Give Yourself a Year to Try 12 New Things and Embrace Change

September 24, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Case for Trying One New Thing Every Month

"I was in a place of deep disappointment when I wrote the book," says Shonda Scott, an award-winning entrepreneur and CEO. Her dream opportunity had materialized, she had put everything in place—and then the door slammed shut. "God shut the door right away." That disappointment could have spiraled into something darker, but Scott had already been living with a framework she created in 2019: give yourself one year to try twelve new things, one per month. Writing is how she heals, so she turned the experiment into her debut book Give Me a Year: 12 New Things to Embrace Change and Live Your Best Life. The core insight: transformation does not depend on the scale of what you do—it depends on staying open.

The Mechanism: Small Experiments, Monthly Rhythm

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Episode Open & Guest Introduction** - Oprah introduces the episode’s theme of embracing change and her first guest, Shonda Scott.
2 (02:50) **The Origin of the “12 New Things” Idea** - Shonda reveals she was in a place of deep disappointment when she wrote the book.
3 (05:10) **What the Year Taught Her About Transformation** - Shonda explains that the size of the new thing doesn’t matter — only the openness to try matters.
4 (07:47) **From Vision Board to Reality** - Shonda describes how she turned the title of her book into a vision board image before the cover existed.
5 (09:15) **Confronting Fear: The Maldives and Small Planes** - Shonda shares her fear of small planes and how she overcame it to reach the Maldives.
6 (10:45) **Finding Your Seat at the Table** - Shonda explains the importance of claiming your place — or building your own table.
7 (13:56) **Imposter Syndrome and Owning Your Place** - Oprah admits she has never felt imposter syndrome, and Shonda explains why she doesn’t either.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

BUY THE BOOK!

'Give Me a Year' by Shonda Scott

https://amzn.to/4xGhu7i

When is the last time you tried something new? Entrepreneur and author Shonda Scott, whose book Give Me a Year: 12 New Things to Embrace Change and Live Your Best Life chronicles how she stepped outside her comfort zone, embraced change and challenged herself to try something new every month for a full year. Shonda shares how those experiences helped her find joy, overcome fear and keep moving forward even when life took some unexpected turns. Then, Oprah meets writer Jason McBride whose viral article “How to Create a Life You Love: No Magical Thinking Required” struck a chord with its message that building a fulfilling life isn’t about having the perfect job, relationship or circumstances it’s about taking responsibility for the life you’re creating. They talk about what it really means to stop living by someone else’s blueprint, learn from things that don't go as planned and create a life we actually love.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Welcome Shonda Scott, author of ‘Give Me a Year’

00:03:20 - Why she wrote the book

00:08:00 - Write it down and vision birds

00:09:48 - Overcoming fears

00:11:20 - Pull up a seat to the table

00:12:40 - Imposter syndrome

00:16:30 - How to show up for ourselves

00:22:00 - Put yourself at the top of your list

00:24:30 - Shonda’s top 3 things

00:27:44 - Small changes to create big ones

00:29:00 - Welcome Jason McBride