Light Up Your Life: Get on Board with Oprah

I was just getting ready to create my next post, “Stuck in a Rut and What to Do About It” when my friend and colleague Gail Perry of Fired Up Fundraising called to talk about what we would write an article about for Guidestar.

Gail and I are working together on a project to make material about capital campaign fundraising available on line and Guidestar has agreed to run a piece for us.

It’s serious stuff, so I was surprised when Gail started reading me headlines from O, The Oprah Magazine.

I recoiled!

Popular magazines? Mass appeal? Who me?

And then, much to my amazement, I realized that each time Gail read me an Oprah headline, I wanted to read the article.  (Well … maybe not the one about the Summer Hair Repair Kit.)

Inspiring Messages and Exciting Outcomes

Each headline focused on an exciting outcome. Each gave me the sense that if I read it I’d learn something useful.  Perhaps I’d even find something that’d change my life for the better.

Try this one, for example, from the August issue:

50 Things That Will Make You Say WOW! Fun, Inspiring Ideas Guaranteed to Light Up Your Life

Can you resist it?

I can’t. I can almost taste the WOW! And boy would I be happy to light up my life. Who wouldn’t?

Or how about this one?

Calling All Scatterbrains: 4 Tricks to Help You Focus

Boy, do I ever need some tricks like that!

Okay, I get it.  Gail’s right. I’ve got lots to learn from Oprah (and from Gail).

Oprah Knows What People Want and She Delivers

She knows that people of all stripes want to feel great and to be focused and productive and have fun.

You want to be exciting and excited.

You want to look great and be great and accomplish great things.

Me too.

Guess I’ll join millions of others and get my subscription to O.

And I promise you this:

I won’t ever again consider writing a blog post with the headline “Stuck in a Rut.”  Instead, I’ll write about “Five Ways You can Jet-Propel Yourself into an Exciting, Productive and WOW! Future.”

So stay tuned. 😉

TryThis

Frame What You Say in the Language of Positive Outcomes

Learn a lesson from Oprah. Study the covers of O Magazine and make a list of the words that excite and inspire. Start peppering your language with them and see what happens.

Okay, I know I’m pathetically late in getting on board with Oprah. You’ve probably been watching and reading her for years. If so, what bit of Oprah has made a difference in your life? I want to hear all about it in the comments.