Scott Kirkland/PictureGroupCould it be? Is there a new reigning queen of advice?
Oprah Winfrey may have been holding court over her faithful constituents for decades now, but it seems like she's got some pretty stiff competition: Shonda Rhimes.
The writer/producer/creator extraordinaire is obviously better known for her amazing and addicting contributions to Thursday night television (Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating among them), what with her uncanny ability to churn out endless episodes of drama. But lately she's been stepping into a whole new role; one of, shall we say, spiritual guru.
It all started with her recent book, Year of Yes. It's basically a step-by-step guide to figuring out how to live your best life—sound familiar? It's really no surprise that the showrunner is dishing out advice like nobody's business—she does run an empire, and she's one of the most inspiring women in Hollywood. Like any good guru, she just completed her first TED talk. And as expected, it was rife with wisdom. Here are the best moments.
1. One word can change everything. "Awhile ago I tried an experiment: For one year, I would say yes to anything. Yes changed my life; Yes changed me."
2. The only way to face your fears is to actually face them. "The very act of doing the thing that scared me undid the fear, made it not scary. My fear of public speaking, my social anxiety. Poof, gone."
3. There is no such thing as a "dream job." "A dream job is not about dreaming—it's all job. All work, all reality, all blood, all sweat. No tears."
4. The secret to loving your job is finding The Hum. "There is some kind of shift inside me when the work gets good. A hum begins in my brain and it grows and grows and that hum sounds like the open road and I could drive it forever...The Hum is action and activity, The Hum is a drum. When you have a hum like that, you can't help but strive for greatness."
5. Even Shonda Rhimes can get burnt out, so don't sweat it. "I stopped loving work. I couldn't restart the engine. The Hum would not come back. I was doing the same things I always did, 15-hour days, working straight through the weekend. But there was no hum."
6. The Hum is the secret to loving life, too. "The real hum is love-specific. The hum is the electricity that comes from being excited by life. It's just love."
7. It's okay to love work more than play. "The truth is incredibly humbling and humiliating to face: I don't like playing. I work all the time because I like working; I like working more than I like being at home. Facing that fact is incredibly difficult to handle."
8. Own your flaws. "Let's be honest, I call myself a titan. I've got issues, and the issues aren't that I'm too relaxed."
9. Being a workaholic doesn't always equal instant success. "I said yes to less work and more play, and somehow I still run my world. My brain is still global, my campfires still burn."