Each morning and evening, Oprah Winfrey starts and ends her day by uttering a two-word phrase, she explains in a new, exclusive People interview.
The iconic TV personality, who turns 70 in January, told the publication that the phrase "thank you" is an essential part of her daily routine.
“If you train yourself to (say thank you every day), you walk through life feeling the abundance instead of the scarcity,” she said. “Obviously, people will say, ‘Yeah, well, that’s easy for you to say, Oprah.’ But I’ve been doing that forever.”
The practice is rooted in gratitude, which Winfrey said is critical if you want to live a well-balanced life.
"Gratitude really is my religion," she added.
Part of Winfrey's gratitude practice comes from knowing how different her life could have been if she had remained in Milwaukee with her mother after her teenage years. She has been open over the years about the abuse and poverty she experienced as a child. Instead, she moved to Nashville to live with her father when she was 14.
“I would have been trapped inside my own body, my own weight, my own pain,” she said. “I would have had an early death.”
Because of the strong gratitude she feels for her life and success, Winfrey said she has been inspired to help others through her career and continues to do so.
"I still continue to rise, and I’m in a space now where my offering is to help other people to rise," she said. "The principle that is the underbelly, the cornerstone for how I operate in the world … Life is better when you share it."
In fact, Winfrey has no intention of taking a break from her jam-packed career, even as she approaches a new decade.
"I will never be done until my last breath is done,” she said. “And whenever that happens it will be a peaceful breath.”