Beyoncé Says She Had "Little Boundaries" and "Said Yes to Everything" Early in Her Career

Beyoncé was not always the embodiment of strength we know her as today—or at least she doesn't feel like she was.

In her new interview with GQ, the 43-year-old Cowboy Carter singer and mother of three opened up about a range of topics, but when the interviewer prompted her to get reflective about her career and what she hopes for her legacy, she opened up about some of the drawbacks that come with building a career like hers.

"I am proud of what I have been able to do, but I also recognize the sacrifices—mine and my family’s," she admitted. "There was a time when I was pushing myself to meet unrealistic deadlines, while not taking the time to enjoy the benefits of why I was working so hard."

Thinking back on the time the time in her life when she wasn't taking that time to enjoy the benefits of her hard work, Beyoncé reflected on the early days of her career—the very early days, back when she would have been in her Destiny's Child era—and the way the music industry (and society at large, if we're being honest) didn't put the same value on mental health and emotional wellbeing that we do today. As a result, the "16 Carriages" singer says firm boundaries weren't her strong suit back then.

"There aren’t many of us from the late ’90s who were taught to focus on mental health," she said. "Back then, I had little boundaries, and said yes to everything. But I’ve paid my dues a hundred times over. I have worked harder than anyone I know. And now I work smarter."

As for her legacy going forward, Beyoncé focused on what her work and her art does for others, saying that impacting others is what makes her happiest.

"In the end, the biggest reward is personal joy," she said. "Has what I created pushed others to think freely and believe in the impossible? If the answer to that question is yes, then that is the gift."

Don't think that Bey's constant legacy-building means she's a workaholic, though, since she's a living example of that old saying about how if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.

"Singing is not work for me. I sing for me. I love music and I love to sing. It’s a passion that runs deep. There’s magic in the way it feels on my throat, a resonance that vibrates through me," she said, adding that she considers her voice her companion in life and that singing soothes and steadies her. "It’s one of the deepest joys of my life, a necessity as vital as breath. Without singing, without music, without creating, I would be a walking dead. Creating music isn’t work for me; it’s what I was born to do."