Life lessons from Michelle Obama are the best

Living la vida @FLOTUS

Being the First Lady of the United States isn’t as glam as Michelle Obama makes it look. Despite her legions of fans, there are always those who don’t support her, the ones who hide in dark corners of the Internet spouting vitriol-filled Tweets.

For anyone who has dealt with digital bullying online (or IRL for that matter), Michelle has some great advice on how to rise above it, reports The Huffington Post. In conversation with Oprah Winfrey at the groundbreaking United State of Women Summit on Tuesday, the first lady explained her approach to haters:

‘Well, when it comes to social media — there are just times I turn off the world, you know. There are just some times you have to give yourself space to be quiet, which means you’ve got to set those phones down,’ she said. ‘You can’t be reading all that stuff. I mean, that’s like letting somebody just walk up and slap you, you know? You would never do that. You would never just sit there and go, slap me in the face and I’m good with it. No. So why would you open yourself up to that?’

As well as advising regular digital detoxes, Michelle recommends blocking out the criticism and focusing on what you do well:

‘The other thing that I have found, particularly in this job, that it’s — people won’t remember what other people say about you, but they will remember what you do. So my strategy — and I’ve always been like this. When a teacher would come and tell me that I couldn’t do something, I would get so much satisfaction proving them wrong. I’d be like, “okay, all right, oh, you don’t think I’m going to do X, Y and Z, well I’m going to be the best X, Y, Z you can imagine.”’

As well as weighing in on trolling, Michelle had some powerful words about being a parent. Appearing in Madrid yesterday as part of her Let Girls Learn project, Michelle said: 'You can start with how you raise your own children if you choose to have them,” Obama said. “Maybe it means telling your sons that it's okay to cry, and your daughters that it's okay to be bossy. Maybe it means encouraging your daughters, not just your son, to study math and science and sign up for the football team. And if there isn't a team for girls, maybe it means asking why not.'

Michelle, you're the inspiration that just keeps on giving.