“What I know for sure is that if you want to have success, you can’t make success your goal,” says Oprah Winfrey. “The key is not to worry about being successful, but to instead work toward being significant – and the success will naturally follow.”
Oprah’s success has not come easily, but rather as the result of a number of crucial factors:
A Goal-Oriented Focus: “You become what you believe,” says Oprah. “You are where you are today in your life based on everything you have believed.” Oprah’s unwavering belief in her abilities is what drove her to focus all of her life’s energy on reaching her objectives. Focused on a career in broadcasting, Oprah ignored all other diversions until she had achieved her goals. Once a successful talk show host, she continued to diversify in areas within broadcasting. Oprah’s single-minded focus allowed her to concentrate all of her time and energy into achieving the life of her dreams.
The Ability to Overcome Diversity: Having experienced much abuse and adversity as a young child, Oprah developed the survival instinct at an early age. She learned the lesson that if you wanted to not only stay alive but also make something of yourself you had to fight. This would well prepare her for the obstacles she would later face in the worlds of broadcasting and business.
The Ability to Recognize and Seize the Opportunity: “I don’t believe in coincidences,” says Oprah. From hosting a talk show, to acting, to utilizing the Internet to bring her company online, Oprah has listened to her inner voice and grabbed every opportunity she believed was necessary to achieve her goals. She was not afraid to venture into the unknown or reinvent herself through various media. Her success also lies in the opportunities she has turned down, such as thousands of dollars worth of brand endorsements, which might have put her company in jeopardy. Listening to her gut instinct has allowed Oprah to take advantage of numerous opportunities, which otherwise might have gone unnoticed.
A Sense of Responsibility to Others: Early on in her career, Oprah asked, “How can I be of service? How can I use television as a service?” Oprah has since demonstrated that social consciousness can make good business sense. Her dedication to the causes in which she believes and the passion with which she appeals to her audience for support has set her apart from other television personalities. Her desire to give back not only to her own community, but also to communities around the world, has endeared Oprah in the eyes of the public.
The Courage to Follow her Passion: “I was called to talk, to use my voice in some way,” says Oprah. From the very moment that Oprah discovered her natural flair and passion for broadcasting, she directed all her energy toward feeding that passion. It was her passion for what she was doing that drew people in and made her so appealing to audiences worldwide. Oprah’s passion conveys authenticity, which allows people to get an inside glimpse into her true self and garners a sense of trust between her and her audience. Equipped with this love of communicating with people and a staunch belief in her true calling, Oprah was propelled to new heights.
“I don’t think of myself as a businesswoman,” she says, but Oprah’s success proves otherwise. While these factors for success may not be unique to Oprah, their combination and the manner in which they were embraced enabled her to reach to new heights.
How She Did It: Oprah’s Success Factors
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