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If you’re feeling uncertain about your future, you can relax, because you’re in good company. Most people, and that includes the rich and famous, have felt apprehensive about where they were headed in life. But, one trait could change all that.
Oprah Winfrey has achieved incredible success in her life. Deemed a “media mogul,” Oprah has gone from local TV personality, to a titan of industry. But, even she confesses that she tackled deep feelings of uncertainty throughout her life.
During an interview panel at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Oprah told participants that one crucial trait helped her to overcome her uncertainty and discover her life’s true purpose. That vital trait, is “self awareness.”
Sharing her wisdom with students, Oprah said “everyone has a calling,” and that calling is so much more than a job title, adding “you cannot determine what yours is, unless you take the time to actually know who you are and why you’re here.”
Oprah used experiences from her own life as prime examples. She cited how despite being a budding journalist in Baltimore, she was demoted from her co-anchor position, which demoralized her, but also awakened that deep feeling that she was still not yet fulfilling her personal destiny.
Overcoming that that career set-back in Baltimore, Winfrey went on to become a bonafide success in Chicago, where she hosted a long-running popular morning program for 25 years. However, she heard that inner voice and still felt that something was missing.
“I started to feel like this isn’t it. There’s something more … that’s calling me to what is a supreme moment,” Winfrey recounted. “And everybody has that.”
To find your true “something more,” Oprah says that we all need a level of self awareness that only comes from connecting with our inner voice. “I call it your emotional GPS system,” says Winfrey.
Oprah credits listening to her inner voice for her phenomenal success, adding, “I live a fantastic life. I live from the inside out.”
The Secret to Lasting Success and Happiness
It really starts with self-discovery. Who are you? What makes you tick? What are you passionate about? What is that voice inside you saying? That intuitive feeling deep within you is telling you something, and you have to take the time to listen to it. Countless high achievers have heard this voice and more importantly, listened to it and they credit this “self-awareness” not only for their success, but also for their happiness.
Sue Hawkes, author of “Chasing Perfection: Minimize Self-Doubt and Maximize Success” says that while many notable achievers extol the importance of listening to that intuitive inner voice, many of us fail to actually harness it because we’re too busy to really hear it and act on it.
To hear, connect with and, act on yours, she suggests finding a “quiet space” free from distractions and simply be calm — relax, keep still and…listen. Once you’re at peace and focused on your deepest self/thoughts, that’s when it happens.
And Oprah agrees: “Every decision that has profited me has come from me listening to that inner voice. Everything that I have, I have because I let it be fueled by who I am.”
Success and Happiness Are Not the Same Thing
We can have success, but not be happy. We can be happy, but not successful in the commonly accepted definition. Or, we can have both. To have both takes self-discovery and that means listening to our inner voice and finding out who we are, what we want to be, and, what makes us passionate in life. When you hear that voice inside telling you “you’re not where you want to be,” listen to it…hear what it has to say.
You can watch Oprah Winfrey’s full talk at Stanford here.