Becoming-Not A Book Review-3 Best Takeaways

This is not a book review. Here, I have listed 3 best takeaways from the book, Becoming by Michelle Obama. The ones that will stay with me forever.

The book was published in November, 2018 and became one of the best sellers of the year. It has sold more than 10 million copies and is still counting.

We all know Michelle as this charming, intelligent, powerful and charismatic former first lady who influenced so many people around the world with her words and her presence. Her autobiography, as expected, was a hit among people of all color and creed, all faiths and political views.

A Quick Synopsis: (Read this section only if you have not yet read the book or want a quick recap of it)

The book’s 24 chapters (plus a preface and epilogue) are divided into three sections: Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming More.

Becoming Me traces Michelle’s early life growing up on the South Side of Chicago, through her education at Princeton University and Harvard Law School, to her early career as a lawyer at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met Barack Obama.
Becoming Us departs from the beginning of their romantic relationship and follows their marriage, the beginning of his political career in the Illinois State Senate. The section ends with election night in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.
Becoming More describes their life in the white house as first family. Raising her girls, working on causes that are close to her heart, The book ends with them moving out of the house.

My 3 takeaways that will remain with me forever: ( From the book and her numerous interviews)

The title of the book itself: Becoming. I was hooked on right when I read the preface where she writes, “I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child – what do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.”
Wow. How true and how apt for a title : Becoming.
I couldn’t agree more with the abundance of opportunities that present itself by just believing I am in the process of “becoming” . A continuous work in progress.
Failure is a feeling long before it becomes an actual result. It’s vulnerability that breeds with self doubt and then is escalated, often deliberately, by fear.
Wow. This sentence is so profound. It feels so true that it made me feel very vulnerable and very powerful at the same time.
Vulnerable because it is so easy to feel failure and hence manifest it.
Powerful because if I can sense the feeling before it actually occurs then, I have the power to change it.
I can think of all the times when I have felt things are not going to work out way before it actually failed. Dang! How I wish I could curb it at that feeling level itself by taking the necessary steps.
Life is a practice. Practice what you want to be, every single day. You are going to be what you practice being. If you want to be dependable, practice being dependable. If you want to be responsible, practice being responsible. If you are practicing complaining, that is what you will end up being.
Wow. This makes so much sense. How can I practice something and hope to be something else! So simple and so important.