Why we should pity High Achievers episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 21, 2026 · 6 MIN

Why we should pity High Achievers

from The School of Life · host tscol

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 the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/422i- FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/304T25U ‘It might seem – at first glance – as though the people we term high-achievers could not possibly have any relationship to self-hatred: they are the ones who did exceptionally well in exams, whom the teachers admired, who won places at the best universities, who graduated with honours, who got into law and medical schools, who founded thriving businesses, who live in the wealthiest parts of town, who are up early in the morning preparing themselves healthy breakfasts before a day of important meetings. Surely we can’t impute that these might be sufferers from the ravages of self-disgust?..” 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: Eunju Choi https://www.rca.ac.uk/showcase/show-rca/eun-ju-choi/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/422i- FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/304T25U ‘It might seem – at first glance – as though the people we term high-achievers could not possibly have any relationship to self-hatred: they are the ones who did exceptionally well in exams, whom the teachers admired, who won places at the best universities, who graduated with honours, who got into law and medical schools, who founded thriving businesses, who live in the wealthiest parts of town, who are up early in the morning preparing themselves healthy breakfasts before a day of important meetings. Surely we can’t impute that these might be sufferers from the ravages of self-disgust?..” 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: Eunju Choi https://www.rca.ac.uk/showcase/show-rca/eun-ju-choi/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Why we should pity High Achievers

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This episode was published on June 21, 2026.

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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...

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