Oprah | List Producer

How to Push Yourself for Success

October 13, 2011/1 Comment/in Benefits of List Making, Boost Memory, Decision Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, Oprah, Reduce Stress, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

I have to be honest — I didn’t want to write a post for today. I usually write the night before and it was late and I was tired. I had a full day of shooting segments and was really looking forward to going to bed. I thought — “I don’t have that much to say today,” and “I’m too lazy to copy edit a guest post to put up” so I thought of just going to bed. But I pushed myself because I’ve made a commitment to this blog and to all of you who read it.

Pushing yourself even just a little bit will help you achieve your goals and become successful in all areas of your life. Think about all the successful people you know — they pushed themselves even when they were too tired or too busy or too frustrated.

Here is a list of ways to be inspired when you’re struggling: Read more

I’m Going Back to School With Oprah

October 10, 2011/3 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Books, Decision Making, Fashion, Fellow List Producers, Food, Increase Productivity, Oprah, Technology, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

When Oprah went off the air in May 2011 no one was more upset than me. OK, well maybe my best friend Danielle. And OK…maybe lots of other people all over the world too. Danielle, our friend Jessica and I were fortunate enough to be in the audience for one of Oprah’s last shows.

Through the 25 seasons we learned valuable life lessons, makeup tips and met characters we would never have known existed without Oprah to show us. Not being able to check in with her everyday has left a huge void.

But thankfully that void will be filled today. I’m going back to school…and my teacher, once again, is Oprah. Danielle and I have planned a viewing party to watch the first episode of Oprah’s Lifeclass on OWN. We are two of the over one million students who will attend class. There’s still time to join the class by signing up online.

Here’s why you should join us:

1. It’s Oprah! You know people will be talking about this tomorrow — so why not be a part of history?

2. You’ll reconnect with the show you love. She will use portions of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to teach lessons that matter most to her. If you were a fan of the show — this is a great opportunity to see a bit of insight into each episode. Read more

Amanda Knox’s To-Do List

October 5, 2011/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Decision Making, Fashion, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, Movies, Oprah, Reduce Stress, Relationships, Tool for Success, TV, Weddings, Wine/by Paula Rizzo

I’m a news junkie — there I said it. Big news happens and immediately my heart starts pumping and I get that “news feeling.” Once a newsy — always a newsy. Years in a control room will do this to you. This is exactly what happened to me when the Amanda Knox verdict was read. She was set free and cleared of murder charges. Whoa — no matter what your feeling on the case — it’s shocking.

Immediately I put myself in Amanda’s shoes — if I were being released from prison after four years…what would I want to do? What did I miss? Who should I visit? How do you take all that in? So I made a list of to-dos that Amanda Knox should consider:

1. Get an iPad: I tell everyone I know that it’s the thing that you don’t need but that you have to have! She should immediately download Angry Birds.

2. Get Twitter & Facebook accounts: Twitter was just a baby when Amanda Knox was first imprisoned and perhaps she had a Facebook page as a co-ed…but things have drastically changed in four years.

3. Catch up on Movies, TV & Music: Avatar, Betty White’s comeback, Michael Scott’s exit, Oprah’s farewell season, Modern Family, Mad Men, Anything on Food Network, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse.

4. Eat Foods You Can’t Get in Prison: Green tea, dark chocolate, Pop Chips (so delish,) Pinot Grigio (I had to.)

5. Update Wardrobe: Buy skinny jeans immediately. Read more

Checklist for Going Vegan

October 4, 2011/20 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Decision Making, Fellow List Producers, Food, Guest Posts, Health, Learning With a List, Oprah/by Paula Rizzo

Courtesy: D Sharon Pruitt

This week was supposed to be our first week of “The Vegan Experiment.” Jay came home one day last month and said he wanted to try going vegan for a month. I need to fill you in on Jay’s eating habits — he’s the pickiest eater ever! I mean the pickiest! So this presented quite a challenge.

I told him that a month was a long commitment — so how about if we tried doing it for a week? He agreed. I had seen an Oprah episode where her entire staff went on a vegan diet for a week and the results were pretty stunning. People had more energy, were more regular and felt better overall. Those are pretty great side effects.

Despite my support — Jay chickened out. (haha — I wasn’t even trying to make a carnivore joke!) So I think we’ll try vegan meals once in a while at least– just to see what it’s all about. But I realized that I don’t know the first thing about going vegan — or what I need to get rid of or stock up on in our kitchen. I, of course — reached out to a friend for a list! Read more

Checklist For Being A Good Friend

September 12, 2011/9 Comments/in Beauty, Benefits of List Making, Books, Learning With a List, Oprah, Reduce Stress, Relationships, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Some of my favorite people – fictional and non-fictional – are best friends.

Oprah and Gayle
Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia
Lucy and Ethel
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Laverne and Shirley
Pooh and Piglet

Some of them are best friends because clever writers fabricated their lives that way but some are the real things. The bond that all of these famous friends have in common is the love they share for their best friends. When we get busy and other things get in our way – it’s easy to become a less-than-fabulous friend. But never fear – I have a checklist on how to be a good friend always. Read more