The One Question You Need to Understand Who You Are

There is one question that, perhaps more than any other, gets to the root of who we are and what motivates us: “What did I need to do in childhood to win the support and approval of my parents?” We might - to sharpen the picture - need to lean on a few subsidiary enquiries… 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: Learn, heal and grow. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects in our articles, here: “There is one question that, perhaps more than any other, gets to the root of who we are and what motivates us: What did I need to do in childhood to win the support and approval of my parents? We might - to sharpen the picture - need to lean on a few subsidiary enquiries: To please my father, I needed to… To please my mother, I needed to… Not to upset my mother, I needed to… Not to upset my father, I needed to… Whatever might be claimed, no family ever gives its offspring unconditional love; there is always, more or less subtly, something that one has to do and to be - and other things that must at all costs be skirted…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: LinkedIn: CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Deanca Rensyta Title animation produced in collaboration with Graeme Probert