Monday Master Class: Oprah Winfrey on living in the moment, failure and purpose
The powerful nuggets of wisdom come one after another in this week’s Monday Master Class featuring Oprah Winfrey. That wisdom resonates on two different levels for me.
One is just the information she shares in this week’s video. It is invaluable. She is encouraging us all to slow down and appreciate the moment. As I plug away at The Entrepreneurial Musician, TEM Coaching, The Brass Junkies, Hitz Academy, being a father, being a husband, being an artist, being a teacher, it can be hard to live in the moment! And every single one of you has a list just like mine!
The benefits of slowing down, taking a deep breath and being in the moment are backed up by science. It helps to clarify our purpose and mission. It helps us to execute that mission more succinctly. It helps us as artists. It helps us as humans.
Like many people, the lessons she imparts in this video are ones that I need to hear over and over again. Today I took a 4-mile hike by myself in the woods and stopped to meditate for 10 minutes next to a fast moving river. It was easy to be present under those conditions.
My problem is there’s a good chance I won’t take any time tomorrow to slow down and be present. In fact, if I’m not intentional about it I almost certainly won’t. That’s why watching things like this video from Oprah are so important for me. When I hear people like her speak so eloquently on the subject it forces me to take action in the best way possible.
The other level of this video is that Oprah Winfrey is such a talented speaker. This is a series of clips from different settings, from large speeches to one-on-one interviews. It is a masterclass in how to give a talk.
Because I have spoken to over 1,000 people probably a couple of thousand times in my career I am pretty darn good at it. But I ain’t Oprah level! I’m not even in the same area code as the same conversation of Oprah in that department. So I like to re-watch something like this video and just analyze her speaking skills.
The dynamics. The pacing. The inflection. What she emphasizes and what she doesn’t. It’s all so damn good and I have so much to learn from her.
I hope you enjoy this week’s installment of the TEM Monday Master Class!