Authenticity- there are few greater qualities.
Learning to accept who you are and living in the freedom of that expression is priceless. This has always been an underpinning philosophy here at IBG. So you can imagine our absolute glee when Michelle Obama- the First lady of the United States of America expressed the same sentiments during her speech at the Tuskegee University, Alabama, as she was conferred with an honorary Doctorate degree. As usual the #FLOTUS was uber inspiring.
Here are some quotes that particularly caught our attention
“Back in those days, I a lot of sleepless nights worrying about what people thought of me; wondering if I might be hurting my husband’s chances of winning his election, fearing how my girls would feel if they found out what some people were saying about their mom. But eventually, I realised, that if I wanted to keep my sanity and not let others define me, there was only one thing I could do – and that was to have faith in God’s plan for me. I had to ignore all of the noise, and be true to myself and the rest would work itself out.
So throughout this journey, I have learned to block everything out and focus on my truths. I had to answer some basic questions for myself. Who am I? No, really… who am I? What do I care about? And the answers to those questions have resulted in the woman who stands before you today. A woman who is first and foremost a mom. Look, I love our daughters more than anything in the world, more than life itself. And while that may not be the first thing that some folks want to hear from an ivy league educated lawyer, it is truly who I am. So for me, being Mom-in-chief is and always will be job Number One“
“And at the end of the day, by staying true to the me I’ve always known, I found that this journey has been incredibly freeing. Because no matter what happened, I had the peace of mind of knowing that all of the chatter, the name calling, the doubting… all of it was just noise. It did not define me. It didn’t change who I was. And most importantly, it couldn’t hold me back. I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values, and follow my own moral compass then the only expectations I need to live up to, are my own.
So graduates, that’s what I want for all of you. I want you all to stay true to the most real, most sincere, most authentic parts of yourselves. I want you to ask those basic questions: who do you want to be? What inspires you? How do you want to give back? And then, I want you to take a deep breath and trust yourself to chart your own course, and make your mark on the world.“
What did we tell you…uber inspiring right? To watch to the full speech click on the video below
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