Michelle Obama Reveals She Sometimes Didn’t Feel ‘Good Enough’ To Be The First Lady: ‘I’ve Had Many Doubts’

In a new interview with Good Housekeeping, Michelle Obama candidly opened up about feeling insecure at different times in her life. The Becoming author revealed that she’s always dealt with self-doubt and not being able to believe in her talents, even when Barack Obama ran for office in 2008.

“I’ve had many doubts through my life. They cropped up when I went to a high school across town and a college across the country, when I was a young lawyer in a high-rise law firm, when I took a leap of faith and allowed our family to venture into a Presidential race,” she said.

Michelle’s constant worrying soon started to cloud her judgment and made her feel like she didn’t deserve to be in the White House. “In all those moments, a chorus of doubts rang out inside my head: Do I really belong here? Am I good enough?” she continued. “But after a while, I realized that I had every reason to be in those environments. I just had to trust my instincts and be myself — and then the rest would take care of itself.”

Once Michelle stopped doubting herself, she was able to spend more time chasing after her passions and less time worrying. “Something that always made me feel good was being around children and young people,” Michelle noted about what she loves to do. “We made sure that kids — ordinary kids, not just the kids of a donor or a Congressman — had access to folks like Justin Timberlake, Janelle Monáe, and Smokey Robinson talking about the doubts and struggles they fought through.”

Michelle wanted to use her platform to “inspire young people” to achieve their dreams no matter what. And even though she’s no longer in the White House, she still aims to be a great role model for any kid who needs a little bit of hope to reach their goal.