Monday Lock In
Welcome to Monday Lock In. This is your weekly reset — a moment to recommit, refocus, and leave last week where it belongs. Past missteps don’t matter here, and past achievements don’t carry us forward forever. You don’t need perfect timing to start showing up. This week isn’t about fixing everything — it’s about starting and seeing how your life can change when you follow through.
Comparison is a quiet thief that steals joy, confidence, and momentum without you even noticing. When you measure your life against someone else’s highlight reel, you forget that your journey has its own timing, struggles, and victories that can’t be compared side-by-side. The truth is, growth isn’t about being better than someone else—it’s about being better than you were yesterday. Stay focused on your lane, your progress, and the small wins that move your life forward, because the only comparison that truly matters is the one between who you used to be and who you’re becoming.
Story:
She Thought She Was Falling Behind
Early in her career, she believed she was failing.
She worked in a newsroom surrounded by people who looked more polished, sounded more controlled, and seemed to fit the image of success far better than she did. They delivered stories with perfect composure and kept emotion out of their voices. They looked like the future of television.
So she tried to become like them.
She softened her personality. She hid her feelings. She forced herself into a version of success that never felt natural.
And still… it wasn’t enough.
Not long after, she was told she didn’t belong in that role—too emotional, too different, not the right fit for serious news.
For many people, that moment would confirm their worst fear: that everyone else was ahead, and they were simply not good enough.
For a while, she felt that too.
But instead of continuing to chase the standard that rejected her, she made a quieter, braver decision. She stopped trying to be what worked for everyone else and started leaning into what felt true for her.
She cared deeply. She connected naturally. She listened in a way that made people feel seen.
The traits once labeled weaknesses slowly revealed themselves as strengths.
A small daytime talk show in Chicago gave her the space to be herself. No script to hide behind. No expectation to be emotionless. Just real conversation and real connection.
That small show grew into the highest-rated talk show in television history, running for 25 years and transforming daytime TV. It led to a media empire that included a magazine, film and television production, a television network, and global philanthropic work that funded schools and scholarships for thousands of students.
The woman who once believed she was falling behind—the one who stopped comparing and chose authenticity instead—was Oprah Winfrey.
Today, her net worth is measured in billions of dollars, but her real success began long before the wealth. It began the moment she stopped trying to be someone else.
Lock in.
