Wheel of Life Strategies and How They Will Be Applied In My Life
I am beginning my applied wheel of life strategy with Les Brown’s “You Gotta Be Hungry” video. I was very skeptical about listening to any motivational speaker over the years of my life because I did not feel anyone could tell me how to improve myself. I have always been a hard worker striving to reach the high pillars of any job I worked. Went to work early, stayed late and did whatever was asked of me by my supervisors until I learned to do things without asking or being asked to do them. This was what I thought living was. As I listened to Les Brown, I began to realize I don’t know jack. Even though my work ethic is stronger than most, I haven’t even scratched the surface of reaching my full potential in life. The first thing that hit me hard was hearing Les tell me to overcome negative conversations and stop listening to the critics and myself and just say ‘NO!’ to them all, including myself. That hit me hard because when I go to an interview I have second thoughts and psych myself out and then I’m all nervous and the interview isn’t as smooth and solid as it should be. Takes me about 10 to 15 minutes into the interview to begin to relax. I know I have what it takes to rock interviews and ensure I am the best candidate for the position I applied for. I have to learn to replace the negative conversations with positive ones. While I am in school, I have been looking for a job until I finish my schooling and get the career I will be happy with. Les Brown said be fearless. Give all that you have. Be persistent in getting what you want in life and don’t quit until you get it. I listened to Oprah Winfrey while she was interviewed at the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, Change the World. Oprah’s brand is to empower people’s lives through education. Each of her endeavors are personal because of her early childhood when her mom had told her there was not going to be a Christmas that year, therefore no presents and no Santa Claus. On the night of Christmas Eve, three nuns knocked on their door and had baskets of food and presents for her and her sisters. She was so relieved because now she didn’t have to figure out what to tell her friends at school about the gifts she did not receive. She couldn’t believe that someone she didn’t know and that did not know them could find them and bring them what it was they were in need and/or want for. Oprah may not have received the toys she wanted but she received something similar. She explains that in order to obtain your philanthropic reach, you must start with what you are most passionate about. What you give comes from how you want to give and how you have been given to. This is why Oprah has a strong charge through education. It is through education from her early years that she learned what she wanted to do. Oprah was invited to spend ten days at Nelson Mandela’s home and she had no idea what she was going to say and was frightened by this. One day they were reading the newspaper and struck up a conversation over current events in the world. Poverty was the event and he asked how she would change poverty. Oprah said she wanted to build a school in Africa and minutes later Nelson was calling people he knew about this and later that day she was explaining her ideas to the school board. When the school was completed and all the ideas were set in place in order to safe guard the children from abuse from men, abuse still occurred from the women in the school. This was a critical blow but Oprah did not give up. She realized that in order to build your platform you needed to have leadership and train your people before you set up your infrastructure. It never occurred to Oprah that abuse could or would come from women. During this time Oprah stepped out of the box and came up with different ways to overcome different problems. Years later after hearing so often from a diverse group of people that she has changed their lives in one any or another, Oprah developed The Angel Network to let people know that wherever they were in their life, whatever space they were in or status is, you have the power to give back from where you are and to use your life because that is what all our lives are for. To use your life as a force of something bigger and the laws of nature say that what you put out comes back and when you do that from the center of yourself is what true humanity is all about. Life is better when you share it. Oprah believes when you give with true engagement of what you have and how you give what it is you’re giving, that is when you will be truly rewarded exponentially. Oprah has touched, influenced and changed the lives of millions of people around the world through her multiple platforms of television and radio shows and personal appearances. She has given millions of dollars through grants to those who help others above and beyond what is expected. As she explained earlier, it is not about how much money you have to give. It’s about the passion you have when you give what you want to give. Oprah interviewed Caroline Mays who wrote a book called Anatomy of the Spirit and Caroline said something that struck a nerve in a lot of people including Oprah. “Most people who lead their lives are following a course that is not their own and unless you can find the course that is truly your own, you will remain off course. When you betray yourself you are no different than the person that hurt you.” This really struck me hard. It made me realize why I am here and how I have been living. I am here to give true love to those that give true love to me. I believe I have failed in this. I have always been passionate about work job/career and not so much about the work it takes to make a relationship stronger. Since the 2nd or 3rd week of this class I have put more energy and work into my relationship and it is slowly becoming stronger. There are the occasional hiccups but out of the box thinking and open conversations help smooth out the bumps. When my relationship and family are happy, then the job/career will evolve.
With the words and wisdom through education of Les Brown and Oprah Winfrey, nothing is unobtainable if you put your mind and your whole being into it and network with those that have accomplished what you are trying to do.