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Most People Pleasers Were Parent Pleasers First, Therapist Claims

Lewis Howes School of Greatness · Stop Living for What Others Think of You | Meg Josephson · June 17, 2026
Most People Pleasers Were Parent Pleasers First, Therapist Claims
Lewis Howes School of Greatness
Lewis Howes School of Greatness
Stop Living for What Others Think of You | Meg Josephson
"Most people pleasers were parent pleasers first. That's often the learned behavior. And then the not knowing ourselves, having low confidence, low self-esteem, is the result of doing that for such a long period of time."
Josephson identified the origin of adult people-pleasing behavior in childhood dynamics with unpredictable or critical caregivers. She explained that children learn their safety depends on managing parental moods, creating hypervigilance that becomes embedded in their nervous system. This contradicts the common assumption that low self-esteem causes people-pleasing, reversing the causality.
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Lewis Howes School of Greatness
Lewis Howes School of Greatness

Stop Living for What Others Think of You | Meg Josephson

August 3, 2026 · 5 Egleze moments
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