Ask Allison: ‘I’m obsessed with making people like me — how can I stop being such a doormat?’

Allison Keating answers your queries about life & relationships

Sometimes the best growth is allowing ourselves to be as we are, not a continual self-improvement project. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Allison Keating

Question: I am in my late 40s and for my whole life, I have been obsessed with whether or not people like me. I know everyone wants to be liked to some extent but I think I have a bit of an issue. For example, if one of the mums at the school mentions they have an appointment at pick-up time, I will insist that I pick up their kids for them and give them dinner, even though I know I am being pathetic and going way overboard.