How Oprah Became My Writing Coach
And She Can Be Yours, Too.
Several years ago, after enduring a wrenching mid-life crisis, I decided to write a self-help book.
I had never written a book before, but I knew exactly what I wanted it to showcase: the time-saving techniques I learned during my career in finance in London and New York, coupled with the recent discoveries I had made in therapy as I unraveled my mid-life mistakes: how to prioritize my time to maximize joy and meaning, achieving the sense of purpose and authentic happiness I spent years longing for. I wanted to share my hard-won experience with other women.
I dutifully allotted two hours each morning to write the book.
Seated at my desk, laptop open, words tumbled from my brain and my fingers raced to keep up. It seemed I had plenty to write about, but what was emerging onscreen before me was most certainly not a self-help book. Each time I began a new chapter, determined to elaborate on another way for women like me to achieve a life of purpose, I instead found myself writing about my difficult childhood, describing the complicated feelings I had about my parents and our family.
Finally, one day, exasperated and burning with frustration at my inability to do what I set out to do, I closed the document that contained the non-self-help book…
