
Show Notes
We often imagine that the best way to endear ourselves to others is never to bother to them - and always to fit in with their plans. But that's to miss out on a great yet hidden truth of social life: in certain circumstances, people quite like to be asked for help; friendship builds when we can make ourselves vulnerable enough to show our need.Uploaded 22-01-20Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/_Q3QXBe more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/bdm-ZFURTHER READINGYou can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/2G9zD6m“We tend to operate with the view that the best way to please people is not to bother them too much. We keep many of our dilemmas and confusions away from those we like, for fear of irritating or inconveniencing them and so spoiling the relationship. We may well have a voice echoing in our minds from childhood: ‘Don’t bother your mother, can’t you see she’s exhausted from her trip? Don’t bother your father, he works hard for us and he’s busy right now…’ There are powerful reasons why we equate making others happy with burdening them as little as possible. But our analysis is missing a key detail of human psychology: we like to be bothered. Not at all time and over all things, nor at the expense of our own critical needs, but fundamentally, we have a powerful urge to feel helpful. We need to be needed. All of us suffer from a fear of superfluity, which the requirements of others has a critical capacity to appease. However nice presents may be for our friends, the real gift we can offer them is an insight into our problems…”MORE SCHOOL OF LIFEWatch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLselfSOCIAL MEDIAFeel free to follow us at the links below:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITSProduced in collaboration with: Tracy Fosterhttp://tj-tracyfoster.squarespace.com/ Title animation produced in collaboration withVale Productionshttps://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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News organisations claim to be informing us with their bulletins. In fact, more and often than not, they are driving us crazy with needless anxiety and puzzling us with random bits of information we can’t make use of.
Some of us appear to have an above average talent for finding ourselves in unfulfilling relationships. Our unions might begin with a lot of hope - but in time, problems set in: a lack of affection, an absence of intimacy, an emotional chill, affairs. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://www.theschooloflife.com/the-school-of-life-youtube/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDjlHY5Z2xI&t=7s
Making resolutions to be a better person is a hugely important activity - even if we can't always stick to every last one. Here is a list of suggested moves for how to be a slightly nicer person to live around in the new year. Uploaded 31-12-17Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/vhpd4Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/wqudaFURTHER READING“Why does being ‘a good person’ have such a bad name? In the modern world, the idea of trying to be good or kind conjures up all sorts of negative associations: of piety, solemnity, bloodlessness and sexual renunciation. It’s telling that ‘wicked’ has even become a term of praise.And yet the project of being good is as vital, or even more important, for the individual and society as is the project of being healthy. Yet while we have no problem with going to the gym to get fitter, it sounds deeply weird, even creepy, to suggest that one might ‘work’ at being better or nicer…”You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://goo.gl/17DqjXMORE SCHOOL OF LIFEOur website has classes, articles and products to help you think and grow: https://goo.gl/b461ahWatch more films on RELATIONSHIPS in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLrelationshipsYou can submit translations and transcripts on all of our videos here: https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_panel?c=UC7IcJI8PUf5Z3zKxnZvTBog&tab=2 Find out how more here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6054623?hl=en-GB SOCIAL MEDIAFeel free to follow us at the links below:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITSProduced in collaboration with: Khyan Mansleyhttps://www.youtube.com/user/Khyan1https://twitter.com/khyan?lang=en #TheSchoolOfLife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
One of the most significant discoveries of the early 20th century was of a part of the mind we now refer to as ‘the unconscious.’ It came to be properly appreciated that what we know of ourselves in ordinary consciousness comprises only a fraction of what is actually at play within us; and that a lot of what we really want, feel and are is not at our mental fingertips, lying instead in a penumbra of ignorance, fantasy and denial which we can only hope to dispel with patient and compassionate efforts, probably with the assistance of an analyst.
There’s a lot constantly going in the fantasy part of our minds that sounds pretty strange and at times, frankly, shocking. But coming to terms with our fantasies – and realising they are not our reality – belongs to the art of knowing how to live more easily with ourselves. Uploaded 07-04-17Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/4bvm7Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/zMkYnFURTHER READING“Every day, each one of us entertains, in the caverns of our minds, a host of secretly very enjoyable but deeply taboo ideas and scenarios. We fantasise about the downfall of rivals, sudden wealth and fame, reversing and accelerating time, eliminating colleagues, anticipating the stock market, the death of various people (even a few we’re meant to love) – and of course, of having sex with a huge variety of entirely inappropriate people in a plethora of highly forbidden or just pretty non-standard ways…”You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://goo.gl/8gl7fbMORE SCHOOL OF LIFEWatch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLselfSOCIAL MEDIAFeel free to follow us at the links below:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITSProduced in collaboration with:Emma Ehrlinghttp://www.emmaehrling.co.uk/ #TheSchoolOfLife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices