The School of Life

Why You Should Endeavor to Be More Self-Serving

The real danger for most people is not that they ignore others in the name of their own needs, it’s precisely the opposite: that they constantly put aside authentic inner

Why We Become Lonely

It’s an embarrassing confession, but many of us spend a great deal of our lives asking, week after week, always with the same blend of frustration, despair and puzzlement

Why Our Best Thoughts Come to Us in the Shower

We sometimes assume that good thinking happens in quiet rooms at large desks with views. But really, for a variety of fascinating reasons, it happens most often in the sh

You Still Have a Chance to Be Genuinely Original

The key to originality doesn't lie in seeking out new ideas and experiences, but rather in examining our own neglected thoughts. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full ac

Self-Esteem

To have sound levels of self-esteem is one of the gateways to happiness. But achieving this has very little to do with the progress of our careers. Uploaded 25-05-16Enjoy

Countries for winners; countries for losers

A good way to divide advanced societies is to ask: which are the good ones if you’re doing well, and which are the good ones if you’re doing badly? Interestingly, the res

The Three Steps to Making Someone Fall in Love With You

Emotional Intelligence, Daily. Start now: https://www.theschooloflife.com/subscription/ This film explores the three non-negotiable psychological ingredients that lead to

On Still Being a Virgin

Our era of sexual liberation encourages us to have sex; but at the same time, hugely stigmatises those who don’t have it, from choice or circumstances. It’s time to liber

Peter Gabriel on Songwriting

#petergabriel #music #interview The great musician Peter Gabriel came to do an event around the corner from the School of Life's London HQ: a discussion on music, philos

How To Break Through Psychological Barriers

We humans are extraordinarily and painfully vulnerable creatures. Especially in our early years, we are at huge danger of being psychologically damaged by those around us

How to Remain Emotionally Mature in a Crisis

Emotional maturity isn't just something we can achieve in the good times. It's a quality that can accompany us through the deepest crises. A key idea to keep in mind is t

Why It Really Is All About Your Formative Years

The founding principle of modern psychotherapy - that it is all to do with one’s childhood - can sound especially irritating. Why should we be forever tied to things that

In Praise of Self-Examining People

However healthy it often is to try to fit in and assume we must just be like everyone else, there are also benefits in sometimes accepting that we might in the end not be

When People Reveal Who They Are Accept It

Emotional Intelligence, Daily. Start now: https://www.theschooloflife.com/subscription/ Get weekly insights for better relationships, deeper self-knowledge, and inner c

Conquering Your Cruel Inner Voices

All of us have deeply unhelpful inner voices inside us, dragging us down with criticisms and unfair accusations. Wisdom involves learning how to replace them with more be

A Writing Exercise to Help You Discover Yourself

In order to accurately reflect what we truly think we may have to not to agonise about every word, not to go back and correct anything - and instead, just to write down e

How to Cease People Pleasing and Discover Happiness

One of the more curious aspects of the ways we are built is that it can take us a very long time indeed to work out what we need in order to be happy. Enjoying our Youtu

Why You Should State What You Need

There is a widespread tendency to assume that others must know what we mean and want without us having actually told them clearly. We assume that if they don’t, then it m

Clandestine Food Obsession

In many areas, we're far weirder than we let on in public. For example, consider the business of eating: there's such a difference between how we do it with, and without,

Freud on: Channelling

A lot of what we long for and desire will never be ours; we might go out of our minds with frustration, were it not for a very useful manoeuvre first identified by Sigmun