The Perfectionism Trap

How to Make Love Persist Forever

When relationships start, enthusiasm for our partners is typically natural and intense. We think of them constantly, we want only to spend more time in their company, we delight in their many skills and accomplishments: but this early phase of powerful admiration and longing rarely lasts. The world often explains this cooling as an inevitable result of sheer exposure. It is, they say, typical to neglect what is always around. But the true reasons seem more complicated, more psychologically rich and, in their own way, a lot more hopeful. 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/yTaqZ Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/CzsDD FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://9qq0.short.gy/Izy3Md MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on RELATIONSHIPS in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLrelationships SOCIAL MEDIA Feel 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/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-school-of-life-for-business/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Deanca Rensyta https://www.deancarensyta.com/about Title animation produced in collaboration with Graeme Probert www.gpmotion.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

How to recognise your patterns - and break free from them

We believe ourselves to be original at every turn while in fact we’re more commonly found rehearsing almost identical patterns in our choices and behaviors. 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/VZs6s Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/bakB8 FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://9qq0.short.gy/QazafT “It sounds odd to say that we might be locked within a story. What might this curious expression mean? Chiefly that we keep unknowingly repeating dynamics that go in very particular - and not especially pleasant - directions. We’re involved in stories of defeat, humiliation, suffering, fear and loneliness, believing ourselves to be original at every turn while in fact rehearsing almost identical patterns in our choices and behaviours. And we probably do this in two areas above all: our working lives and our love lives…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel 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/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-school-of-life-for-business/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Reflective Films https://www.reflectivefilms.co.uk/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Graeme Probert www.gpmotion.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

To Have or Not to Have Children

When deciding whether or not to have children, we should acknowledge that we aren’t choosing either a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answer - merely deciding which form of future suffering we are best suited for. 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/qMUUV Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/0XdQC FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/30wvpQc “Modern societies are pretty much in agreement on this score: having children is one of the most meaningful and delightful moves anyone can make. Couples who do not – for whatever reason – have children tend to be automatically almost universally pitied and are assumed to have been denied the chance to have offspring by biology. That one might freely choose not to have children, and yet be reasonably content with one’s choice, remains one of the most disturbing and unfathomed of all contemporary positions…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel 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/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Nick Hilditch https://nickhilditch.com/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

POP CULTURE: What Is Cinema Meant To Do?

We all love films, but often don’t think hard enough about the role of cinema in our lives and in society more generally. 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/E34Gc Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/_53Zd FURTHER READING “Cinema is the most prestigious cultural activity in the modern world. It is for us what theatre was in the age of Shakespeare or painting was in the days of Leonardo da Vinci: the art form with the biggest impact, the largest budgets, the most widespread audiences…” You can read more on this and other topics here: https://goo.gl/NSctZD The Film clips in this film are: Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Cinema Paradiso (1988) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Hail Caesar (2016) Amelie (2001) Withnail and I (1987) Do the Right Thing (1989) Hairspray (1988) Bridesmaids (2011) The Virgin Suicides (1999) Morvern Callar (2002) American Psycho (2000) The Babadook (2014) Bend it Like Beckham (2002) Life is Sweet (1990) Barry Lyndon (1975) The Riot Club (2014) Sex & the City 2 (2010) Samsara (2011) BBC Panorama: Inside North Korea (2013) The First Movie (2009) Lessons of Darkness (1992) Wadjda (2012) From Russia with Love (1963) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Meek's Cutoff (2010) Selma (2014) Brave (2012) Moana (2016) Tale of Tales (2015) A Matter of Life and Death (1946) Two Days One Night (2014) Leviathan (2014) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) A Clockwork Orange (1971) Ed Wood (1994) Final Segment: The First Movie (2009) MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on POP CULTURE in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLpopculture SOCIAL MEDIA Feel 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/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Madadam https://madadamfilms.co.uk/ #TheSchoolOfLife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Secret Power of Gratitude

Life constantly requires that we say thank you to people - for presents, favours and helpful actions. But expressing thanks is a far from straightforward business. To be properly skilled at it, we need to learn the art of getting specific. 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/vB20C Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/4wUdM FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/30OGxYP “Life continually requires that we write down a few words of thanks: for holidays, meals, presents or people’s place in our hearts. However, too often, our messages end up flat or somewhat unconvincing; we say that the dinner was ‘wonderful’, the present ‘brilliant’ and the holiday ‘the best ever’, all of which may be true while failing to get at what truly touched or moved us…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on ART in our playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpcp7jXVszdNruKUtHZ2zuZb SOCIAL MEDIA Feel 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/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Ana Pérez López https://www.anaperezlopez.com/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]