PHILOSOPHER: And these objectives can be achieved by facing what Adler calls ‘life tasks’.
YOUTH: Then, what are life tasks?
PHILOSOPHER: Let’s think of the word ‘life’ as tracing back to childhood. During childhood, we are protected by our parents and can live without needing to work. But eventually, the time comes when one has to be self-reliant. One cannot be dependent on one’s parents forever, and one has to be self-reliant mentally, of course, and self-reliant in a social sense as well, and one has to engage in some form of work—which is not limited to the narrow definition of working at a company. Furthermore, in the process of growing up, one begins to have all kinds of friend relationships. Of course, one may form a love relationship with someone that may even lead to marriage. If it does, one will start a marital relationship, and if one has children, a parent–child relationship will begin. Adler made three categories of the interpersonal relationships that arise out of these processes. He referred to them as ‘tasks of work’, ‘tasks of friendship’ and ‘tasks of love’, and all together as ‘life tasks’.