5 Incredible Life Reminders, From Michelle Obama’s Best-Selling Book
Former First Lady Michelle Obama dropped her new book, Becoming, last November. A memoir of her early years in the south side of Chicago, her relationship with Barack Obama, living in the White House and some of the obstacles she has faced in her private life while she was in the public eye, this was a book many couldn't wait to get their hands on, including us.
Without spoiling the book for you, here are our five takeaways from the Michelle Obama memoir:
Failure is a feeling long before it’s an actual result.
1/5 Don’t give up on your dreams
In high school, Michelle aspired to attend Princeton University. When she approached her college counsellor about it, the counsellor told her she wasn't sure Michelle was "Princeton material". Michelle, however, chose not to lower her sights and didn't let one person's opinion lead her away from what she knew about herself.
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Life is short and not to be wasted.
2/5 Time is gold
Losing her dad and also one of her closest friends from university only exacerbated Michelle's sense that there was no time to waste in life. She quit a job that wasn’t bringing her joy, realising she had more to offer the world.
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I’d been raised to be confident and see no limits, to believe I could go after and get absolutely anything I wanted. And I wanted everything.
3/5 Always be determined
At 29, Michelle found herself wondering if she could ever juggle being an independent career woman while being a wife and mother. She stayed determined, however, and you know what happened after: she became a lawyer, the wife of the 44th US president, a mother of two, the author of a best-selling book and an image of empowerment to many young people and adults around the world.
Jason Wu’s creation performed a potent little miracle.
4/5 The right clothes give power
Michelle decided to wear to her first Inaugural Ball a dress that was made for her by Jason Wu. She once explained how the dress made her feel reader to take on the role of the First Lady: “[It] made me feel soft and beautiful and open again.”
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I’m an ordinary person who found herself on an extraordinary journey.
5/5 Become more
And an extraordinary journey she has had, becoming the First Lady of America while raising two girls, travelling the world, conquering every project she initiated, teaching girls to be strong and finally, sharing her life with the world. Who would have thought—certainly not her college counsellor—that a little girl, whose aspirations were once to have a dog and a house with two floors on the south side of Chicago, would become the Michelle Obama we know?