There's nothing wrong with constructive criticism, and I learn from that and better myself. I'm not expecting anyone to be sycophantic in any way; I never expected that.
I have learned to watch myself and give myself constructive criticism. Although I have to cover my face and peek sometimes!
Even by common wisdom, there seem to be both people and objects in my dream that are outside myself, but clearly they were created in myself and are part of me, they are mental constructs in my own brain.
What I really think of myself as is a person who's great at negotiation coaching and consulting.
In the context of our world, sizes 8 and 10 are teeny, but not for Hollywood. I had to ask myself, 'Do I want to be somebody who worries about what I'm eating? Or do I want to find a balance where I can be healthy and not consumed by that and maybe have to buy some larger pants?' I bought new pants.
I view myself as being the average woman. While I am first lady, I wasn't first lady my whole life. I'm a product of pop culture. I'm a consumer of pop culture, and I know what resonates with people.
I don't mean to criticize anyone in any way that I wouldn't criticize myself. I think people should have fun, and have a good time, and enjoy the luck that we have to be lazy and dwell in consumerism. But I think that it's a balance. And our job as actors is empathy.
I've gotten very good at scheduling my life, scheduling the scene and preparing myself for knowing, saving the energy, consuming the energy, knowing when to go for it and having the available reserves to be able to do that. You have to think about that, because it's endurance.
A reviewer's lot is not always an easy one. I can remember flogging myself to finish Harold Brodkey's 'The Runaway Soul' despite the novel's consummate, unmitigated tedium.
I've been managing myself for some time now, and after accomplishing many goals here in Brazil, I knew it was time to make new contacts and do bigger things on an international level.
Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.
When I was 16 or 17, anyone could have had me if they sang the right song and recruited me in the right way. Which is why I've always had a sneaking understanding for people who took the wrong route. That doesn't mean to say I took it or even contemplated it myself.
If I had a talent, it was for looking askew at everything, possibly more than my contemporaries. But I had to really push myself to be a writer.
Here's how I work: It's 2013, and most marketers are operating like it's 2009. I'm always trying to market like it's 2015, but not like it's 2020. A lot of my contemporaries who understand where the world is going, go too far out, and aren't practical. I have always prided myself on being visionary, with a heavy practicality.
I tell myself that I created the wardrobe of the contemporary woman, that I participated in the transformation of my times.
More and more, I find myself turning away from everything relating to contemporary society. I don't know how healthy it is, but I am creating a very private bubble that I live in.
I've had a contemptuous relationship with authority throughout my life. I found myself at odds with authority, and I'm disdainful of blind authority.
A lot of people get up to the top of the pile, maybe get one No. 1 contender match-up, and if they lose, they drift into obscurity. I lost, and I went back a bit. But I built myself back up. Three times.
I knew I was a world champion and a top contender at the highest level for over a decade, but I think I'll be remembered as somebody that was an ambassador for the sport, someone who helped build something bigger than myself, and also for the team I've been able to build.
Being deeply contented with God in my everyday life is a focused attitude. It is always available. It means practicing letting go of my obsession with how I'm doing. It means training myself to learn to actually be present with people, and seeking to love them.
