Few years ago, I decided as you will at some point that it was time to recalculate.
Find new territory.
Break new grounds.
So I ended the show and launched OWN.
The Oprah Winfrey network.
One year later, after launching OWN, nearly every media outlet had proclaimed that my
new venture was a flop, not just a flop but a big bold flop they called it.
It really was this time last year, the worst period in my professional life.
I was stressed and I was frustrated and quite frankly I was I actually embarrassed and I
started thinking about when the morning might come, cause at the time I thought I was stuck
in a hole and the words came to me trouble, trouble don't last always from that hymn.
This too shall pass.
And I thought as I got out of the shower, I am gonna turn this thing around.
And I will be better for it.
And when I do, I'm gonna go to Harvard and I'm gonna speak the truth of it.
So I'm here today to tell you, I have turned that network around.
it doesn't matter how far you might rise at some points you are bound to stumble because
if you're constantly doing what we do, raising the bar.
If you're constantly pushing yourself higher and higher the law of averages, not to mention
the myth of Icarus predicts that you will at some point fall.
And when you do, I want you to know this.
Remember this.
There is no such thing as failure.
Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.
Now when you're down there in a hole, it looks like failure.
And when you’re down in the hole, when that moment comes, it’s really okay to feel bad
for a little while.
Give yourself time to mourn what you think you may have lost but then here’s the key,
learn from every mistake because every experience, encounter, and particularly your mistakes
are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are.
And then figure out what is the next right move.
And the key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you
which way to go.
when you inevitably stumble and find yourself stuck in a hole that is the story that will
get you out.
What is your true calling?
What is your dharma?
What is your purpose?
don’t expect the clarity to come all at once, to know your purpose right away.
Maya Angelou always says, “When you learn, teach.
When you get, give.
That my friends is what gives your story purpose and meaning.
There has to be some way that this darkness can be banished with light.But no matter what
challenges or setbacks or disappointments you may encounter along the way, you will
find true success and happiness if you have only one goal, there really is only one, and
that is this: to fulfill the highest most truthful expression of yourself as a human
being.
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.
Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that, because what the world needs
is people who have come alive.
From time to time you may stumble, fall, you will for sure, count on this, no doubt, you
will have questions and you will have doubts about your path.
But I know this, if you’re willing to listen to, be guided by, that still small voice that
is the G.P.S.
within yourself, to find out what makes you come alive, you will be more than okay.
You will be happy, you will be successful, and you will make a difference in the world.