Oprah Winfrey is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011.
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Foreign [Music] Because the truth is I know I would have Never gotten my degree at all because I Didn't go to Stanford I went to a Tennessee State University But I never would have gotten my diploma Uh at all because I was supposed to Graduate back in 1975. But I was short one credit I was short one credit and I figured I'm Gonna just forget it because uh you know I'm not gonna march with my class Because by that point I was already on Television I'd been in television since I was 19 and a sophomore Granted I was the only television anchor Person that had an 11 o'clock curfew During the 10 o'clock news Seriously my dad was like well that news Is over 10 30 be home by 11. uh but that Didn't matter to me because I was Earning a living I was on my way so I Thought I'm going to let this college Thing go and I only had one credit but My father from that time on and for Years after was always on my case Because I did not graduate he'd say Over Gale that's my middle name I don't Know what you're gonna do without that Degree and I'd say but Dad I have my own Television show And he'd say well I still don't know What you're going to do without that
Degree And I say but Dad now I'm a talk show Host You'd say I don't know how you're gonna Get another job without that degree [Music] So in 1987 Tennessee State University Invited me back uh to speak at their Commencement by then I had my own show Was nationally syndicated I'd made a Movie I've been nominated for an Oscar And founded my company Harpo but I told Them I cannot come and give a speech Unless I can earn one more credit Because my dad's still saying I'm not gonna get anywhere without that Degree So I finished my coursework I turned in My final paper and I got the degree and Uh my dad was very proud And I know that if anything happens that One credit will be my salvation So no why my dad was uh insisting on That diploma because as BB King put it The beautiful thing about learning is That nobody can take that away from you And learning is really in the broadest Sense what I really want to talk about Today because your education of course Isn't ending here in many ways it's only Just begun the world has so many lessons To teach you I consider the world this Earth to be like a school and our life The classrooms and sometimes here in
This planet Earth School the lessons Often come dressed up as detours or Roadblocks and sometimes as full-blown Crises and the secret I've learned to Getting ahead is being open to the Lessons Lessons from the grandest universe of All that is the universe itself It's being able to walk through life Eager and open To self-improvement and that which is Going to best help you evolve because That's really why we're here to evolve As human beings So to grow into being more of ourselves Always moving to the next level of Understanding the next level of Compassion and growth I think the great One of the greatest compliments I've Ever received I interviewed with the Reporter when I was first starting out In Chicago and then many years later I Saw the same reporter and she said to me You know what you really haven't changed You've just become more of yourself And that is really what we're all trying To do become more of ourselves and I Believe that there is a lesson in almost Everything that you do in every Experience and getting the lesson is how You move forward it's how you enrich Your spirit and trust me I know that Inner wisdom is more precious than Wealth the more you spend it the more
You gain so today I just want to share a Few lessons meaning three That I've learned in my journey so far And aren't you glad don't you hate it When somebody says I'm gonna share a few And it's 10 lessons later So it's only going to be three The three lessons that have had the Greatest impact on my life have to do With feelings With failure and with finding happiness A year after I left College I was given The opportunity to co-anchor the six O'clock news in Baltimore because the Whole goal in uh in in the media at the Time I was coming up was that you try to Move to larger markets and Baltimore was A much larger market than Nashville so Getting the six o'clock news co-anchor Job at 22 was such a big deal it felt Like the biggest deal in the world at The time and I was so proud because I Was finally going to have my chance to Be like Barbara Walters which is who had Been trying to emulate since the start Of my TV career so I was 22 years old Making twenty two thousand a year and It's where I met uh my best friend Gail Who was an intern at the same TV station And once we came we became friends we'd Say oh my God I can't believe it you're Making 22 000 and you're only 22. Imagine when you're 40 and you're making 40.
When I turned 40 I was so glad that Didn't happen So here I am 22 making 22 000 a year and Yet it didn't feel right It didn't feel right the first sign as President Hennessey was saying was when They uh tried to change my name The news director said to me at the time Nobody's going to remember Oprah so we Want to change your name Come up with a name we think that people Will remember and people will like it's A friendly name Susie Very friendly you can't be angry with Susie remember Susie but my name wasn't Susie and you know I'd grown up not Really loving my name because when You're looking for your little name on The lunchboxes and the license plate Tags you're never going to find Oprah so I grew up not loving the name but once I Was asked to change it I thought well it Is my name and do I look like a Susie to You so I thought no it doesn't feel right I'm Not going to change my name and if People remember it or not that's okay And then they said they didn't like the Way I looked This was in 1976 where your boss could Call you in and say I don't like the way You look now that would be called Lawsuit but uh
Back then like could you say I don't Like the way you look which in case some Of you in the back if you're you can't Tell is nothing like Barbara Walters so They sent me to a salon Where they gave me a perm and after a Few days all my hair fell out and I had To shave my head and then I really Didn't like the way I looked Because now I am black and bald and Sitting on TV [Music] But even worse than being ball I really Hated hate it hated being sent to report On other people's tragedies as a part of My daily Duty knowing that I was just Expected to observe when everything In my instinct told me that I should be Doing something I should be lending a Hand so as president Hennessey said I Cover a fire and then I'd go back and I Try to give the victims blankets and uh I wouldn't be able to sleep at night Because of all the things I was covering During the day and meanwhile I was Trying to sit gracefully like Barbara And make myself Talk like Barbara And I thought well I could make a pretty Goofy Barbara And if I could figure out how to be Myself I could be a pretty good Oprah I Was trying to sound elegant like Barbara And sometimes I didn't read my copy
Because something inside me said this Should be spontaneous you know it should Be spontaneous so I wanted to get the News as I was giving it to the people so Sometimes I wouldn't read my copy and It'd be like six people in a pile up on I had 40. oh my goodness [Music] Sometimes I wouldn't read the copy and I'd be because I wanted to be Spontaneous and I'd come across a list Of words I didn't know and mispronounced And one day I was reading copy and I Call Canada Kanata and I did just that I Cracked myself up on the air And I Decided I'm this Barbara thing's not Going too well I should try being myself But at the same time my dad was saying Okay this is opportunity of a lifetime You better keep that job And my boss was saying this is the Nightly News you're an anchor not a Social worker just do your job so I was Juggling these messages of expectation And obligation and feeling really Miserable with myself I go home at night And fill up my journals because I've Kept a journal since I was 15 so I now Have volumes of journals so I'd go home At night and fill up my journals about How miserable I was and frustrated and Then I'd eat my anxiety that's where I Learned that habit
And after eight months I lost that job They said I was too emotional I was too Much but since they didn't want to pay Out the contract they put me on a talk Show in Baltimore and the moment I sat Down on that show the moment I did I Felt like I'd come home I realized that TV could be more than just a playground But a platform for service for helping Other people live their lives and the Moment I sat down doing that talk show It felt like breathing it felt it felt Right and that's where everything that Followed for me began and I got that Lesson when you're doing the work you're Meant to do it feels right and every day Is a bonus regardless of what you're Getting paid [Music] And how do you know when you're doing Something right how do you know that it Feels so What I know now is that feelings are Really your GPS system for life When you're supposed to do something or Not supposed to do something your Emotional guidance system lets you know The trick trick is to learn to check Your ego at the door and start checking Your gut instead every right decision I've made every right decision I've ever Made has come from my gut and every Wrong decision I've ever made was a Result of me not listening to the
Greater voice of myself If it doesn't feel right Don't do it that's the lesson and that Lesson alone will save you my friends a Lot of grief even doubt means don't this Is what I've learned there are many Times when you don't know what to do When you don't know what to do Get still Get very still Until you do know what to do And when you do get still and let your Internal motivation be The Driver not Only will your personal life Improve but you will gain a Competitive Edge in the Working World as well Because as Daniel pink writes in his Best seller a whole new mind He says we're entering a whole new age And he calls it the conceptual age where Traits that set people apart today are Going to come from our hearts right Brain as well as our heads It's no longer just The Logical linear Rules-based thinking that matters he Says it's also empathy and joyfulness And purpose inner traits that have Transcendent work the these qualities Bloom when we're doing what we love so When we're involving the wholeness of Ourselves and our work both our Expertise and our emotion So I say to you forget about the fast Lane if you really want to fly just
Harness your power to your passion honor Your calling everybody has one trust Your heart and success will come to you So how do I define success Let me tell you money's pretty nice [Music] I'm not gonna stand up here and tell you That it's not about money because money Is very nice I like money [Music] It's good for buying things But having a lot of money does not Automatically make you a successful Person What you want is money and meaning You want your work to be meaningful Because meaning is what brings the real Richness to your life What you really want is to be surrounded By people you trust and treasure and by People who cherish you that's when You're really rich so lesson one follow Your feelings if it feels right move Forward if it doesn't feel right don't Do it Now I want to talk a little bit about Failings because nobody's journey is Seamless or smooth we all stumble we all Have setbacks if things go wrong you hit A dead end as you will It's just life's way of saying time to Change course So ask every failure this is what I do
Every failure every crisis every Difficult time I say what is this here To And as soon as you get the lesson you Get to move on if you really get the Lesson you pass and you don't have to Repeat the class and you don't get the Lesson it shows up wearing another pair Of pants Or skirt To give you some remedial work And what I found is that difficulties Come when you don't pay attention to Life's whisper Because life always Whispers to you First first and if you ignore the Whisper sooner or later you'll get a Screen whatever you resist persists but If you ask the right question not why is This happening but what is this here to Teach me what is this here to teach me It puts you in the place and space to Get the lesson you need my friend Eckhart Tolle who's written this Wonderful book Uh called A New Earth it's all about Letting the awareness of who you are Stimulate everything that you do he puts It like this he says don't react against A bad situation merge with that Situation instead and the solution will Arise from The Challenge Because surrendering yourself doesn't Mean giving up it means acting with
Responsibility Thank you And the whole time I kept asking that Question What is this here to teach me And as difficult as that experience has Been I got a lot of lessons I understand now the mistakes I made Because I had been paying attention to All of the wrong things I built that school from the outside in When what really mattered was the inside Out so it's a lesson that applies to all Of our Lives as a whole what matters Most is what's inside what matters most Is the sense of Integrity of quality and Beauty I got that lesson not a small Topic this is finding happiness but in Some ways I think it's the simplest of All Gwendolyn Brooks wrote a poem for Her children it's called speech to the Young See the progress toward And she says at the end live not for Battles won live not for the end of the Song live in the along She's saying like art Eckhart Tolle that You have to live for the present you Have to be in the moment Whatever has happened to you in your Past has no power over this present Moment because life is now But I think she's also saying be a part Of something don't live for yourself
Alone This is this is what I know for sure In order to be truly happy you must live Along with and you have to stand for Something larger than yourself because Life is a reciprocal exchange to move Forward you have to give back and to me That is the greatest lesson of life To be happy you have to give something Back It's clear and that is if you're hurting You need to help somebody else ease Their hurt If you're in pain help somebody else's Pain and when you're in a mess you get Yourself out of the mess helping Somebody out of theirs and in the Process you get to become a member of What I call the greatest Fellowship of All the sorority of compassion and the Fraternity of service [Music] Foreign High a spiritual surge you gain from Serving others so if you want to feel Good you have to go out and do some good But when you do good I hope you strive For more than just the good feeling that Service provides because I know this for Sure that doing good actually makes you Better So whatever field you choose If you operate from the Paradigm of Service
I know your life will have more value And you will be happy I was always happy doing my talk show But that happiness reached the depth of Of uh of fulfillment Of uh of joy that I really can't Describe to you a measure when I stopped Just being on TV and looking at TV as a Job and decided to use television to use It and not have it use me to use it as a Platform to serve my viewers that alone Changed the trajectory of My Success So I know this that whether you're an Actor you offer your talent in the way That most inspires art if you're an Anatomist you look at your your gift as Knowledge and service to Healing If you choose To offer your skills and talent in Service When you choose the Paradigm of service Looking at your life through that Paradigm It turns everything you do from a job Into a gift So you've been enriched in countless Ways there's no better way to mark Make Your Mark on the world and to share that Abundance with others My constant prayer for myself is to be Used Foreign Service For the greater good
[Music] So let me end with one of my favorite Quotes from Martin Luther King Dr King said not everybody can be famous But everybody can be great because Greatness is determined by service Yet those of you who are history Scholars may know the rest of that Passage he said you don't have to have a College degree to serve You don't have to make your subject and Verb agree to serve you don't have to Know about Plato or Aristotle to serve You don't have to know Einstein's theory Of relativity to serve you don't have to Know the second theory of thermodynamics And physics to serve you only need a Heart full of grace and a soul generated By love you have the heart and the Smarts to go with it And it's up to you to decide really Where will you now use those gifts [Music]
