WASHINGTON — For former first lady Michelle Obama, it was time to start asking herself tough questions as conversations around her personal life have swelled in recent months.

That was her message in a podcast released Tuesday, where the Democrat emphasized making her own decisions and thinking about spending her time — even when people float unfounded rumors. Women, Obama said, “struggle with disappointing people.”

“They couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,” Obama told Sophia Bush on Bush’s “Work in Progress” podcast as the women laughed. “That this couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself.”

Obama emphasized during the podcast that she wanted to consider how she liked to spend her free time and ask herself, “who do I truly want to be every day?”

“Who do I want to have a lunch with? How long do I want to stay in a place? Do I want to travel? If a girlfriend calls and says let’s go here, I can say yes,” she said. “And I’m trying to do that more and more.”

At the same time, she noted that she still finds availability to deliver speeches and work on projects, adding that people tended to understand when she declined opportunities.

Members of her own party have previously eyed the former first lady as a potential presidential contender, though she had rejected the musings. Instead, Obama became a notable voice for Democrats on the campaign trail, developing a reputation as a powerful surrogate speaker.

Now that she’s more out of the spotlight, Obama told Sophia Bush that she feels “it’s time for me to make some big girl decisions about my life and to own it fully.”

“Because if not now, when?” she asked. “What am I waiting for?”