You know why I like Oprah? Because she doesn’t sugarcoat things. She’s honest about her struggles, her weakness, regrets and downfalls. She’s also honest about her successes, displaying pride when appropriate and thanking others when it was a group effort. Her love of culture, all people and many, many causes makes her a great role model for a lot of us. The storyline of where she came from, where she’s been and where she’s going is simply the icing on the cake.

She is also a marvelous speaker, choosing her words consciously as she attempts (and oftentimes succeeds) to make her point as clear, impactful and eloquently as possible. It’s only natural, then, that when Oprah opens up about living her best life, I tend to listen. She did just that in a Vogue article recently, which I wanted to share with you.

Below are Oprah’s 5 rules for being your best. Enjoy!

1. It’s a Balancing Act

Oprah is a big subscriber to the mantra “everything in moderation.” She believes you can have it all, but perhaps not all at once. We know what happens when we go to extremes. Bingeing on anything is unhealthy. It also robs us of the enjoyment that is typically derived from indulging in smallpleasures.

2. Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Oprah’s been frank about her struggles with self-love and body image. Yes, even titans deal with insecurity. Embrace who you are. Control what you can. Above all, make sure you’re happy with you. Maybe that does involve a new hairstyle or losing a few pounds – or maybe it doesn’t. Do your best to be your best, not because the opinion of others matters, but because 80-plus years is a long time to feel unhealthy or unhappy with yourself.

3. Treat Yourself

Can you say no to other people so you can say yes to yourself? If not, you should work on it. Quiet time, me time, not you time – whatever time you want to call it, maketime for yourself. If you find this difficult to do, schedule a block of time on your calendar in the morning or evening (or both!) and mark yourself “busy.” That way you won’t schedule anything on top of this. Recharging and self-care are so important. Take it where you can get it.

4. Attitude is Gratitude

Okay, Oprah is still Oprah, so apparently she doesn’t have to set alarms. If you have an accurate internal clock, great! If you’re like the rest of us, however, we probably need that little sound to get us going. But it’s what we do after that, according to Oprah, that really matters. She makes it a point to mentally give thanks for another promising day. You woke up, didn’t you? You were able to get out of bed, correct? You had some place to be and people depending on you, yes? Then you’re doing better than an alarming large number of your fellow humans, and you’ve got a heck of a lot to be thankful for.

5. Be

Breath. Awareness. Presence. Do we really have much more than these in any given moment? The answer, surprisingly, is no. Regret dwells in the past. Worry is simply anxiety that the future won’t be as good as it is right now. So live in the right now. Try to remain present in every interaction, conversation and experience that comes your way. Not because you have tomorrow to try, but because you may not have tomorrow to try.

And should tomorrow come? Refer back to Rule 4.