Robin Roberts said before becoming a broadcast journalist, she wanted to be a professional athlete.
In an appearance on Oprah's Master Class, Roberts said she played basketball ball in both middle and high school as a center. She was later moved to the outside shooter position, which she said taught her a lesson about life.
"I had to put myself in position for some good things to happen. If you position yourself the right way, you don't have to be the tallest, the fastest, the biggest," Roberts added. "I was, thankfully, able to translate that to the real world. Going, 'Oh, okay. I'm not the prettiest, I'm not the most this, I'm not the most that. But ... if I keep positioning myself, some good things are going to happen.' "
The Good Morning America anchor said she had to adjust her dream and redefine her goals to be happy.
"Let me tell you, with a mic in my hand instead of a tennis racket for ESPN when I went to cover it for the first time, to me, it was like, 'Check. Wimbledon,'" she said. "You have to be creative in reaching your goals."
"I think that's what's really helped me so much in my life, both professionally and personally, just not being too rigid," she added. "Having goals and setting goals, but being flexible with them and knowing that it might not quite look like I think it's going to look -- and that's okay. That's okay."