelings or emotions I start to go into tackling problems and ideas start to flow. I come up with all kinds of ideas in how I can improve and make my life better. A lot of times its about creating schedules and times to exercise, study, and plan meals or I need to apologize to so and so. and etc. Sometimes it’s just emotional, and I acknowledge my feelings and deal with it. If I need to make changes in my life to so that I emotionally feel better than I work that out in my journaling.
Our greatest enemy can be our negative thoughts. Journaling and affirmations are great tools to help us exercise positive thoughts. Like our body needs food, our minds need daily exercise of positive. I have read so many books on how our mind produces more negative thoughts than positive. Like exercise for our bodies, we also need to exercise positive thoughts.
I use journaling to attack those negative thoughts by rewriting those negative thoughts into positive ones. Then I use these positive thoughts in my daily affirmations until I don’t need them anymore. If they come back, I have my affirmation stored in my computer.
Journaling allows you to be absolutely free with your thoughts and it is a tool to help you assesses yourself or your day. Did we achieve what we accomplished to set out today? Was I kind to a person today? What do I want to work on so that I am a better person? What did I achieve today? If I’m not happy about something, what choices can I make to improve this?
Once you come up with great ideas to make changes. It’s important you put that in a different form of writing other than your journal, like a contract, calendar, check list etc.. to help you fulfill those changes. Don’t expect perfection. The first step is acknowledgement and the second step is doing something about it. Most importantly, give yourself a pat on the back for your achievements that you accomplished that day.
I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Delphine
Monday, March 16, 2009
Affirmations & Inspirations
After a long break from my blog, I decided to touch base today. I honestly hit a brick wall and was so overwhelmed with my school work I had no time for nothing else. My school work became my focus and priority. I had to set a side many things, including my blog. The stress and workload was overwhelming. There were peiords where I felt many times, I could not do this.
But I wrote an affirmation specifically for myself and read it each day before I began my day. I also followed it with a prayer and that seemed to help me get through these difficult times. I set goals for myself each day and I try as much as possible to follow them. I still need to work hard on time management and using my time more efficiently. Identifying the problem is the first step, which I've done. I just need to continue to work on improving in this area.
When times are tough, which they're most times, I go to youtube, and watch inspirational videos. That always seems to lift my spirits and renew my energy. One video in particular that has touched me is the video about the two guys who raised a Lion, Christian. After a year of raising him they released him to the Wild in South Afarica. When they reunited with him after he was in the wild for a while, it was such an emotional union. I have to be honest and say, I cried. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWtRYaxmWM&feature=related
I also find this video inspirational. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEqdr_Awdak&NR=1
Since beginning this proram, I have somewhat neglected my loved onces. I know, it was not the smart thing to do. People say, sometimes to get ahead we have to make scrafices. But spending time with our loved ones, should not be one of them. The nurturing we get through their love, is part of who we are. Now that I have more time to work on creating more balance in my life, I'm making an effort to connect more with family.
I have given up a lot since beginning this program and clothes shopping was one of them. In some ways it has been a positive scrafice, because I've saved tone of money. It's great to be back and I hope to commit to writing atleast once a week. I want to thank my followers for being patient with me.
I hope you have a great week.
But I wrote an affirmation specifically for myself and read it each day before I began my day. I also followed it with a prayer and that seemed to help me get through these difficult times. I set goals for myself each day and I try as much as possible to follow them. I still need to work hard on time management and using my time more efficiently. Identifying the problem is the first step, which I've done. I just need to continue to work on improving in this area.
When times are tough, which they're most times, I go to youtube, and watch inspirational videos. That always seems to lift my spirits and renew my energy. One video in particular that has touched me is the video about the two guys who raised a Lion, Christian. After a year of raising him they released him to the Wild in South Afarica. When they reunited with him after he was in the wild for a while, it was such an emotional union. I have to be honest and say, I cried. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWtRYaxmWM&feature=related
I also find this video inspirational. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEqdr_Awdak&NR=1
Since beginning this proram, I have somewhat neglected my loved onces. I know, it was not the smart thing to do. People say, sometimes to get ahead we have to make scrafices. But spending time with our loved ones, should not be one of them. The nurturing we get through their love, is part of who we are. Now that I have more time to work on creating more balance in my life, I'm making an effort to connect more with family.
I have given up a lot since beginning this program and clothes shopping was one of them. In some ways it has been a positive scrafice, because I've saved tone of money. It's great to be back and I hope to commit to writing atleast once a week. I want to thank my followers for being patient with me.
I hope you have a great week.
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