Michelle Obama's LIFE ADVICE On Manifesting Success Will CHANGE YOUR LIFE | MotivationArk

As many of you know my background, I mean, I grew up in Chicago in a working class community, my parents were not rich so we didn't have the resources to spend on private school fees, we went to public school in neighborhood and I attended. public school my whole

life

and I was always that student that wanted to get A I wanted to do well I enjoyed learning I enjoyed excelling but what I discovered is that when you are one of those kids in a community where not everyone has the same goals I found myself having to walk in a lot of different lines there were some kids who didn't like the kids who were smart and got good grades there were some kids who criticized the way I spoke they said I talk like I'm white which was another way of saying you think you're white better than other people, so I had to deal with how do I get my education when I'm around people who may have different expectations of me and those just weren't the kids.

There were professors in the neighborhood that I had to deal with professors who underestimated me every step of the way, even when I applied to Princeton, which I write about in my book and tell the story all the time even though it was the top of my class and I was a class officer, I was a leader when I sat down with my high school counselor or someone who didn't know me but was assigned to work with students to help them apply to college and I told them that my intention was to apply to Princeton. That counselor told me, I don't think you're Princeton material.

The person whose job it was to help young people achieve their dreams when it came to college saw me and everything he saw in me told him that my dreams were too high and that he cut me off in a way that, even though I continued, I presented my application, obviously you know I got in, but I still remember that story, I remember that feeling of doubt, just another adult putting up a barrier that I didn't even have for myself. So, getting into an elite school when

your

high school counselor has told you that you're not good enough, when the entire society looks at kids of color or kids from poor or rural communities as if they don't belong, you know, I like many others.

I entered that school with a stigma in my head. Today, more young people call it imposter syndrome. I don't know if they call it that in Britain, where kids like me feel like they don't belong and feel like they don't belong. I was faking it and I had to get over it and one of the ways I got over it was I looked around at Prince and I saw kids who weren't as talented, or as gifted, or as hardworking as me. I learned that this notion Affirmative action is sometimes only applied to children of color or from different backgrounds or poor children, but there are all kinds of affirmative action taking place in elite schools across the country, athletes who are admitted not because they are excellent students but because they can add value Legacy people who come from families with long lines inside the school get admission, so I began to realize that the doubts I had in my head were all mine and I had to work to get over that question I always ask myself.

I'm good enough and I write about it. That is a question that has haunted me for much of my

life

. Am I good enough to have all this? Am I good enough to be the first lady of the United States? And I think a lot of women and definitely a lot of young girls from all backgrounds walk around with that question, but how did I get through it, that's how I got through anything that's hard work, so every time I doubted myself, I told myself same: let me put my head down and do the work and I would quit my job.

It speaks for itself and I still find that I do. I still feel like on some level I have something to prove because of the color of my skin because of the shape of my body because of who knows how people judge, but it takes some time. and it takes some maturity to start having some

success

es under

your

belt where you realize that yes, in fact, I am good enough. I absolutely believe that education is the key not only for young women but for people in general, the opportunity to mature to try new things. meeting new people being open to different cultures you know a lot of the problems we have in the world come from a lack of knowledge you know people who are just underexposed to all the different ways to be human uh and we judge people based on our limited understanding of the world and I always try to show empathy for those who were in that position because I know it's based on a place of ignorance it sounds like a harsh word but it's the appropriate word just not knowing you just I know what you know and unfortunately if you worldview is that small and you don't know anyone else who looks or thinks differently than you because you didn't have the opportunity to educate yourself, travel, see the world or have your ideas. challenged and learn to be analytical, then it is understandable that you are afraid of something different from yourself, but the only way to overcome it is to educate ourselves and educate the next generation, to open them to new ideas.

If you're not a good reader, if you can't take in large amounts of information, break it down, and make it make sense, you won't even know when things are good or bad for you, so yeah, I absolutely believe that. particularly for women and girls because women are still raising the Next Generation, women are at the heart of the entire society, we bring life, we raise life, we nourish life, we feed our families and if we don't know what to do if those mothers who raise their children don't We don't know how to keep them alive or not expose them to diseases or feed them when they are hungry if they can't earn a living to bring in resources we all struggle so it seemed to me that if we want to resolve Any important issue that arises can think about climate

change

, terrorism, poverty, inequality, it starts with education.

I don't know how we do it if people don't know what they don't know. One of the challenges facing formal education. Places before young people is that they teach you how to figure out what you want to be when you're older and they give you degrees and there's a finite set of them. A lawyer, a teacher. An investigator. You learn those titles and then you do them. the work to get to those degrees and then you get jobs and have careers what i learned none of that has anything to necessarily do with who i am not what i want to be what do I care how I want to wake up? and invest my time every day what brings me joy what makes me sad we don't teach that in school but I learned to try to find that for myself and turn that passion into my career and that was one of the best pieces of

advice

because that's when I decided that I learned that I didn't want to be a lawyer because I had never taken the time to think about why I was going to law school.

I went to law school because I thought I should be a lawyer, not because that's what I wanted. Wasn't work fulfilling so I had to learn how to do that and that required networking and exposing myself to more people and more jobs and more careers and more opportunities as a result of that I became assistant to the mayor of the city of Chicago and then I went on to run a nonprofit and I went on to be an associate dean at a university and I went on to be a vice president of an academic medical center and my life started to open up in ways I never predicted because I started asking myself that simple question, no? what I wanted to be but who I wanted to be and how I wanted to appear in the world and if all of you can take the leap to start doing it.

Ask yourself that question, since you know, pursue your careers if you are starting to think about what kind of work

will

bring you Joy because if you find out that you

will

do well at that and everything else will fall. instead and that's how it was for me. I think young people, when they think about

change

, get hung up on thinking that the only change that matters is something big, huge, mighty, powerful, starting your own organization or moving the needle on an initiative. but when you are young, the best thing you can do is take care of yourself because you are the best asset you can invest in right now, that means taking care of your space, your health, your education, protecting your heart is an important investment for the big picture. and then think about who is who is around you, who you can really influence and everyone can influence someone, maybe it's a little brother, you know, maybe it's a neighbor, maybe it's another girl in a class below you. yours, because when you think about it, younger children don't necessarily admire the teacher, they admire the girl who is right above them, so I urge you to think about who you have access to right now and what you are looking for in you the orientation you see. be a role model because I guarantee there is someone in your life right now who thinks the sun rises and sets with every word you say and I would start talking to that person and do little things like bring them with me when I did something unique by bringing them to a museum.

It's those small gestures that matter, it's not the big radical actions that make change happen every day with the small interactions you have with the people in your life. Well, I'm a mentor because I was mentored. Yes, I think Maran Wright Edelman, one of my heroes, said that service is the rent we pay to live and I feel the same way I feel when someone invests in me, as many people have. I didn't get here on my own. I came here because he was a miracle child who was sprinkled with dust and things just happened. There were people in my life who saw potential in me, people who didn't have to make the investment, who extended a hand and showed me the way and some of them were much older than me, some of them were people who were my peers or people right ahead of me, so I'm a product of the generosity of other people's mentoring, so the expectation of myself is that I give that back to them and it's selfish too. of me being a mentor because I also get a lot out of it.

I mean, one of the best things I do is spend time with younger people because they keep me focused. As I said at the beginning of this conversation, you all keep me clear and Focused. I feel fulfilled helping you achieve your goals. The most satisfying thing I do is see another person benefit from something I help them do. I'm not here to compete with people. I'm here to continue improving. People, my hope is that the support that I have shown you and others have shown you, you will find it in yourself to show to someone else.

One of the reasons I started the mentoring program at the White House was because I wanted people to know that everyone has the time and the ability, even the first lady and the president of the United States, because the president also had a separate mentoring program and we connect our trainees with high-ranking people throughout the White House, from the chief of staff to the head of the house to the Secret Service agents, they were connected with people on a regular basis, so if we can do it, if we can find the time in our busy lives to take a moment, because it doesn't even take that long. you can have an impact on another person with a good conversation.

You know, I never underestimate the value of showing my consideration to children, which is why I take time when I see children because I think that even if I'm with you in a photo line or on a rope that maybe there is one thing I can tell you that you're beautiful you're smart I see you you know I believe in you yes I don't know you but sometimes a child just needs to Listen to that and that doesn't have to come from the first lady. It's powerful when it comes from the first lady, but coming from you, coming from all of you to someone who admires you, it means the same thing, so my expectations for everyone.

It's up to you to find a way to mentor and maybe now isn't the time, but at some point in your life you will get to a place where you have the space. My hope is that you find that time and keep searching. the mentors in your life because I still look for mentors even today anyone who knows more than me I'm going to sit them down and they're going to become my friends and I'm going to ask them for help I did it when I got to the White House, one of the first people with the ones I sat in were other living first ladies.

I made it a point to meet with each of them, number one, to thank them for her service, number two, I wanted to make sure that I felt the lines of communication were open with me third. I wanted to know what it was like for them, what their challenges were, so that you never stop learning and I never stop learning, so if I'm still looking for mentoring, everyone should do it in every phase of your life, whether it's another mother, when When you become a parent, you will need other parents to help you. Mentor, if you are in a relationship, you will want mentoring to help you get through your relationship, ever. it stops