Go Oprah Go

Posted on June 10, 2009 - Filed Under A Day in the Life of an Entrepreneur, Jane Thoughts, Which Jane Are You?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the five types of female entrepreneurs our research has uncovered because I’m working on a series of audio recordings. The recordings share the top three things that each type needs to focus on to have greater joy and financial success, too, in her business. In the process, I’ve realized that it’s not just important to understand what type you are, but truly, to honor and respect what type you are, so you can move forward in your business with greater clarity and ease. No type is “wrong” or “bad,” it just is. And if you’re not comfortable with the way things are in your life and your business right now, you can admit it, appreciate it, and then move on by taking steps to fix the challenges you’re facing.

As I’ve been thinking about honoring who you are as a woman business owner, I keep feeling my heart tugged back to Oprah’s Best Life Week show in January, in which she talked about having gained 40 pounds. (You can watch snippets of the show here)

Oprah is a Go Jane GoMillions of people watched that show and were incredibly moved by it. As always, Oprah was authentic and very real, but she showed her vulnerability in a way she never has before. And this is a lesson for all of us – that “no matter where you go, there you are.” You can’t get away from the essential “you” – the “you” who came to this human experience and has faced certain challenges and who may have to overcome the same (annoying, maddening, frustrating) obstacle over and over again. So the best thing to do is to love and appreciate yourself and then commit to just keep climbing over it, going around it, breaking through it as many times as it takes to wrest your life back.

It was while watching this show that I realized Oprah is most assuredly a Go Jane Go. (Curious about your type? Take our assessment at www.janeoutofthebox.com.)

Why do I know Oprah is a Go Jane Go? Because Go Jane Go is the kind of woman who is so focused on taking care of everyone else (in her business and in the rest of her life too) that she can struggle to find time to take care of herself. As women, most of us have that caretaker inside of us, but Go Jane Go also has an insatiable drive to push herself hard and fast and far. She’s an amazing combination of qualities, but when those two characteristics of drive and giving get out of control, Go Jane Go can find herself in a very dark place. In the stress and the burden of having too much on her plate, she may even be mentally justifying why she doesn’t have time or doesn’t deserve to take care of herself.

Here are some of the clues to Oprah’s Go Jane Go-ness from the episode. In her own words:

  • “I started getting overwhelmed.”
  • “When you see me gain weight, it is not about me pigging out. It is always about, my life is out of balance. Anybody who struggles with a weight issue, it is about what you’re really hungry for. It’s not about the food.”
  • “I took myself off of my own list and literally, if there was enough time in the week left over from everybody else’s appointments with me, then I would take that time for myself. And as it turned out, there never was any time left over.”
  • “There was a time I was so exhausted, because I’m watching the clock all night long, not really sleeping, that you know, because many a day I didn’t want to come into work, because I’m so TIRED.”
  • “Too much work, not enough play, not enough time to come down, not enough time to really relax. So, it’s about balance. So when I ask myself what am I hungry for, I am hungry for balance. I am hungry to do something other than work.”

For Go Jane Go, life may often be like this – the essential search for balance. You swing too far in one direction, and you have to keep bringing yourself back. Oprah is bringing herself back in a big, public way. She’s recruited the entire world’s support in helping her stay on track through accountability, and in doing so she has inspired anew so many women who need to lose weight or who just have created a life that allows no room for taking care of self. I applaud her efforts, I believe in her ability to succeed, just as I believe in all of us and our ability to do so, if we will just choose to take action.

If you’re a Go Jane Go, what’s the bottom line? Follow in Oprah’s footsteps. As she shared, “So one of the first things I decided to do to make myself a priority this year was to put myself back on my to do list. So the bottom line lesson for me, and I think for so many of you, is you’ve got to put yourself back on your own priority list.”

Do it. You’re at least as important as everyone else you’re taking care of. And the truth is, the more you take care of yourself, the more energy and love you have to give to the many other people relying on you, in business and in life.

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