The School of Life

The existence of snobbery explains why we work so hard and are so worried about our reputations. We are all terrified of humiliation and disrespect. If you like our films, take a look at our shop (we ship worldwide): https://goo.gl/ReltQR 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...

Our desire to build good and lasting friendships is often undermined by a lack of focus on what friendship should really be about. Getting clear about what friendship is for isn’t cynical; it provides the foundation for genuine bonds. 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 Scho...

A lot of our problems come from living in a culture that forces us to laugh all the time. That’s why it can be helpful to gather the darkest truths in one place, feel sad about them for a while, then head out with a lighter heart, certain that we have seen the worst life can throw at us. If you are struggling with Mental Health there are lines where you can get professional support: https://www.nh...

There is a huge emphasis on having new experiences; but very little emphasis on revisiting them in memory. We would be wiser (and happier) if we learnt to travel more concertedly around the good memories we already have. 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 Sub...

Knowing how to tease and be teased affectionately is a secret to knowing how to get on well with others. 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://t.ly/WrQXd Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered st...

Continuing our series on films about working life around the world: a dressmaker from Ghana allows us into her shop. 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://t.ly/UejAW Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life...

Underlying so many of our emotional problems lies one phenomenon above any other; shame. Feeling misguidedly and disproportionately ashamed of who we are is at the root of an extraordinary amount of disturbance, rendering us harmful to ourselves and to the world. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation...

We often observe self protective strategies in ourselves with a mixture of puzzlement and embarrassment. Why are we like this? Why can’t we be more normal? What’s up with us? Our newsletter is a treasury of ideas: ideas that can inspire, console, and improve your mental wellbeing. You’ll also hear news about our app, latest releases and exclusive Q&A content, where we answer your questions:https:/...

You’re up in the middle of the night and once again, you’re in trouble in love... 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://t.ly/oIYIn Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: h...

We’re used to thinking about love as a kind of admiration for perfection. But there’s another side to what love should mean: tolerance for, and imagination about, the less than perfect sides of others. 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://...

Knowing how to derive satisfaction from small pleasures is key to a good life. Here is a short guide. 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://t.ly/0UU0I Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered strai...

It is a measure of our collective delusion that we are so ready to be proud of high achievers and so slow to detect the wound that powers them on. 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://t.ly/cLi_e Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get t...

We are masters at knowing how to lie to ourselves. We pay a heavy price for this self-deception. 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://t.ly/6rru0 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight t...

We tend to evaluate people on how interesting they are. But we are thereby liable to miss a more acute and relevant issue: how interesting does a given person make us feel? Why in the company of some do our minds quickly fill with stories, while around others, we experience ourselves as blank, dull and close to inert? FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://9qq0....

Many of humanity’s greatest problems stem not from a shortfall of technical or financial intelligence, but what we term emotional intelligence. It is through the acquisition of Emotional Intelligence that we stand to become better lovers, workers, friends and citizens. We are rarely systematically taught Emotional Intelligence and pay a heavy price for this gap in learning. Enjoying our YouTube vi...

What lies behind the pessimism and witty bitterness of the cynic? As always: a lot of pain… 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://t.ly/VJBUc Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to you...

Though it looks like the world is set in its ways, it is in fact eminently open to change by those who dare to swim into the stream of history. 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://t.ly/xSDtC Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the...

Children’s relationships with soft toys is neither superficial nor unimportant to psychological development. If you like our films, take a look at our shop (we ship worldwide): https://goo.gl/bbNOLH 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://t.l...

Cultural Mining is the term given to the extraction of valuable ideas from the raw ore of culture. It’s what we do every day at The School of Life. 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://t.ly/ZfZxT Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get...

At the root of some of our angriest moods lies a surprising emotion: optimism. 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://t.ly/5z9gF Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: http...

Even if we have no interest at all in becoming a Hindu, Hinduism offers us at least four fascinating ideas. 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://t.ly/JY22O Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered...

One of the lesser known skills of relationships is the ability to translate what a lover says to reveal its deeper meaning. 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://t.ly/HnJ15 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School o...

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://t.ly/yD7c1 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/AFOod The School of Life runs a global online psychotherapy service th...

Being ‘nice’ sounds a bit eerie and strange. It shouldn’t really. 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://t.ly/0M4b7 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/fR90...

It’s remarkably easy to fall out of touch with a key bit of oneself: one’s feelings. A short guide to recovering contact. 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://t.ly/uMhd4 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of...