The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives by Katie Couric is full of practical information for people from all walks of life. Each chapter features a famous person who gives us a sneak peak into what they have learned from their own experiences. At the end of this post is a YouTube video of Katie talking about how she wrote the book and which celebrities contributed their stories.
Comedian and Actor George Lopez: “If you quit, you’ll never find out what could have happened.”
Celebrity Chef and Restaurateur Mario Batali: “As you cook up your own life, never let anyone else’s recipe for success intimidate you…”
Emmy Award-Winning Television and Radio Host Larry King: “Learn how to listen. You don’t learn anything when you are talking.”
Emmy Award-Winning Television Broadcaster, Journalist, and Co-Host of Good Morning America Robin Roberts: “Be patient and persistent. Life is not so much about what you accomplish as what you overcome.”
Professional Football Player Drew Brees: “What is meant to be will happen for me, and all I should concern myself with is the things I can control.”
Figure-skating Champion Michelle Kwan: “Your finest moments in life aren’t necessarily those in which you finish first but, instead, the times when you know you simply gave your best–when you did it heart and soul, and held nothing back.”
Co-founder of Twitter Biz Stone: “Think about what is valuable before thinking about what is profitable and know that there’s compound interest in helping others–start early!”
Professional Psychologist, Bestselling Author, and Television Host “Dr. Phil” McGraw: “Instead of ignoring these dreams and hoping you can get around to them later on, you have to be committed to developing an action plan, to creating a “life script” with measurable goals, and to building a core of supporters around you to keep you going in the right direction.”
Grammy Award-Winning Artist, Musician, Entrepreneur, Actress, and Activist Alicia Keys: “When you make a decision because you really love what you’re doing, because you’re really passionate about it, believe in it, and because you’d do it no matter what the outcome–that’s when you become most successful.”
Bestselling Cookbook Author and Television Host Ina Garten: “You can’t figure out what you want to do from the sidelines. You need to jump into the pond and splash around to see what the water feels like. You might like that pond or it might lead to another pond, but you need to figure it out in the pond.”
Sixty-sixth United States Secretary of State and Stanford University Professor Condoleeza Rice: “The point is that life is full of surprises and serendipity. Being open to unexpected turns in the road is an important part of success. If you try to plan every step, you may miss those wonderful twists and turns.”
Four-Star General and Sixty-Fifth United States Secretary of State Colin Powell: “So it doesn’t matter where you start in life but where you finish and, along the way, whether you do something that you love and enjoy doing. Never settle for anything less than what you love doing and do well.”
Olympic Speed Skater Apolo Ohno: “It’s not really about the destination, but about what it took to get you there.”
Taking Larry King’s advice to learn how to listen, identify at least 3 people who have achieved success and ask them to share their thoughts. Possible questions could be:
- What was your greatest challenge?
- What are you most proud of?
- What do you know now that you wish you could have known earlier in life?
- Was there anyone who mentored you?
- How did you become so successful?
- Is there anything you wish you could have done differently?
- What are you most excited about for your future?
Essentially, informally interview them (much like Katie Couric interviewed these people) to gain more insight. If the person you are interviewing knows you well, they will be able to relate this to your goals.
While we each need to do something that aligns with our own personal interests, passions, and goals; we can benefit by the wisdom and experience of the successful people around us. In addition, we should all be open to sharing the lessons we have learned with those who come to us for advice.
Here is a YouTube video of Katie Couric talking about how she wrote this book!
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