17 Success Tips from Billionaire Oprah Winfrey on Principles, Mindset, & Career

Oprah Winfrey is one of my favorite billionaires because she’s unique. Unlike the others, she overcame two discriminating obstacles (being black and female) to become a billionaire in an industry where billionaires are rare: entertainment. On top of that, she had a tough early life of sexual and physical abuse, and she miscarried a child as a teenager.
If that’s not enough, she was born in mediocre situations. She was conceived after a single sexual encounter under a tree. Her dad left her mom immediately after. It just goes to show you that anyone has the potential to become someone amazing.
And she did it, while staying happy and kind (something you can’t say for many rich people).
After spending a lot of time studying her (reading her book What I Know For Sure, watching her Stanford Q&A, listening to an NPR special on her, etc.), I wanted to share with you some of her secrets to success. Some will be applicable only to the entertainment industry; others will be helpful universally in becoming wealthy and successful.
If you prefer listening to reading, you can click play on the player (or Subscribe on iTunes) below to listen to the podcast version of this article:
1. Be Enthusiastic
Oprah was always bursting with energy and emotion. She talked about topics she was deeply interested in, like female dating. It made her magnetic. When she announced the next book in her book club, she said it like she was announcing the most important message in the world. This passion translated to her viewers.
2. Keep Your Blinders On And Run Your Own Race
There will always be copycats, so be okay with it. During her long TV host career, Oprah told her everyone on her to keep your blinds on and run your own race. What she meant was to focus on themselves and not on what any other talk show host was doing.
She also said, “You can’t win the race by looking over your shoulder.” And she was right. Over two hundred talk shows came and went during Oprah’s time as a host.
None of her team ever went out to do any research on what other hosts were doing and therefore, they never copied anyone else. When Oprah started getting successful, big TV executives tried to copy her format by hiring black, female hosts, but it didn’t work. They were searching for a formula they could replicate, but couldn’t find it.
3. There Are Only Two Emotions: Love And Fear
You can only experience love or fear, but not both at once. This was a mantra that Oprah internalized in her team. It helped out when they went to Georgia after the biggest riot and lynching of the country back in the 80’s to interview people.
Racism was rampant and it was a dangerous time. The locals sent Oprah’s team death threats to leave but the they were not scared because they followed Oprah’s mantra to only live by love.
4. Be Fearless of What You Want To Do and Take the Leap
Take risks. Discover what you want to do with your life over time and commit to it. For decades, the content of Oprah’s show was trashy because they featured a lot of controversial, scandalous topics (think Jerry Springer). But it was the #1 show in the world and had viewership 12 to 13 million a day.
She had spent years finding her “message and mission” and finally decided it was to raise the consciousness of others.