Recently I had the opportunity to experience Oprah in a live talk.
Hearing her share her advice and life lessons in person had a profound impact on me.
I’m sharing with you here some of her musings, especially those that seemed to really resonate the most with the tens of thousands of women who got to hear her live.
Learn more about this article in this short video:
And, here’s the rest of the article in written form:
Here you are, direct from Oprah live:
- The reason you are here is because you’ve been called. Your real job is to hear what that is and honour it.
- You were born to share your calling in life in service of others. That is how your life gets validated.
- Your life purpose is the defining thread that runs through and connects the experiences of your life.
- If you don’t feel alive and vibrant every day, then switch your narrative to service as the ultimate paradigm – use what you do as an offering of service and your energy will change and shift.
- Every day we get to paint the canvas of our lives. We create our own reality. Success is about making more right choices than not and a piece of you dies when you lie to yourself or live in denial.
- Look to yourself first, always. Sit down with yourself and understand there is a lesson in everything.
- Your life is speaking to you all the time. Be still and know. The key is to have the courage to get calm and still enough to hear it.
- Your greatest power – and your only control – is in your own energy field. You waste energy wanting a situation to be different than it is – that’s what causes stress. Instead, accept it, embrace it and love it.
- The real work of your life is to do your work. Everything else is just passing time. It’s a privilege to be who you are – your real job is to figure out how to manifest who you are.
- Gratitude is the single force to change your energy. Consciously bring into your mind every day the things for which you are grateful.
It’s Your Turn.
Which of Oprah’s musings resonates with you the most and why? Make a comment below and be specific about why you chose what you did.
P.S. Speaking of feeling alive and vibrant every day, I’d love to teach you how to plan 2013 in your business, based on YOUR vision, passion and strengths. The Annual Planning SystemTM is a do-it-yourself, on-demand workshop if you want an easy and fast way to plan your amazing year. Get immediate access here: http://nadinenicholson.com/plan-year.
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
The one that resonates the most with me is “Every day we get to paint the canvas of our lives”. I came to that realization almost 10 years ago, when I did away with everyone else’s brushes and started using only my own. I stopped worrying about what made others happy and actively pursued my own dreams, wants and needs.
Yay for you Dana, thanks for sharing this.
I agree, Dana. I like that one too. In fact, I think it’s so in my bones I find myself saying it to my clients all the time.
There is a few that feel right. The one that I know is a fit and is practiced daily through my work and play is my life calling service of others.
I can’t pick a favourite-I feel the world does make sense when we can add value to other people’s lives through service, and I believe that we are here to create our lives (our masterpiece) and that its all tied together and brought to us through gratitude. So I pick 3 of them!
Josephene…”Every day we get to paint the canvas of our lives.” So 3 it is for you! Thanks
The one that resonates the most is “Your life is speaking to you all the time. Be still and know”. Something I know I don’t do enough (or ever) is be still and listen to myself and even though deep down I know it is so crucial.
Thanks Laurie. I would be willing to bet that is true for a lot of us. I hope this helped you to remember to do it more often.
Laurie, great honesty here! Just having this awareness is a big step in being still to know. You were still enough to know enough to post it. Even 5 minutes a day makes a difference so maybe give that a whirl and see what you find. ~ n
Hello Nadine,
So many powerful messages! Right now this one resonates most with me “Look to yourself first, always. Sit down with yourself and understand there is a lesson in everything.”
We so often look to other people for the answers or for support or for knowledge when it is all inside of us. Sit and be still. So powerful!
Thanks for this inspiring article
You’re welcome Kirsten! Thank you as well.
Kirsten, yes the answers are definitely inside you. Sometimes you need others to help you see what’s already in you but you don’t necessarily need them to tell you what they think.
I love number 10. Being thankful for what we have is so powerful. So often we tend to dwell on what we don’t have or compare ourselves to others. In the words of Sheryl Crow, “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”
Yay Valeri! Got to love Sheryl.
Love this post and call to action Nadine! What a great opportunity to be in the presence of Oprah! I think there are two that resonate with me the most. The first being #3. There are many threads that run through our lives and being able to connect the dots into a living, working passion is powerful. I also agree with being still. That is so important a) for sanity and b) to figure out just what our passions and threads in our lives are.
PS- Your kitty is so cute!
I too had the opportunity to experience and evening with Oprah’s energy. There was no singing or dancing but what she brought to the stage was purely inspirational, motivational stories from her incredible life.
#1 instantly took my breath away – Yes! “The reason you are here is because you’ve been called. Your real job is to hear what that is and honour it.”
All too often there are men and women alike who wait too long to answer: Who am I, Why am I here? I have been on the journey of self-discovery and my calling is to help others find the same… Thank you Nadine for re-affirming this for me. xo
Great post Nadine. And I so love number 3: “Your life purpose is the defining thread that runs through and connects the experiences of your life.” That is so true and often not something we “get” for awhile… but as I live and learn and study my life, choices, careers, and experiences to date, I do see this to be true. No matter what I have done, there is a thread that runs through it that connects them all and is my life purpose. I love that!! And the more we embrace it, the more of a happy, successful, passionate and authentic life we will live. Bravo!
The one that stood out for me is “If you don’t feel alive and vibrant every day, then switch your narrative to service as the ultimate paradigm – use what you do as an offering of service and your energy will change and shift.”
I’ve always had a “give your way to success” philosophy because when you shift the focus to others (without the expectation of receiving) you open the door to reciprocity and you naturally benefit. When you “give to get”, selfish intentions block the energetic flow of giving and receiving. When you start to pay attention you can see this in action.
It’s simple. Choose to be someone who “adds value and increase to the lives of others”. What goes around comes around – and everyone wins.
Nadine I LOVE this, because when it is all said and done, our spiritual life matters most.
I strongly believe our main responsibility in life is to discover our brilliance and calling, and serve others through it, more important than both of those combined is that you can begin in service even BEFORE you know your specific calling. Just be a helper of others.
I resonate with all of these musing, but #4 really stands out:
“If you don’t feel alive and vibrant every day, then switch your narrative to service as the ultimate paradigm – use what you do as an offering of service and your energy will change and shift.”
THANK YOU Nadine, for this uber-important conversation. It is the kind of talk I always look forward to having more of.
You are brilliant for having the vision to share it.
Love,
Margo
Margo, you’re welcome. I’m glad you resonated with the article and especially that particular quote. ~ n