Did You Know? with Gorick is the weekly newsletter by Gorick Ng, Harvard career adviser and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of The Unspoken Rules, where we deconstruct the untold paths to success — of people (or things) you know!
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Did You Know? You should set better goals this year!
(1) A story from the past
Did you know? Oprah Winfrey dreamed of becoming “famous” when she was in junior high. Almost six decades later, Oprah is considered one of the most powerful celebrities by Forbes and one of the most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.
How did she do it?
Did she create her own luck, as Ed Sheeran’s story shows us? Yes—and no. Oprah did something else: She worked towards her goals one small step at a time over the course of her six decade-long career (so far!).
Here’s what you should know about Oprah’s timeline:
- 1960s: Oprah wrote in a junior high homework assignment that she wanted to “become famous.” She wanted to “be in a position [to] be heard… because nobody listens unless you have some bling, some money, some clout, some access.”
- 1972: Oprah goes to college and becomes the youngest anchorwoman on a local radio station.
- 1976: Oprah drops out of college and moves to Baltimore to work as a co-anchor on the 6 o’clock news.
- 1977: Oprah is “demoted to ‘weekend features reporter’” because she was “too young and inexperienced to be an anchor.” She considered her new role to be the “lowest of the low” in the newsroom hierarchy.
- 1978: A new general manager, Bill Baker, arrives in Baltimore. He urges Oprah to take on a new daytime talk show. Initially hesitant, Oprah films the first episode, only to realize that talk television “was what I was supposed to do.”
- 1984: Oprah relocates to Chicago to host A.M. Chicago, a low-rated morning talk show. Within two months, Oprah took the show to the #1 spot in Chicago.
- 1986: Oprah goes national with The Oprah Winfrey Show. Within a year, it becomes “the highest rated talk show in American history.”
- 1996: Oprah starts a book club. Many of the featured books become bestsellers, which is later dubbed “The Oprah Effect” due to the immense influence of her endorsements.
- 2000: O, The Oprah Magazine launches, called “the most successful startup in magazine industry’s history” with more than $140 million in revenue in the first year.
- 2011: After 25 years on air, The Oprah Winfrey Show ends. At its height, 12 to 13 million people watched Oprah every day. The show also earned Oprah 46 Emmy Awards.
Today, Oprah—known as the “Queen of All Media”—still runs a successful empire, including a digital Oprah Daily magazine and the Oprah Winfrey television network, all part of her multimedia company, Harpo Productions. Her 55 awards and 93 nominations include the Golden Globe lifetime achievement award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
So, the next time you find yourself wondering if you’ll ever achieve your goals, remember Oprah—who took it one step at a time and created a legacy well worth the wait.
(2) A strategy for your future
Did you know? Reaching your goals is about incremental progress, not overnight perfection.
Want to reach your goals like Oprah? Try this:
(1) Ask yourself: “What does the pinnacle of career success look like to me?”
- E.g., “I want to receive the Academy Award for best director.”
(2) Ask yourself: “What are 10 people who’ve accomplished this goal over the last decade… and how long did they take to reach this same goal?”
- E.g., “Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert took 12+ years before winning the “best director” award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), Jane Campion took 41+ years for “The Power of the Dog” (2021), Chloé Zhao took 15+ years for “Nomadland” (2020), etc.”
(3) Ask yourself, “What micro steps did each of these role models take each year to get closer to their bigger goal?”
- E.g., “Jane Campion graduated from art school in 1981… produced her first short film in 1982… produced her second short film in 1983… produced her third short film in 1984… etc.”
(4) Ask yourself, “ Which of these steps have I taken… and which ones do I still have to take?”
- E.g., “I didn’t go to film school… but neither did Christopher Nolan… but I have released a short film. But I’ve only done one short film, so my next step should be to produce another one. And maybe go to some more socials where I can rub shoulders with important people as the director of Barbie did.”
Just because you have a good plan doesn’t mean your plan will go as planned. Success might find you sooner… later… or never. Like Oprah, we all have good days and bad days… good months and bad months, and even good years and bad years!
But, as the cliché goes, the months are long but the years are short. Instead of sticking to one absolute timeline (or somebody else’s timeline!), measure your success against your own progress. A series of slow steps towards your goal is still progress.
I know it because I’ve experienced it: My book, The Unspoken Rules, didn’t start out as a book project. It was an independent project during my MBA. But sentences became paragraphs… and paragraphs became chapters. And, before I knew it, I was an author!
Strive for progress, not perfection!
Gorick
