Give Yourself a Year to Try 12 New Things and Embrace Change

The Oprah Podcast

In this episode, Oprah Winfrey interviews author Shonda Scott about her book 'Give Me a Year,' which details her journey of trying twelve new

Key takeaways

• Shonda Scott used a monthly 'new thing' experiment to navigate deep disappointment after a missed career opportunity.
• Writing serves as a powerful tool for healing and manifesting dreams by putting them on paper.

Main topics

• Embracing change
• Overcoming fear

Notable quotes

If you want to see change in your life and in your world, you have to change yourself.

Conclusion

The episode provides actionable inspiration for listeners to step outs

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) This episode of the Oprah Podcast is presented by our partner, GEICO. So what was going on in your life? I was in a place of deep disappointment when Speaker 5 (0:10) I wrote the book. You want to tell us about it? If you want to see change in your life and in your world, you have to change yourself. But it's easy to say, it's hard to do. Transformation doesn't matter if you do something big or do something small. It's just the openness that you need to have. Speaker 4 (0:27) Well, I'm so glad to be with you here on the Oprah Podcast. I'm in one of the greatest cities in the world, New York City, and you can feel the energy and the creative force here. Last summer, I read an article on Medium.com because the title really caught my eye. It was called How to Create a Life You Love, No Magical Thinking Required. It's by a writer named Jason McBride, and I shared it with my team because I just really appreciated his simple and powerful message that we all... have the power to design or build a life that we love, no matter the circumstances. And it's not as hard or complicated as you think it is. So I said, I think this is a good conversation to start having for the podcast. So I'm going to talk with Jason a little later on, but my first guest, I wanted you to know, has done some really bold, daring things. And she says, it is never too late and you are never too stuck. You're never too old. You're never too much or too little. Because as long as you live, you can always find new things to learn and new ways to find joy. Shonda Scott, an award-winning entrepreneur, CEO, and thought leader who has spent more than 20 years turning big ideas into action, working on major projects with companies like Uber, Comcast, BET, and Kaiser Permanente. while also creating economic opportunities in underserved communities. Some of Shonda's most meaningful work began with a challenge she gave herself back in 2019. For one year, try one new thing every month. Aha, that's an idea. What started as a personal experiment became a lifestyle, inspiring her new book, Give Me a Year, 12 New Things to Embrace Change and Live Your Best Life. Welcome, Shonda. Speaker 5 (2:15) Great to meet you and have you here. I wanted to have thank you be the first words out of my mouth to you. My mom wouldn't have any other way that I would sit here and not thank you for using your platform and how you're doing to elevate authors, especially debut authors. That is so noble of you. Well, Speaker 4 (2:30) you debuted in a big way. I mean, give me a year is such a bold idea. And lots of people would say, OK, give me a year and I'll. you know, go hike Mount Olympus or give me a year. But you had 12 new things to embrace and change. So what was going on in your life? How did you come up with this idea? I was in a place of deep disappointment when I wrote Speaker 5 (2:55) the book. I had already started this 12 new things lifestyle based on doing something new each month so you can embrace change in fun, exciting ways to get you out Speaker 4 (3:04) of Speaker 5 (3:04) your comfort zone. But that was a fun social media experiment for me that I did. with the premise of thinking if you want to see change in your life and in your world, you have to change yourself. But it's easy to say, it's hard to do. So how do you make something hard to do fun and light? That's where the 12 new things came up from. Speaker 4 (3:23) But Speaker 5 (3:23) then when I was in this deep disappointment, I had an opportunity happen and the door closed immediately. God shut the door right away. And I had done everything. I had put everything in place. It was my dream opportunity. And I was excited about it. And when it got shut down, I became deeply disappointed. And writing is how I heal myself. So I thought, now it's time to write the book. I Speaker 4 (3:47) like the Speaker 5 (3:47) fact Speaker 4 (3:47) that you're using the word disappointed and not depressed. Because a lot of people would say, I was depressed, I was depressed, I was depressed. But you recognize now that it really was your sincere, pure disappointment. Speaker 5 (3:59) And it could have been depression if I didn't have the tools of writing. So writing is how I heal myself. I say deep disappointment because it was just, I was sad about an opportunity, but it wasn't something life-threatening or earth-shattering. You want to tell us about it? But it was Speaker 4 (4:14) hard. You want to tell us about it? It was like my dream opportunity. I thought I wanted all my life, and I put everything Speaker 5 (4:19) in place Speaker 4 (4:20) to do it. Speaker 5 (4:21) And then everything had come to do the opportunity, and I probably prayed, God, be your will or something better for me. And literally the door shut and I wasn't ready for that. And for me, I think it shook me because at that point in my life, in my career, I hadn't had that level of disappointment. So I wasn't expecting to feel the way I did, but it kept bothering me. And I kept thinking about it. And a friend of mine, Maya, we went to dinner and talked about it. And she's like, you know, things happens, doors close and years later, you will know. And at the same time, I'm telling her about how I'm thinking about writing this book. And I tell her I decide to write the book to heal me. And as I'm writing the book, God tells me me sharing these stories are not only just going to heal me, they're going to heal other people as well. So that's where the whole idea came for writing this book. And Speaker 4 (5:09) you went on adventures big and small over the course of a year. And what did that teach you, Shonda, about yourself? Speaker 5 (5:18) It taught me that transformation doesn't matter if you do something big or do something small. It's just the openness that you need to have. Speaker 4 (5:25) It taught me also that having these different adventures intentionally Speaker 5 (5:30) make the difference. Like once a month for a whole year, it gave me the intentionality to continue to pursue my dreams, to find joy, even in the midst of turmoil, even in the midst of unhappiness, even in the midst of all that's going on in the world. I could create joy by doing something new and different each month. I love that at the end Speaker 4 (5:50) of each chapter, you really have really delightful, helpful exercises. And I am a firm believer in writing things down. Maya always said that words have power. That's why she wouldn't let anybody say anything in her home that she thought was improper. Like somebody was telling a homophobic joke once, and Maya Angelou came across the room. Shonda, across the room and said, be gone with you to the people in her home. Because she said, then we were all standing there shocked. And she said, not in my house because words have such power. I don't want to wake up in the morning and find one stuck in my pillow or in my curtains. And so the power of writing things down, here's a good one. You write down your dreams of what you really want to do, the changes you want to see. And in the next five years, places you'd like to visit or you've put off or put to the side. Speaker 5 (6:49) You write about that. I'm the same with the firm believer of writing. And in the Bible, it even says, write it down and make it plain on tablets. Yes, yes, yes. It's Speaker 4 (6:59) clear Speaker 5 (6:59) that the writing is how you actually take the dreams out of your mind. put them to paper. It's like in business, writing, if it's not in writing, it's not a deal. It's not a contract. So it's Speaker 4 (7:10) a Speaker 5 (7:10) contract with yourself. But it also gives you the tools to come up with the plan on how you want to approach your dreams. I say five years because what you dream of you would do in five months is different than five years. So five years allows you to dream big. And it's important to dream big as we've seen. from your life and everything else in life that if you dream Speaker 4 (7:29) big, the things you can manifest can blow your mind. Well, this is what I have found. That phrase I coined about God dreaming a dream bigger than you can ever dream for yourself, you can dream big and then surrender that dream to God's dream for you, and it becomes even more massive. I saw this happen over and over and again in Give Me a Year. Speaker 5 (7:50) Actually, this time last year, we were working on the cover of my book and thinking of the title. And we came up with the title, Give Me a Year. I think at that point in your book club, you had said, this was the first time I did something new. After Speaker 4 (8:04) 109 book club selections, I have never chosen the same book twice until now. Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth, awakening to your life's purpose. Speaker 5 (8:16) So every time somebody does something new, I tag it to 12 new things. That's somebody doing something new. So I took that picture, a fake copy of my book, the title that I typed out because we didn't have the cover yet, and put it in the middle of my vision board. Wow. So that was a case of writing it down and making it plain. Speaker 4 (8:33) Yeah. Speaker 5 (8:33) And here we are. And like I said, then God does the rest. Speaker 4 (8:37) Yeah. And you know what happens with that? And I know we're Speaker 5 (8:39) going Speaker 4 (8:39) to talk to Jason later who said in his article that he didn't believe in vision boards, but I certainly do believe in the vision and also writing it down, making it plain. It clarifies for you what the vision and the desire is. And what I have found is that God meets you exactly where you are and then expands it for you. I agree. And I Speaker 5 (9:01) agree on the vision boards. If you just write a vision board and don't do action around it and don't take accountability, well, no. It doesn't mean one thing. But if Speaker 4 (9:09) you Speaker 5 (9:09) use it as a Speaker 4 (9:09) fun tool or creativity, Speaker 5 (9:11) countless times you hear. And then you're willing to do the Speaker 4 (9:13) work. And the work. And the work. And this one about fears, because I think so many people are controlled by their fears. You say, make a list of your fears and things that make you uncomfortable. Start with one fear. Write the steps you would take to overcome it. Speaker 5 (9:26) You have to get it out. Like holding fear in your mind just locks it there. And oftentimes when you write the fear out, you look at the exercises that you want to do to overcome it. You come up with a plan. You realize what you had manifested as this big, giant fear. really isn't. So Speaker 4 (9:44) what was the fear you needed to overcome? So Speaker 5 (9:46) my fear Speaker 4 (9:46) was I don't like Speaker