10 Rules For Success From Oprah Winfrey
Last Updated on 4 years by Iva Ursano
How can I be successful in life? Ah the million dollar question. Many have tried all kinds of tactics, some have succeeded while the rest of us sit back, scratch our heads and wonder where we went wrong. I’m gonna share the 10 rules of success from Oprah Winfrey.
But first…
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Rules for success
Many of us think there are a few secrets to success but fact of the matter is there is no one real secret to success. Sorry to have to break it to you.
There isn’t just one golden rule everyone should follow and then suddenly we all become millionaires. Nope. And besides, success means a lot of different things to everyone. For some, success does mean making it to a million dollars. For others, it’s just making it past the paycheque and having a wee bit leftover.
But success isn’t only about how much money you have in the bank either. There’s so much more to success than that. Success can also include some of these things too:
- being a good parent and raising wonderful children
- getting a promotion at work
- quitting an addiction
- leaving a job you hate for work you love
- making new friends
There is so much more to success so you can see the rules for success will be different or applied differently for everyone. It isn’t just being a millionaire. If you have a look at the definition of success you can see that’s true:
That’s pretty cut and dry. It could be money, work, fame, fortune, or any of the things I mentioned above. It’s about achieving something. Reaching goals. A victory.
Ok so now that we got that out of the way, let’s take a look at some success stories before we go on to Oprah’s Winfrey’s rules for success. The reason I want to share a couple of stories with you is twofold.
- To show you that anyone can be successful no matter what kind of life they lived, and
- You didn’t need to be raised with a silver spoon in your mouth to be successful.
You might also love to watch this video from Oprah Winfrey on the rules of self love. This one is awesome! She is awesome!
Success story #1-Oprah Winfrey
Let’s take a look at Oprah Winfrey herself! Why not start by sharing a beautiful success story. I’m sure we all know her story but in case you don’t, it went down something like this:
- born into poverty
- her father left right after she was born
- molested as a teenager by family members
- she was sent to live with her grandmother and then eventually with her father
- she went on to excel in school and received a full scholarship to Tennessee State University
She was a determined and headstrong young lady who believed in herself, did not let adversity stop her and went on to be the successful and powerful woman we know today.
Now if you take a look at her early years, we can see she struggled and certainly wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She became a success story because she stopped at nothing to achieve her goals.
Success Story #2-John Paul DeJoria
The hairstylist in me wants to share this story. In case you don’t know who this guy is allow me to enlighten you! He is the cofounder of Paul Mitchell hair care products and styling line. His story goes something like this:
- bounced around in foster homes after parents divorced and neither could provide a good home for him
- after 2 years in the Navy, he took on low income jobs and slept in his car for some time
- in 1980 took out a $700 loan and along with his hairstylist friend Paul Mitchell, founded John Paul Mitchell Systems.
- the rest is history
Now I know these are kinda rags to riches stories but I want to show the path of determination here. The never giving up attitude that is required to have success, in any area of your life.
But before we get to the meat and potatoes here and the rules for success from Oprah Winfrey, I want to share my new self help eBook mini series with you. There are books for just about every issue you are dealing with from:
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10 Rules for Success
I have to say, the first key to being successful really is determination, followed by unshakable faith. Unfortunately, the latter is tough to maintain. It’s hard for many of us to have faith in things we cannot see. Amirite?
So what does Oprah Winfrey have to say about how to be successful? Here are her 10 rules, and a few empowering quotes, to help you get on track to achieving goals and becoming your own success story.
1 Follow your own path
We’re so busy watching other people and so desperately wanting to be like them that we forget our own path and what lights our own hearts on fire. What makes your heart sing? What is the one or two things that you do sometimes that bring you so much joy your heart feels like it wants to explode?
Think about those things and never mind what your neighbour is doing. They are on a totally different path than you are. It’s hard to achieve goals if you’re chasing someone else’s dreams. We are not in competition with anyone but ourselves. If you want to know how to be successful, the first thing is to make sure you are staying true to you and your dreams and goals.
2 Celebrate your life
Why do we forget to do this? Life itself is something to celebrate and the more we give gratitude and praise to our life, the more things we will have to be grateful for. We spend too much time worrying about things we don’t have and we don’t stop and take time to appreciate all the amazing things we do have.
That in itself, those things you have, are there to show you how successful you are right now in this moment but when you take time to give thanx for them, well just watch and see what happens. Stop and smell the roses. Stop for a few moments each day and celebrate the life you have now and all the wonderful things you have in your life right now.
This will not only bring about great joy, but you will feel successful. Trust me on this one.
3 Don’t make it all about the money
Don’t get me wrong, we all love money. Who doesn’t? And we all want more of it. I mean, the more money we have the more freedom we have to do things we really want to do. But fact of the matter is, when you focus on money, you lose sight of the bigger picture. So what is the bigger picture?
It’s different for many.
Most of us just want to be happy, but money doesn’t buy happiness. To be successful doesn’t need to translate to I have all this money and I’m rich and now I want more. Instead, make it about how you can serve others. How you can help others. Maybe you can solve someone’s problem either physically, emotionally, educationally or otherwise. You have smarts that someone else needs.
Make it about serving and see how success will follow you.
4 Find your purpose in life
This one is a tough one, I get that. Not many of us are even close to knowing what our purpose in life is but once you finally know it, your whole world will explode. This recent article I wrote on that might help you. Give it a read before you leave.
How To Find Your Purpose in Life in 5 Simple Steps
This is a pretty powerful and inspirational blog on finding your purpose and the true meaning of your life. When you find your purpose, in my opinion, that’s one of the biggest secrets of success. I feel until we do, we’re just chasing things, like money, with no clear focus. It’s frustrating and leaves us feeling like scattered squirrels.
One of Oprah Winfrey’s quotes, a fantastic, profound and empowering quote is this:
That’s pretty powerful. Think about that for one minute. Nail down your purpose in life and your a-ha moment will follow! You might want to have a look at this book by Oprah Winfrey on finding your life purpose-Click the image below to take you to the book.
5 Do your best, no matter what
Always do your best. No matter what. No matter who’s watching or who’s not. You do your best for you. When we do that, and know that without a shadow of a doubt we did our absolute best, well that my friend is one of the secrets to success.
You can go to bed at night knowing you did your best and that’s all that should ever matter. Don’t worry about what others think or if Johnny didn’t do his best or Sally slacked off. It’s not about them and their success, it’s about you and how you feel knowing your worked your ass off and did the best you could.
Trust me, that’s an amazing feeling!
6 Make a difference in someone’s life or the world
Can you do that? Can you make time to make a difference in someone’s life or maybe even the world? Too many of us think “oh I can’t do that” but you need to stop thinking like that. I’m pretty sure Oprah Winfrey never once thought that. Ever. She knew without a doubt she could and would make a difference and she forged ahead.
Yes you can make a difference, even if it’s just teeny tiny. What may seem small to you might be huge for the person you are making a difference for. Don’t forget that. Another great Oprah Winfrey quote goes something like this:
What an uplifting quote! So powerful. Your light can shine brightness around the world. Never think that it can’t. Here’s another amazing and insightful book by Oprah Winfrey you might like. Click the image to take you to the book-
7 Have a clear and big vision
I think we all have a vision of what we want to achieve in the world. Do we want to put a dent in poverty? Do we want to help save puppies and kittens? Whatever it is that you want to do, make sure it’s big and clear. See what you want as something that can be achieved, maybe even with a little help from some friends if need be.
When we have a clear vision of what we want, the question of how to be successful will just be another equation in the journey to bringing our vision and our dreams to life. You’ll figure it out, with the help of the Universe and other powers to be. Have faith, trust and don’t lose sight of your vision ever.
Be crystal clear, and you’ll see (pardon the pun)
8 Forget luck
I really don’t like the word luck. I don’t really believe in luck and so many people are sitting around waiting to ‘get lucky’ with something so they can be the next success story. Wipe that word and thought, luck, from your mind and your vocabulary.
Luck doesn’t play a part in how to be successful at all. Nope nope nope. Remember, it’s focus, determination, faith, finding your purpose, doing what you love and so many other things. But not luck.
9 Start taking baby steps
Or big steps or whatever size steps you feel comfortable with, but for the love of God and everything holy, you must start taking steps to realizing your dreams. How on earth are you going to be successful or achieve your goals if you don’t take action? Forget that luck thing, right?
It’s work and action. And it’s all up to you. I love asking this burning question: “How bad do you want it”?
Really, how bad do you want it? Whatever it is that you want. Now I get that taking steps, especially that first step, is scary af. Trust me. I totally get it. But if you don’t start now, if you don’t take that step today, then when?
10 Find your calling
Kinda like find your purpose in life, but a little different. What are you called to do? What do you feel like you are called to do? Do you have a big heart? Do you make people laugh and smile? Are you a great listener? Oh the possibilities are endless. We all have something inside of us that is our calling.
I think my calling is to help people and make people smile and feel good about themselves, to give them hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Another great and uplifting Oprah Winfrey quote goes like this:
Do what makes your heart sing. Do what brings you the greatest amount of joy. Do what you love to do and know that you would do it even if no one paid you or recognized you for it. Do you!!!
Don’t ever forget these important rules for success
So you can clearly see, the rules for success have little to do with money and more about following your heart, serving others, being true to yourself and having faith.
If you feel you are falling into a slump and not as successful as you’d like to be or should be, refer back to these 10 rules for success and apply them to your life.
Then sit back and watch what happens.
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