Beyoncé has reached the point where she no longer feels the need to "compete with herself".
In an essay for the September 2021 issue of Harper's Bazaar, the superstar reflected on her career achievements and philanthropic work, and accordingly, noted that she now avoids seeking out validation from others.
"I've spent so many years trying to better myself and improve whatever I've done that I'm at a point where I no longer need to compete with myself. I have no interest in searching backwards. The past is the past," she wrote. "I feel many aspects of that younger, less evolved Beyoncé could never f**k with the woman I am today."
Elsewhere in the piece, Beyoncé discussed her place within celebrity culture and her desire to shield herself and her three children, whom she shares with rapper husband JAY-Z, from the public eye.
"In this business, so much of your life does not belong to you unless you fight for it. I've fought to protect my sanity and my privacy because the quality of my life depended on it. A lot of who I am is reserved for the people I love and trust," the 39-year-old shared. "Those who don't know me and have never met me might interpret that as being closed off. Trust, the reason those folks don't see certain things about me is because my Virgo a*s does not want them to see it... It's not because it doesn't exist!"
