Take Responsibility

“I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew. I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.” 

 –Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is a one-of-a-kind businesswoman, talk show host, actress, and media mogul who now owns a television network. Winfrey focuses on how she took responsibility for her own life at an early age. In this quote, Winfrey stresses that she never thought of herself as someone who was “poor” or “deprived.” She chose not to see herself as disadvantaged in any way. Instead, she regarded herself as equal to everyone else and, like anyone else, knew she was the one responsible for her own life. Even as a young person, she was compelled to do something with her life. She knew no one else would do it for her. Winfrey brings home the importance of taking control of your own life as early in life as possible. She viewed her personal sense of responsibility as the key to “making good.” 

How to Apply Oprah Winfrey’s Tip to Your Life

Regardless of your background, you can be successful if you take responsibility for your own future.

Consider these ideas:

• Circumstances don’t control your future. Refuse to allow your personal situation to color your sense of who you truly are or what you can accomplish.

• Instead, view yourself as capable of achieving anything you set out to accomplish.

• Seek solutions to your challenges so you can keep moving forward toward your goals.

• Your success doesn’t depend on luck, where you live, or whether you’re rich or poor. It does depend, however, on how you step up to take responsibility for yourself. Avoid blaming others, making excuses, or just wishing things will get better.

Have faith in your Instincts

“Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something-your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”–Steve Jobs

You’ve no doubt heard of Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, Inc, and a successful entrepreneur and businessman who created iPods, iPhones, iPads, and numerous other technological wonders you can’t live without. 

The idea behind Jobs’ quote is significant because he talks about how you can’t know everything when you first set out to do something. Jobs believed one just has to have faith that in the scheme of life, what he does will eventually have an impact. Jobs stressed that you must have trust in what you’re doing. 

When you have that faith, you’ll continue your journey, doing what you have faith in. It’s only later, down the road, when you can look back and see the impact of your work. 

How to Apply Steve Jobs’ Tip to Your Life

Even though you may not have a complete sense of how what you want to do will fit in to the big scheme of things, if you truly feel it’s what you should be doing or that it’s the right thing to do, then just follow through with your pursuits. Have faith that you’re supposed to be doing what you’ve chosen. 

Regardless of whether you believe in destiny or prefer to listen to your gut: what does your internal “trust-meter” tell you to do? 

If you trust your instincts that something you want to do will be effective or useful to someone, then pursue it and keep doing it. If you continue in the pursuits you have faith in, you won’t be disappointed. Your work will eventually come to fruition.

Discover Your Passion

“Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.”–David Frost

David Frost, a British journalist and media personality, encapsulated one of the most important concepts of being successful: find something you’re truly passionate about and do it. If you feel strongly about something, no matter what it is, you’ll most likely enjoy perfecting your skills in that field and becoming an authority on your subject matter - fueling your success. Your chances of being successful greatly increase when you’re passionate about what you’re doing.

How to Apply David Frost’s Tip to Your Life

Once you discover your passion, all you have to do is just keep doing it to achieve success. For example: If you loved to work on cars as a teen, figure out a way to continue your mechanical pursuits and get paid for them as an adult. If you’re passionate about baking cookies and cakes, bake plenty of these pastries and sell them. You see, when you do what you love, you’ll enjoy the time you spend doing it. Plus, you’ll be compelled to experiment more with your chosen work and become better and better at whatever it is you’re doing. Your confidence will surge and so, too, will your success. Try these tips to bring more of what you love into your work life:

1.  What do you enjoy most? If your current career isn’t one of your choices, then consider bringing one of your hobbies into your work life. By building a career around a beloved hobby, you’ll enjoy your work considerably; then work will be more like play. Rather than quitting your job to do your hobby, try building a side income with your hobby first.

2. How can you monetize it? Determine several ways you can make a profit from your hobby. Could you sell what you make? Could you teach others your skills? Could you start a related business selling hobby supplies to others? Could you start a website where you discuss your hobby and sell advertising on it to bring in regular income?

3. Get started. Whatever plans you make for turning what you love into your work, take action toward making it a reality. For example, if you want further education or certification in your chosen line of work, enroll in a class. If you’re going to sell what you make, make some items and sell them - you could use Craigslist, eBay, put up a website, and more.

Have the Courage to follow your Intuition

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma-which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition- Steve Jobs

The only valuable thing is your intuition. Listen to your intuition. It will tell you everything you need to know. Your intuition is the gateway to your unlimited self, and all the wisdom, love and guidance you need to craft your life optimally! It is the ultimate navigation tool that when tapped and engaged, will chart the course to a dream-filled, blessed and 'on purpose' life. What's so exciting (and empowering), is that your intuition can be consciously accessed and applied! Your intuition is a phenomenal untapped tool ready and waiting to be harnessed for all manner of good things!
 It will serve you in all areas of life such as health, relationships, career, business, money, personal growth, diet, emotional fulfillment, deeper understanding about your life and path, etc. Your intuition opens the doors to True Success; success that reflects and expresses your unique gifts, talents and potential and your soul's calling. Every problem has a solution! Your intuition is the portal to those solutions and the guidance that will transform your life in from the inside out. As you heighten your inner senses, you will polish and refine your visualization skills and be able to more substantially envision your goals on all levels for their subsequent outer world manifestation. Your intuition grants you unshakable confidence and a new found trust in self and life. It is a unique kind of confidence that comes from knowing and experiencing your true value and worth, knowing that you are loved, and being open to receive that love in its many forms. When you fully unleash the power of your intuition, a whole new level of manifestation dawns. Your intuition engages the grace of co-creation. Your intuition anchors that guidance and support in your reality and opens your ears, eyes and heart in new alternate ways. It provides the insights, pointers, catalysts and opportunities, and empowered choices, so you can chart the course to your bliss. You are here to be YOU, not a carbon copy of another. Your dreams, hopes, desires, gifts, purpose and potentials are unique only to you! It's time to be a leader not a follower, a leader in and of your own life as well as in the lives of others. To be a leader means being in your seat of power, your authentic self, and shining your light, and the unique gifts and talents you have come to bring the world. The more you trust your intuition, the more empowered you become, the stronger you become and the happier you become. Accessing and experiencing who you truly are is a profound experience that will shift your energy and life. The divine essence that you are is more beautiful, radiant, brilliant and magnificent than you may yet be aware.