Former first lady Michelle Obama’s wise lessons are not limited to the pages of her new best-selling book Becoming.
Over the weekend, Obama divulged to an audience at Barclays Center in Brooklyn that leaning in doesn’t always work—that sometimes you really can’t have it all.
And in an interview with Good Housekeeping, she shared more advice, this time specifically for Duchess of Sussex Meghan.
“Like me, Meghan probably never dreamt that she’d have a life like this, and the pressure you feel—from yourself and from others—can sometimes feel like a lot,” Obama said. Her advice? “Take some time and don’t be in a hurry to do anything.”
“I spent the first few months in the White House mainly worrying about my daughters…making sure they were off to a good start at school and making new friends before I launched into any more ambitious work. I think it’s okay—it’s good, even—to do that,” Obama said.
And when she is ready, Obama encouraged the Duchess of Sussex to pursue something she is really passionate about. “I think Meghan can maximize her impact for others, as well her own happiness, if she’s doing something that resonates with her personally,” she said.
Finally, the former first lady pointed to the fact that while some things are “harder for young women today,” they are “not as held back by the societal belief that girls and boys can’t do the same thing.”
“They’re charging forwards in sports and math and science and technology. They’re speaking up and speaking out, not just in classrooms but in the public arena at a young age. I find great hope in this generation of young women,” she concluded.
Obama is currently on a book tour for her memoir. Several dates on the European leg of her tour have been canceled, however, so that she can attend the funeral services for former President George H.W. Bush.
