Journey to Oprah

I woke up pretty early to catch Good Morning America as Gayle King was on there discussing her and Oprah’s favorite things for Christmas. It was a good list and timely for people as it there were things you could get for under $30. A lot of nice items ranging from reversible jackets to premix cookie jars, but the one that stood out for me was the O Annual. Apparently Oprah had been doing this for years, and of course now that I’m EXTRA attentive, I notice these things a little bit more than when I was in dreamland except with no dreams. So I scurried over to Google and typed in where to find this magical book and it came up.

What was funny was that yesterday I had wrote so much about goals and dreaming big that I counted this as a sign. The more I read about the focus of the magazine the more things continued to fall into line. It was actually pretty surreal, but this year has definitely been a precursor of things to come. So buy the book and follow along with me! (You’d think they pay me to advertise! They don’t…)

What you should know by now: Some things that you desire will align to you without much effort.

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One of the main reasons why I started this blog was to achieve a goal. Well a few of them actually. First and foremost, it is to meet Oprah. And while that is a big goal I know it’s not unattainable. The second goal is to be a better writer. The third goal is to actually stick with something as I always felt like I could never stick with anything, like I was always going to have a laundry list of goals and wishes that I would never get around to and be like Dorothy off of Golden Girls when she found out that she made a list and did NOTHING on it. I knew that something as “simple” as writing a blog shouldn’t take much time out of the day as I always have something valuable to say that people would want to read right? WRONG. It’s a hard task because you are literally shifting a part of you to be something contrary to what you currently are. Zen Habits wrote an article on how to effectively ingrain a behavior and cuts the myth that it takes 21 days to change a habit, but rather 66 days.

But it’s even deeper than that.

It starts with the mind first.

Oprah Article – Make your dreams come true

Robin Smith talks about the power to change by starting with little steps and making sure that it starts with you not justifying why you should continue with the behavior you are trying to change, but being accountable and actually taking small steps towards the goal. A friend and I are actually practicing that now as we try to tackle the big goals that we have been trying to tackle for many years. Her goal is to take her vitamins, and mine is write a blog post everyday. While small, it’s steps to a bigger future goal that we both want to be able to get to. It also helps when you are held accountable not only by yourself but also by other people. There’s nothing worse than calling your friend and saying you failed at your goal. It’s not life or death, but then again it just may be.

What you should know by now: It starts with the mind.

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So Oprah has been having a lot of reruns on lately, which is a little expected, but still doesn’t stop me from learning something whether from the show or from the website. I searched deep within, and tried to figure out what most tugs at my heart, and that was my fascination of the simplicity yet often talked about road to success. I suppose it’s all in what you define success to be, and for me it’s just being at a place that I don’t really have to worry about half of the things that I worry about now. Or being financially capable take care of everything and everyone around me. But is that REALLY success? Now Webster (of course we always turn to HIM) defines it as: 1 obsolete : outcome, result
2 a : degree or measure of succeeding b : favorable or desired outcome; also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence

In a way, we can see success as something comes as a result of something. A result of obtaining the highest level of passion? A result of hard work? A result of a perceived level of self achievement? It’s gets really shady, but I feel that in order to totally understand it, you must be able to define it or see what it looks like. One person that stands out to me that really stays grounded as well as embodies success is Russell Simmons.

Article of the Day: Hip Hop Mogul Russell Simmons talks to Gayle King

Russell Simmons stands out to me because he is so versatile in both his interests and what he set forth to do in life to become such a success. He was able to see what was missing, and filled the void within society and continues to do that. I know what keeps me going is knowing that I’m able to be such a visionary, although I’m not always quick to take to action, I constantly wondered if I was doing enough. When you have so many ideas and things that you want start, it can get very overwhelming in knowing where to start, how you are going to start, and the team that you will have to back you. The main thing that I have learned over the years that Russell Simmons touches in his book Do You! is what a lot of Buddhist principles taught me that he also quotes in the article and that is a series of sayings “Money doesn’t bring happiness” and “There are no failures, only quitters.” “When you become more faithful, you become more present, you become happier, and therefore, greater contributors,” The main lesson here is to be present and follow your dreams, not the money, not anything material because it really does put things into perspective when you feel burnt out and depleted of passion. Above all else, stay true to YOU, and the secrets of success, will more apparent than ever before.

What you should know by now: Don’t worry, be happy.

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