210: What MLK and Oprah Can Teach Us Today

Well, hello, Movers, and welcome to a very special episode. We are interrupting our LEAP series— LEAP series, my gosh. We are interrupting our series on leaping because today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And as speakers, I just cannot let this day go by without paying some homage to MLK, or homage. We're going to pay an homage to him. So we are interrupting our flow of this LEAP series to bring you what I think is a really important reminder about the power of our ability to create change and what we need in order to really do that. And I'm actually gonna do that through your and my favorite person, Oprah. So if you follow me online at all, you probably know that about a week ago I got to see Oprah. I got to sit with 18,000 other mostly women in Oprah's 2020 Vision Tour and get absolutely gobsmacked with aha moments, just joy, sometimes kind of uncomfortable truths from Oprah, who is one of my heroes, lifelong hero Oprah. And bonus, Tina Fey was her guest with us here in St. Paul, which was kind of another pinch-me moment because I love Tina. And Tina talked about how Oprah was— Oprah was her religion, which kind of resonated for me because Oprah really has been someone I've admired, I've followed, I, I've wanted to see her live for so long. And I mean, truly, me and millions of other people do what she says. We buy what she buys. We think about what she's thinking about. I mean, she was an influencer before influencers were a thing, quote unquote. So of course, when I found out she was coming, I was like, yes, I have got to see her. And I did get to see her. Granted, I was very far away, nosebleed seats, but it didn't matter. I couldn't pass it up. And as excited as I was and as high as my expectations were for this event. It really was an incredible day. It was moving, it was enlightening, I thought it was powerful. I mean, Oprah really brought that special something that she has that made this experience feel both really personal and profoundly communal, even though there was just one of me and 18,000 other people. So that is a real And can I just describe for you, can we get meta for a second before we talk about this MLK moment? I want to just describe for you the, how it started because you know how important beginnings are. I talk about this all the time. Beginnings are essential because if you nail the beginning, you can have a mushy middle. But if you don't nail that beginning, you're setting yourself up for kind of coming back from it. And this beginning was awesome. Okay, let me just set the stage for you for a moment. The lights went down. We'd been like dancing, there had been music, and not everybody had been dancing, but they, you know, they'd kind of been inviting us to dance. And it just had a very playful, fun setup. Now it's 9 in the morning and it's dark. It's fairly dark in this huge stadium, but the lights go off. You hear these drums beat and lights come up on these 3 really badass women beating on these drums, and the music begins. And Daybreaker, who— this is just like a fascinating movement. If you don't know anything about Daybreaker, you gotta check out Daybreaker. I guess they do these morning— essentially they call them raves, and they're just dance parties, and they're very intentionally alcohol-free, which is, you know, good because it's 7 in the morning. And, um, but it is, it is really to just experience the flow and love of life. And that is what they brought to this moment right here. They get us up on their feet, which honestly, when it started, we, we call it just kind of stood up because we're like, it's We're starting. And they moved us through this, what they called the chakra opening dance sequence. Now I gotta tell you, I know nothing about chakras, and if Daybreaker had a daily 5-minute dance that opened up my chakras like the one that we did there, I would do it religiously. They don't have this. I've asked, if you're listening Daybreaker, seriously, please do this. So anyway, we are doing this chakra opening dance sequence. And at one moment I look around, kind of take myself out of the moment, and I look around and I see 18,000 people doing the same thing. We're all doing the same kind of dance moves. And I mean, I know this because as I said, I was like in the last row, so I could literally see everybody. And that kind of alignment was so powerful, and it just felt so good. The chakras, I think, were open. I don't know. It was so— it was so powerful. It was so great. What they were saying, the music we were listening to, and the willingness of everybody to join in together. It was really a really powerful opening So, anyway, okay. Daybreaker was just one of the many people and experts that Oprah brought in to add to her own moments up front. I danced my heart out with Julianne Hough, who is just the cutest little person, and we were dancing so hard that my iWatch asked me if I was on an outdoor run. Oh my gosh, wow. I was like, uh, I'm dancing with Julianne Hough, what does that count for points on my little tracker? Anyway, we did this big quiet meditation moment and it was eerily quiet in that stadium that was full of people. That was a really cool moment. But of course my favorite parts were the Oprah parts, by her talking about her journey from essentially self-doubt to a clarity of purpose that she feels and that she has and that she wants and feels a sense of responsibility to share with people. And she talked about being the beginning of her public journey how shamed she had been about her weight, to her obsession and journey to losing that weight in the most unhealthy of ways. And of course, it didn't work. So decades later, decades later, of all this inner work and all the struggle, she's finally really standing powerfully in her body and in her being in a way that I hadn't seen before. And that is why her message really sunk in and came into its own. One of the most powerful parts of the day was actually seeing how much she had changed, how grounded she was. And I think Oprah's always been a fairly grounded person, but this was different. And for someone whose word is leap for 2020, Oprah's groundedness was a really wonderful contradiction to that, and I think there's some really important lessons that I took from seeing how grounded she is. And at one point Oprah said, "I no longer have anything to prove to anyone." And that, I think, is why she was so powerful. Her clarity of purpose, her confidence, what I will call her self-trust. It was compelling, and it is the thing that is worth following. And today is not Oprah Day, it is MLK Day. MLK, a man whose words ignited a nation, and who finally, after seeing finally, after all of the struggle, finally began to see some movement on equality, though not nearly enough, and was killed for it. So we honor him today, his legacy, his words, his mission, and acknowledge that we are not there yet. This day is a somber one, but it also is often just a chance for us to remind ourselves about the change that we still need to make and that we can be a part of creating it. And when I saw Oprah last week, I had this realization about these two leaders and what I think all compelling leaders have in common, and that is earned self-trust. And I realized that, that self-trust is perhaps the most essential characteristic we need if we want to create change, because we need other people to follow us to really create change. And self-doubt has to be part of that journey, because that's how you earn self-trust. I mean, how do you learn to trust yourself? It's the journey, the practicing, the failures, the realizations, your own inner change. And in the big moments, finally being able to sink into ourselves and know what to do. What does this moment call for? What is the right thing? And it just— it's a journey to get there. And that kind of confidence, and it's definitely a kind of confidence, is really inspiring. It's confidence that we know was earned. It's not just a layer we kind of slap on over our doubts, which is how it starts. That's how we begin. But earned self-trust. There's a wisdom in that. And that wisdom is comforting for people who are looking to you. And all we have to be is just ahead of them. The other day, Amy Porterfield, who, if you, you probably know of Amy, she is an online marketing expert and someone who I consider a coach and a mentor, and I've taken her courses. I think she's awesome. She said, your job is to just be ahead of your audience. You don't have to be lifetimes ahead. You don't have to know everything, but you have to put yourself ahead of your audience. To step out front and kind of fail first, fail a bit faster, so your audience can learn from you. And that's what Oprah has done. That is definitely what Martin Luther King Jr. did. And Oprah talked about how long it took for her to truly own who she is, and she has arrived in a way that I cannot help but admire and seek for myself. We know Martin Luther King was understandably plagued at different points in his journey, saying at one point, "It seemed that all my fears had come down at me at once, and I got to the point that I couldn't take it any longer. I was weak." Even MLK was weak at one point, of course. And the struggle resonates. The self-trust leads. And we need both. Now, I am not trying to equate Oprah and MLK. Oprah is not a modern-day MLK. And they are both in their own right people who I respect and admire. But of course, MLK stands alone in his courage and his clarity. And his voice. But as this day approached and I continued to reflect on my experience with Oprah last week, I was struck by something that I think is worth remembering for all of us on this MLK Day, and that is that movements are built by the leader, the full person. The struggles are essential. Not the perfection of the leader. That has never built a movement. But the leader's willingness to step out in front so that we have someone to follow. And we will follow them when we recognize their struggle, but not just the struggle, that the struggle has brought them to self-trust, to wisdom. To just beyond where we are. So today, happy MLK Day to one of the greatest orators of the last 100 years. Oratory that created change. And it wasn't just his poetry or his cadence, which is beautiful, and I miss that kind of oratory. It was him. The struggle that led to the leadership earned self-trust. And if you are in the struggle, it is earning you some life lessons right now that your audience needs. So keep bringing your full self to the moment so we can lead some real change. All right, my movers, we will see you next week. For part 2 in our series on leaping in 2020. Today we were kind of talking about the groundedness of our journeys, getting really grounded in who we are. Oprah's groundedness has really sunk with me, and I'm in the middle of doing a lot of thinking about the ways in which I'm gonna leap in 2020, and how do I do that? And what I realized was I can't leap. I can't leap without grounding first. So that's what I walked away with, um, along with this realization that the struggle is how we earn this sense of self-trust and how compelling that is. But her groundedness That is self-trust. And so developing practices in my life, not just like, go, leap, jump, do, do, do, but first ground. So that is what we are doing to, to earn and build in self-knowledge, self-trust, so that when the moment comes, we can really leap. So I invite you to ground with me so that we can leap. That is what we are doing this week. We are pausing from just leap and go and do and launch and take risks and show up and fail faster to, and first we ground. Happy MLK Day, and I'll see you next week. Bye-bye. Hey movers, it's Sally Koering Zimney, and I am so grateful that you listen to the show and that you are staying connected here on This Moved Me. And if you are not yet a subscriber to this podcast, you know that that would be awesome, right? Because you don't want to miss anything. It's been quiet here in 2019, but 2020, big things are coming and I don't want you to miss it. So if you haven't yet, hit that subscribe button. And if you haven't yet left a rating or review for This Moved Me, now is the time to do it because things are growing and changing and I want more people to discover these resources. We need more speakers speaking with authenticity, clarity, courage, and connection. So let's do it. Thanks so much. See you soon. Check you later. How else can I say goodbye? This is moving me. What's moving you? Yeah.