Quote Of The Day By Kelly Clarkson: 'Becoming A Mother Has Made Me Next-Level Confident...'

Kelly Clarkson is one of the most successful individuals to come from "American Idol." Clarkson won the very first season of the still-ongoing singing competition show back in 2002, and has enjoyed a career as a pop icon ever since. The artist was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1982, where she sang in her high school choir. After school, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue music. She landed a short-lived job with songwriter Gerry Goffin, but her career didn't take off, and she moved back to Texas shortly after. A friend encouraged her to apply for the first season of "American Idol," which finally gave the singer her big break.

In the decades following, Clarkson built a successful career in the music industry. She put her RCA contract to good use, as her first single post-"American Idol", "A Moment Like This," reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts. In 2006, Clarkson's second album, "Breakaway," established that she was here to stay. "Breakaway" earned Clarkson two Grammys, one for the album itself and another for her song "Since U Been Gone." 

While continuing to build her career, Clarkson married talent manager Brandon Blackstock in 2012. They welcomed a daughter, River Rose, in 2014, and a son, Remington Alexander, two years later. Though Clarkson and Blackstock divorced in 2020, they continued to co-parent their children. However, Blackstock passed away five years later after a battle with cancer, making Clarkson a single parent. However, Kelly Clarkson doesn't sweat the single life — between her career and her kids, she has a lot on her plate. Her solid grasp on motherhood makes Clarkson the perfect messenger for today's quote of the day.

During a 2016 interview with Good Housekeeping, Kelly Clarkson got candid about the ups and downs of motherhood. "Becoming a mother has made me next-level confident. I've never felt more empowered," Clarkson told the outlet (via Today). "I feel like my 20s were spent walking on eggshells, making sure everyone felt loved and not really expressing my opinion. As a mom, you just don't have time, so you get straight to the point." Everyone approaches parenthood differently, and Clarkson has managed to rediscover herself during the (often difficult) period of major transition. 

There is the belief that once you become a parent, that role overtakes everything else about you and your life. This isn't necessarily true — starting a family can actually affirm and strengthen your conviction and overall sense of self. Kelly Clarkson's quote is something that many parents can relate to. Parenting is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, and that alone can give you the confidence and clarity that Clarkson was talking about. Younger people tend to care more about how they are perceived by others (especially their peers), but as Clarkson put it, once you mature and/or become a parent, it is more difficult to find the time or energy to worry about unimportant things. 

This philosophy can apply to you whether or not you have (or even plan to have) children. For those like Clarkson, motherhood can be an empowering and confidence-boosting endeavor. However, you can still capture that same inner contentment without having children. If you're hesitant about starting a family, understand that becoming a parent doesn't mean you'll lose yourself; in fact, the challenges of parenthood can ultimately bolster your self-esteem. Mind what Clarkson said: Getting straight to the point (like a mother would) can help prevent unhealthy people-pleasing and keep you confident and self-assured. 

• "I love my body. I'm very much okay with it. I don't think artists are ever the ones who have the problem with their weight, it is other people."
• "I think that sometimes Hollywood can be very 'Oh, we don't want people to see what we really look like. That'll be the death of you or something.' And it's like, 'Whatever!' Everybody poops. Everybody burps. Everybody's the same."
• "Really, what I try to instill in my fans is to be healthy and happy. I have no desire to be super-skinny."
• "I've always been a confident girl, I've always felt sexy and intelligent. But after becoming a mother, the amount of s**t that you get done, you're so impressed with yourself!"
• "The hardest thing about being in this business is just being able to be yourself. People act like there's this one set of rules to follow to be a pop star, and I think, 'Well, you say I'm a pop star, so maybe that's not true.'"