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SOURCE   (Michelle Phan)

From an early age my ambitions were driven by the expectations of others and being the people pleaser that I was, I'd spent the rest of my youth chasing after my mother's dream - becoming successful.

I don't understand the grammatical role of 'that I was' here. Why aren't there any words after that I was? I mean, that I was 'what'? Is this a grammatically right sentence?

Does it mean from an early age she was becoming a people pleaser, which she ALREADY was, and had to spent the rest of her youth chasing her mom's dream?

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    He was a people-pleaser (someone that tried to please people) and his ambition was to uphold that Jul 8, 2017 at 8:53

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Not a grammar guru but the sentence seems fine. Regarding the dangling "was", it can technically be rearranged as "being that I was a people pleaser", though the original form sounds much smoother to my ear. It's seems to be indicating that when she was "younger", possibly starting as a child (where the nature of children is to be wanted, accepted and liked), she was a people pleaser but (based on past tense) likely no longer is. This also seems to indicate she is no longer chasing her mother's dreams, though she did try to pursue them at an earlier age.

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