シャドーイング練習: How to Discipline Your Mind | Easy English Conversation Podcast | 40 Minutes Real English Listening - 動画で英語スピーキングを学ぶ
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English Leap Podcast.
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From Speak English with Klaas.
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Hey, everyone.
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Welcome back to the English Leap Podcast, your cozy place to practice real English through simple conversations about everyday life.
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I'm Anna.
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And I'm Jake.
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We're really happy you're here with us today.
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Anna, you look very calm.
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Either you had a peaceful morning or you're hiding something.
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I was about to say the same about you, Jake.
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You look unusually pleased with yourself today.
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Pleased with myself, yes.
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That's probably fair.
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I finally did something yesterday that I had been avoiding for almost three weeks.
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Three weeks, Jake?
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Now you can't just say that and move on.
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What was it?
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I cleaned the cupboard near my front door.
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The cupboard.
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Okay, that sounds less dramatic than I expected.
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Was it really that bad?
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It started as a shoe cupboard.
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Then it slowly became a place for shoes, bags, two umbrellas, old cables, a torch I wasn't sure still worked,
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and one small box that I kept refusing to open.
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Refusing to open it?
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That makes the box sound dangerous.
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Not dangerous.
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Worse.
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I thought whatever was inside would create another job for me.
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Ah, so you were protecting yourself from responsibility by not looking at it.
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Exactly.
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And Anna, the embarrassing part is that every time I walked past that covered, I had the same conversation with myself.
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I should clean that.
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Then, almost immediately, maybe later.
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Later, later, later.
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That word can become very comfortable, can't it?
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Very comfortable.
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And yesterday I suddenly noticed I was having the same little meeting with myself again.
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I thought, Jake, you already decided this needs to be done.
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Why are you reopening the decision?" I like that phrase, reopening the decision.
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And actually, Jake, that takes us straight into today's topic.
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I thought it might.
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Today, we're talking about how to discipline your mind, but not in a harsh way.
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We're not talking about becoming cold, working every minute, or forcing yourself through everything.
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Right.
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We're talking about something much more human.
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How to do what matters when your mood changes, when the excitement disappears, when you don't feel like starting, and when real life interrupts your plan.
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And maybe, as you're listening, one thing has already come into your mind.
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Something you keep moving to tomorrow.
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English practice, exercise, a difficult email, a drawer, a cupboard.
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Apparently, cupboards are very dangerous.
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Yours seems to be.
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Fair.
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This conversation is for B1, B2 learners, so we'll keep the English clear, natural, and easy to follow.
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You'll hear six useful words and phrases along the way, and later we'll come back to them in our word tour.
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And near the end, we'll have Say It Better, where we take simple everyday sentences and give you more natural conversational alternatives.
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So settle in, and while you listen, think of one thing that you've been postponing.
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Just one.
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One is enough.
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We're not rebuilding our whole life before lunch.
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And Jake, before we stay with that cupboard, can we ask everyone for one small favor? Of course.
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If these conversations are helping you practice real English, take a second to like the episode and subscribe to the English Leap podcast.
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It really helps more learners find us.
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And we want you in the conversation, too.
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In the comments, finish this sentence.
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One thing I keep postponing is...
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Keep it simple.
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It could be English practice, exercise, a piece of work, cleaning something, making a decision, whatever is real for you.
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Yes.
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And by the end of the episode, maybe you'll have a clearer idea of what your next small step could be.
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I like that.
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Not a huge life change, just one honest next step.
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Exactly.
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All right, Jake, let's stay with that cupboard for a moment.
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When you kept delaying it, what did your mind actually say?
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It never said, I will never clean this.
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That would have sounded ridiculous.
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My mind was much more polite.
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It said things like, you've had a long day, or you just ate, so rest for a while.
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One evening it was nearly eight, and I decided that nobody sensible starts cleaning a cupboard at eight.
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Nobody sensible?
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Apparently that was my argument.
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And then one rainy evening I somehow decided cupboard cleaning was better on a sunny day.
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No, no, Jake.
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That one is weak.
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I know, but in the moment, it sounded strangely reasonable.
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Reasonable?
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That's the important word there, because the excuse doesn't usually sound ridiculous while we're making it.
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It sounds sensible enough to believe.
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Exactly.
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One part of me wanted a clean cupboard, and another part wanted the sofa.
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And Sofa Jake had prepared a very strong case.
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Sofa Jake sounds very confident.
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Extremely.
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He speaks slowly and says things like, you deserve a rest.
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And to be fair, sometimes you do deserve a rest.
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That's why I don't think discipline means ignoring every feeling.
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If you're sick, exhausted, or something important changes, that information matters.
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Right.
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The problem is when nothing has really changed except my mood, but I act as if the whole decision needs to be discussed again.
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Exactly, Jake.
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You made a decision when you were thinking clearly.
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Then later your mood arrives and asks for another meeting.
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Another meeting, yes.
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And this happens with English, too.
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You decide in the morning, I'll practice for 15 minutes tonight.
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Evening comes, you feel tired, and suddenly you're asking yourself whether the plan was ever a good idea.
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Or you decide to go for a walk after work.
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Then work ends, you sit down for five minutes, and your mind says, tomorrow would be better.
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Tomorrow has excellent marketing.
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It really does.
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Tomorrow is always calm, organized, energetic, and somehow free of problems.
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Very different from today.
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And that little discussion with yourself is a kind of negotiation.
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A negotiation is a discussion where two sides try to reach an agreement.
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So, Responsible Jake and Sofa Jake are negotiating.
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Exactly.
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And sometimes that negotiation is useful.
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But if you keep reopening the same decision, you can spend more energy deciding than actually doing.
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That is what happened with the cupboard.
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Cleaning it took less time than thinking about cleaning it for three weeks.
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That's such a relatable pattern.
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We imagine the task, avoid the task, think about the task, feel guilty about the task, and sometimes the task itself is the shortest part.
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Which brings us to another useful word, rationalize.
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Yes.
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To rationalize means to give yourself a reason that makes a questionable choice sound sensible.
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So when I said, the weather is wrong for cupboard cleaning, I wasn't receiving wisdom.
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No, Jake, you were rationalizing.
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Much less impressive.
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But notice how we're talking about this.
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We're not saying, you're lazy, be harder on yourself.
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A better response is curiosity.
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Ask, why am I changing the plan?
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Is there genuinely new information, or am I simply uncomfortable?
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I like that.
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Curiosity instead of attack.
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I can say, ah, I'm reopening the meeting because I don't feel like doing it.
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Exactly.
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And if nothing important has changed, maybe the meeting can end.
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Preferably before Sofa Jake makes a slideshow.
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Please don't give him ideas.
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Fair.
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And if you're listening, your cupboard might be completely different.
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Maybe it's one page you need to read, a form you need to fill in, a room you need to tidy, or ten minutes of English.
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Whatever it is, ask yourself one calm question.
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Have I really changed my plan, or am I negotiating with the same decision again?
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And even when you finally stop negotiating and begin, Anna, there's another problem for me.
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Staying with it.
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Staying with it, yes.
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Starting can feel much easier than continuing.
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Much easier.
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Starting feels wonderful.
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New plan, clean page, fresh energy.
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For two or three days, I become a very impressive person.
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Two or three days?
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Very specific.
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I'm being realistic.
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If I buy a nice notebook, maybe four.
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Ah, the notebook.
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Very powerful.
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Extremely.
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But you know the feeling.
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You decide, this is it.
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I'm changing.
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In your head you can already see the future version of yourself.
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He wakes up early, finishes everything on time, exercises, reads, keeps the kitchen clean, and never loses a sock.
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The sock part is where I stopped believing you.
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Me too.
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But the first few days have energy.
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Then an ordinary Wednesday arrives.
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Wednesday, yes.
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Nothing terrible happens.
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It's just ordinary.
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Exactly.
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The notebook is no longer new.
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Nobody is impressed.
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There is no exciting feeling.
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You're just doing the thing again.
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And I think that ordinary middle is where discipline becomes real.
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The ordinary middle.
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I like that.
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Because motivation may give you the beginning, but it doesn't always stay.
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I think of motivation like a spark.
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A spark can start a fire, but a spark is quick.
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If you want the fire to keep going, you need something steadier.
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A spark, yes, that makes sense.
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Motivation says, let's begin.
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Discipline says, we're still doing this on Thursday.
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Exactly.
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Quietly...
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Steadily, without needing a dramatic feeling every time.
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I learned that the hard way while preparing a presentation last month.
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I opened the document, wrote the title, and immediately noticed that my desk was messy.
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Jake, I already know where this is going.
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You should.
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I thought, I'll clean the desk quickly so I can focus.
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Then I noticed some papers.
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Then the shelf.
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Then a drawer.
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Two hours later, the room looked excellent.
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And the presentation?
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Still had a beautiful title.
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So you were very productive, just not at the thing you actually needed to do.
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Exactly, Anna.
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And that taught me something uncomfortable.
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Sometimes I don't avoid work by doing nothing.
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I avoid the difficult thing by doing easier, useful things.
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Yes, yes, that's very human.
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The mind says, look how productive we are, while quietly staying away from the uncomfortable task.
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And that inner pushback is resistance.
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Resistance is that feeling of, I really don't want to begin this.
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Resistance can be loud before you start.
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Then, strangely, it often becomes quieter once you're moving.
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That's exactly what happened.
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Before I started, my brain saw all 40 slides.
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It saw the whole mountain.
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The whole mountain.
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Right.
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But in that moment, you weren't being asked to climb the whole mountain.
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You only needed the first step.
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Which was writing the opening.
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And once you had the opening, the task changed.
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It was no longer this huge thing waiting for you.
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You were already inside it.
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That part matters.
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Resistance doesn't always mean stop.
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Sometimes it simply means this part is uncomfortable.
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Exactly.
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And discipline is not forcing yourself to enjoy every task.
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Sometimes it is staying with the discomfort long enough to begin.
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That feels much more realistic.
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And for English learners, I think the same thing happens.
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Some days you're excited to practice.
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Other days, it feels ordinary.
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Ordinary days still count, Jake.
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Maybe especially those days, because that's when the habit belongs to your real life instead of only to your motivated mood.
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And actually, those ordinary days build something else, too.
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Self -trust.
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Self -trust meaning I believe myself when I say I'm going to do something?
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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Think about a friend who always says, I'll call you tomorrow, but never calls.
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After a while, even if they sound sincere, you stop believing the sentence.
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Right.
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The words become weaker because the pattern is stronger.
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That's a good way to put it.
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And I think we can accidentally do the same thing to ourselves.
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Tomorrow I'll practice.
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Tomorrow I'll exercise.
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Tomorrow I'll start.
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If tomorrow keeps arriving and nothing changes, our own promises begin to feel unreliable.
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So the answer is to make a bigger promise?
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No, no. That is exactly how we make the problem worse.
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I knew you were going to say that.
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Make a promise you can actually believe.
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Something honest enough to survive an ordinary day.
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Survive an ordinary day.
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I like that phrase, Anna.
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Because plans often work beautifully in our imagination.
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In our imagination, we have energy, time, quiet, and no surprises.
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Real Wednesday is different.
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Real Wednesday might include work, laundry, a headache, and someone asking you for something the moment you plan to sit down.
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So, instead of asking, what can highly motivated Jake do, I should ask, what can tired Wednesday Jake still manage?
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Exactly.
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Maybe not 50 pages, maybe 5.
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Maybe not an hour of English, maybe 10 minutes.
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Maybe not cleaning the whole room, maybe one corner.
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Smaller, but believable.
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Believable, yes.
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And every time you keep a believable promise, you give yourself evidence that you can rely on yourself.
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I picture that like putting coins into a jar.
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One coin doesn't look like much, but if you keep adding them, eventually there's something real there.
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Coins in a jar.
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I like that.
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Self -trust grows through small deposits.
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And one missed day doesn't smash the jar.
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Exactly.
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One missed day is one missed day.
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Life happens.
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You get sick, plans change, something more important appears.
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Discipline is not pretending real life doesn't exist.
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This reminds me of something I tried with reading.
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I used to tell myself I would read 30 pages every night.
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It sounded good, and I did it for a few days.
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Then one busy week arrived, and the whole plan disappeared.
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What changed after that?
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I made the promise much smaller.
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Five pages before bed.
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It almost felt too easy, which was probably why it worked.
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Some nights I read five pages, some nights I kept going, but five was the promise.
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That distinction is really useful.
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The minimum keeps the door open.
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You can always do more, but you don't need your best mood every day.
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So, discipline can be surprisingly gentle.
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Very.
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Firm, but gentle.
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Firm, but gentle.
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I like that.
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And I think this is where accountability fits, too.
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Yes.
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Accountability means accepting responsibility for what you decided and what you actually did.
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But not attacking yourself.
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Exactly.
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Accountability can be a calm question.
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I said I would do this.
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I didn't.
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What happened?
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Maybe the plan was unrealistic.
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Maybe I needed rest.
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Maybe I forgot.
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Or maybe I spent 40 minutes organizing something that did not need organizing.
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Jake, you seem to have a lot of experience with that last one.
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I'm providing useful material for the podcast.
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Very generous.
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But that's the point.
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Instead of saying, I'm useless, I can look at the real reason and adjust the plan.
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Exactly.
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Accountability should give you information, not shame.
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And sometimes that information tells you something useful.
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The problem isn't always that you need more willpower.
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Sometimes you've simply made the good choice harder than it needs to be.
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Yes, yes.
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People often talk about discipline as if every good choice should be a heroic battle, as if you should wake up every day and fight yourself from morning to night.
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Which sounds exhausting.
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If I know I want to walk in the morning, why not put my shoes near the door the night before?
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Exactly, Jake.
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If you want to read after dinner, leave the book somewhere visible.
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If you want to take lunch to work, prepare part of it earlier.
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If you want to practice English, make the material easy to reach.
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So instead of proving I'm strong, I can make the useful choice easier.
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Easier, yes, because your environment quietly influences your behavior.
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We like to imagine every choice comes from pure willpower, but often the room around us is giving us little instructions.
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A bowl of biscuits on the table gives very clear instructions.
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Especially to you.
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I'm simply listening to my environment.
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Convenient, Jake.
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Very convenient.
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But seriously, I used to keep the things I wanted to do hidden away.
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My book was on a shelf in another room.
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My walking shoes were at the back of a cupboard.
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Then I wondered why the easier option always won.
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That's a good example.
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Imagine two paths.
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One path is wide, clear, and easy to walk.
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The other has little obstacles everywhere.
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Most days, especially when you're tired, you naturally take the easier path.
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Two paths.
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So instead of only trying to become stronger, I can make the useful path clearer.
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Exactly.
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Discipline sometimes means preparing the road before you're tired.
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I like that.
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Morning Jake can help evening Jake.
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That may be the healthiest relationship you've had with yourself all episode.
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We're making progress.
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And it really matters on low -energy days.
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If you know you're tired in the evening, don't put your hardest task there unless you have to.
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If you know you forget something every morning, prepare it the night before.
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That's not cheating.
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It's good planning.
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Right.
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Discipline is not proving how much discomfort you can survive.
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Sometimes it is simply making it easier to follow the decision you already made.
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And that brings us to the side of discipline people often forget, Jake.
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If discipline is not about proving how much discomfort you can survive, sometimes the discipline choice is actually to stop.
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Stop.
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That still feels strange to me, because when I hear discipline, I imagine continuing, keep going, push harder, finish the task.
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And sometimes that is exactly what you need.
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But imagine you've been working for hours and your concentration is gone on.
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You're reading the same sentence three times.
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You're making simple mistakes.
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Your body is tired.
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Is continuing automatically the discipline choice?
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No. When you describe it like that, continuing almost sounds like refusing to accept reality.
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Exactly.
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Sometimes the discipline decision is simply, that's enough for today.
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Enough for today.
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I think a lot of people feel guilty saying that when there is still work left?
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I do too sometimes.
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I had a day recently when I was trying to finish several things in the evening.
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I kept telling myself, just one more, just one more.
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But every task was taking twice as long because I was tired.
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What finally made you stop, Anna?
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I noticed that I had read the same paragraph three times and still couldn't tell you what it said.
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That was the moment I thought, okay, I'm not being productive anymore.
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I'm just staying awake near my work.
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Staying awake near your work.
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That is painfully clear.
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Exactly.
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So I stopped, and the next morning, one of the things I had struggled with for almost 40 minutes took me about 10.
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That is painful information.
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Very.
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I could have gone to bed earlier.
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So we're not saying stop whenever something feels difficult.
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No, no. That would be the other extreme.
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There is a difference between discomfort and exhaustion.
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Learning something new can feel uncomfortable.
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Exercise can feel difficult.
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A boring task can create resistance.
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But genuine exhaustion is different.
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And that's where restraint comes in.
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Exactly.
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Restraint is the ability to control yourself.
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And stop, when continuing, would not be wise.
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So self -control can work in both directions.
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Sometimes it helps me begin.
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Sometimes it helps me stop.
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Yes.
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Think of driving.
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A car needs an accelerator to move, but it also needs brakes.
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Nobody would call a car more disciplined because someone removed the brakes.
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That car is not disciplined.
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That car is a problem.
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Exactly.
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A disciplined mind needs both the ability to continue when continuing helps and the ability to stop when stopping helps.
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Accelerator and brakes.
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Simple but useful.
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Some people are very good at pushing and very bad at stopping.
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And other people stop too early every time something feels uncomfortable.
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Discipline is learning the difference.
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Which takes honesty.
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It does.
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There isn't one rule for every situation.
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So sometimes discipline says, begin, even though you don't feel like it.
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And sometimes it says, Jake, go to bed, you are done.
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Exactly.
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Both can be responsible choices.
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And even if you get better at knowing when to push and when to stop, Anna, you're still not going to get it right every day.
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No, of course not.
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Disciplined people still miss days.
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They get busy, they forget, they make a poor choice, they get tired.
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They are human.
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I used to think discipline meant having a perfect record.
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If I missed one workout or one study session, I felt like I had ruined the whole plan.
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— Ruined the whole plan, yes.
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That all -or -nothing thinking is very Tommen.
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One missed day becomes I never stick to anything.
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One difficult week becomes I have no discipline.
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— A small event becomes a story about your whole personality.
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— Exactly.
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And I think the better question is not, did I ever break the plan?
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It's, what do I do after I break it?
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— I return.
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You return.
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Quietly, without turning it into a big ceremony.
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That sounds simple, but I know what happens in my head.
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If I miss three days, I suddenly want a completely new system.
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New schedule.
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New notebook.
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New life.
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No, no, Jake.
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Maybe what you need is ten minutes today.
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Annoyingly reasonable.
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Imagine you're walking somewhere, and you take a wrong turn.
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Five minutes later, you realize it.
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I turn around.
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Exactly.
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You don't sit on the pavement and say, the entire journey is ruined, I need a new destination.
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One wrong turn doesn't require a whole new journey.
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One wrong turn, yes.
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You notice where you are, then take the next useful step.
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That's how I think about returning.
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And when you recover after a setback, we can use the word rebound.
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Right.
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To rebound means to recover and begin moving forward again.
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It can be quick, but it doesn't have to be.
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That part is important.
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Return doesn't mean you must recover instantly.
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Exactly.
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Sometimes you need a day.
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Sometimes you need a week.
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The point is not to turn one difficult period into a permanent conclusion about yourself.
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I remember missing almost two weeks of exercise once because work became very busy.
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When things calmed down, I kept waiting for Monday so I could restart properly.
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Monday, of course.
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Monday has a strong reputation.
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Then Tuesday didn't feel right.
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Wednesday definitely didn't feel right.
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Finally, on a Thursday, I thought, why am I waiting?
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I can just walk for 20 minutes today.
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And that 20 -minute walk was the return.
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Exactly.
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Nothing dramatic happened.
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No new plan.
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No special beginning.
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I just walked.
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That's what I like about it.
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Returning should feel ordinary ordinary.
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The more ordinary it feels, the easier it becomes to do again.
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And if someone listening has fallen out of an English routine, maybe this episode is already your return.
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Yes, Jake!
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You're here! That counts!
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There's one more part of discipline that feels very quiet to me.
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Quiet.
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I like that word for this.
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What do you mean?
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I mean the things you do when nobody knows whether you did them.
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Maybe you told yourself you would read five pages.
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Maybe you said you would practice English for ten minutes.
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Maybe you decided you would prepare something for tomorrow instead of leaving it until morning.
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And if I don't do it, nobody may ever know.
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Right.
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And if you do do it, there may be no applause, either.
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No applause?
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That makes discipline sound much less dramatic.
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I think real discipline often is less dramatic.
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A lot of it happens in moments that look completely ordinary from the outside.
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Like sitting down and doing ten minutes even though nobody is watching.
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Or stopping when you know you're too tired to continue well.
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Or returning after you missed a few days.
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Or keeping a small promise nobody else even knows you made.
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So, who notices?
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You do.
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You do.
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That's simple, but it changes the feeling.
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It does.
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Over time, those small moments change the relationship you have with yourself.
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So discipline becomes less about proving that I'm strong and more about becoming someone I can quietly rely on.
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Exactly, Jake.
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And I like that much more than discipline is punishment.
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Me too.
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Punishment asks, how hard can I push myself?
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Discipline asks, What choice helps me keep moving in the direction I chose?
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Sometimes that choice is action.
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Sometimes it's rest.
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Sometimes it's returning.
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Sometimes it's making the task smaller.
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And sometimes it's simply refusing to reopen the same decision for the fifth time.
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We have talked about that poor cupboard a lot today.
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It has become the star of the episode.
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We have talked about that poor cupboard a lot today.
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It has become the star of the episode.
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And if discipline really comes down to these small, quiet choices, maybe we should give the listener one choice to make right now.
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I was thinking the same thing.
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Think about the one thing you chose earlier, the thing you've been postponing or struggling to stay consistent with.
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And don't choose the biggest possible version of it.
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Choose one action you can honestly do today.
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One honest action.
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Maybe you open the document and write the first paragraph.
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Maybe you read two pages.
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Maybe you prepare what you need for tomorrow.
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Maybe you listen to 10 minutes of English and repeat one useful sentence.
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The action should be small enough that you believe yourself when you say, I'll do this.
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Exactly.
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And if you genuinely cannot do it today, give it a real place later, not some time.
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Give it an actual day or time.
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Because later, later, later can keep moving forever.
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Exactly.
548
And remember the comment question from the beginning.
549
If you wrote the thing you keep postponing, come back to it now and add the next step.
550
One thing I will do today is… blank.
551
That makes it more real.
552
First, you name the thing, then you choose one small action.
553
Exactly.
554
Keep it simple.
555
We're not asking for a completely new life by bedtime.
556
Thankfully.
557
And before we move toward the end, Jake, should we take our little vocabulary walk?
558
Our word tour?
559
Exactly.
560
Six useful words from today's conversation, all connected to things we've already talked about.
561
Good.
562
Let's start with negotiation.
563
A negotiation is a discussion where two sides try to reach an agreement.
564
The two companies are in negotiation over the price.
565
Or, every evening I seem to have a negotiation with myself about whether to exercise.
566
In my case, it was Responsible Jake and Sofa Jake deciding what to do about the cupboard.
567
And Sofa Jake came prepared with several reasons to wait.
568
Very prepared.
569
So when two sides are discussing what should happen, think negotiation.
570
Repeat.
571
Negotiation.
572
Negotiation.
573
Our second word takes us back to your favorite excuse of the episode, rationalize.
574
Your weather excuse?
575
Unfortunately, yes.
576
To rationalize means to make a questionable choice sound reasonable by giving yourself an explanation for it.
577
He rationalized buying another pair of shoes by saying they were on sale.
578
I rationalized delaying the task by telling myself I needed the perfect time to start.
579
So the reason can sound sensible even when underneath it you simply do not want to begin.
580
Exactly.
581
The explanation may sound clever, but that does not always make it a good reason.
582
Goodbye, perfect cupboard weather.
583
Repeat.
584
Rationalize.
585
Rationalize.
586
Our third word is resistance, and this one takes us back to your presentation.
587
Ah, yes.
588
The presentation that somehow gave me a very clean desk.
589
Resistance is an unwillingness to accept or do something.
590
It can also describe that inner feeling of not wanting to begin.
591
I felt a lot of resistance before starting the difficult task.
592
I felt a lot of resistance before starting the difficult task.
593
That second example was exactly my experience.
594
Before I started, the task felt huge.
595
Five minutes after starting, it felt much more manageable.
596
Resistance can be loud before the first step and quieter once you are moving.
597
Repeat resistance.
598
resistance next is accountability accountability means accepting responsibility for your decisions
599
and actions the manager accepted accountability for the mistake
600
or a study partner can give you some accountability
601
and in our conversation accountability was not about saying i'm terrible
602
at this right it was the calmer question i said i would do this i didn't what happened
603
honest but not cruel exactly repeat accountability accountability our fifth word is restraint
604
restraint means controlling yourself and stopping yourself from doing something
605
when continuing would not be wise she showed restraint and stayed calm during the argument
606
it took restraint to stop working and rest
607
when i knew i was too tired to focus this is the accelerator
608
and brakes idea again self -control is not only about making yourself continue sometimes self -control is knowing
609
when enough is enough exactly repeat restraint restraint
610
and our final word is rebound to rebound means to recover after difficulty disappointment
611
or failure the team rebounded after losing its first match she slowly rebounded after a difficult month
612
and returned to her routine
613
that takes me back to the thursday walk i did not wait for a perfect monday i simply returned
614
and that is important people do not always rebound quickly sometimes times, returning takes time.
615
Repeat.
616
Rebound.
617
Rebound.
618
So today's six words are negotiation, rationalize, resistance, accountability, restraint, and rebound.
619
Choose just one and connect it to your own life.
620
Maybe I rationalized delaying something this week.
621
Or I felt resistance before I started, but it became easier.
622
When the sentence belongs to your own life, the word usually becomes much easier to remember.
623
And if you'd like to practice today's English again, you'll find the transcript, vocabulary activities,
624
quizzes, games, and shadowing practice inside the English Leap Club.
625
Take your time with it.
626
Ten focused minutes can be much more useful than promising yourself two hours and never beginning.
627
The episode is still talking about discipline.
628
It refuses to stop.
629
At least it knows when to use restraint.
630
Very good, Anna.
631
I heard that.
632
And now it's time for Say It Better.
633
We'll take a few simple everyday sentences and give you more natural conversational alternatives.
634
The first sentence may already be completely correct.
635
We're simply giving you more options.
636
First, I will do it later.
637
You could say, I'll take care of it this evening.
638
Or, I'll deal with it after lunch.
639
Later is not wrong, but it can keep moving.
640
This evening or after lunch gives the task a real place.
641
Which sounds very familiar after today's conversation.
642
My cupboard agrees.
643
Next, I don't feel like doing it.
644
You could say, I'm not in the mood, but I'll make a start.
645
Or, I don't really feel like it, but I'll do 10 minutes.
646
Make a start simply means begin.
647
You are not promising to finish everything immediately.
648
And the second version is useful when you want to make the task smaller instead of waiting for your mood to change.
649
Next, I always give up.
650
Always is very strong.
651
You could say, I've struggled to stay consistent.
652
Or I usually lose momentum after the first week.
653
Those describe a pattern without turning the pattern into your identity.
654
Right.
655
A pattern can change.
656
I always give up sounds as if the story is already finished.
657
Next, I need more motivation.
658
You could say, I need to make this easier to begin.
659
Or, I need a routine I can follow even when I'm not motivated.
660
That moves the focus from waiting for a feeling to changing something practical.
661
Like putting the book where you can see it or preparing what you need the night before.
662
Mourning you, helping evening you.
663
Exactly.
664
Next, I failed again.
665
Try, I lost my rhythm, but I can return.
666
Or, I missed a few days, so I'm starting again from where I am.
667
From where I am is useful because it does not ask you to pretend nothing happened.
668
One wrong turn, not a completely ruined journey.
669
Exactly.
670
And finally, I need to be harder on myself.
671
You could say, I need to be more honest with myself.
672
Or, I need to hold myself accountable without beating myself up.
673
That second one is a little more advanced, but very natural.
674
Beat yourself up means to criticize yourself too harshly.
675
So, the idea is not more punishment, it is clearer honesty.
676
Firm, but gentle.
677
Firm, but gentle.
678
That fits today's whole conversation.
679
Jake, I have one important question before we finish.
680
I already know what this is about.
681
The mystery box from the cupboard.
682
I knew it.
683
Did you open it?
684
I did.
685
And after avoiding it for three weeks, I discovered old batteries, two instruction manuals,
686
and one key that belongs to absolutely nothing I can identify.
687
Three weeks of avoiding the box for old batteries.
688
Exactly.
689
The fear was much bigger than the task.
690
Bigger than the task?
691
That actually fits today's episode perfectly.
692
It does.
693
I spent more energy negotiating with the cupboard than cleaning it.
694
And I think many of us do that in different areas of life.
695
We imagine the task, avoid the task, think about the task, feel guilty about the task.
696
And sometimes the task itself is the shortest part.
697
So maybe the listener can take one thing from today.
698
Don't ask yourself to become perfectly disciplined overnight.
699
Yes.
700
Choose one honest promise.
701
Make the useful choice a little easier here, notice when you're rationalizing, begin even when there is some resistance,
702
stop when stopping is the wiser choice, and if you lose your rhythm, return.
703
Return.
704
Quietly.
705
No dramatic restart required.
706
And if nobody notices that you kept the promise, remember that you noticed.
707
That little bit of self -trust matters.
708
And if you haven't answered our question yet, we'd really love to read it.
709
Tell us in the comments, one thing I will do today is?
710
Keep it small enough that you actually believe yourself.
711
We'll be reading your answers.
712
Thank you so much for spending this time with us today.
713
Whether you were walking, driving, cooking, working, cleaning, resting, or simply listening with tea or coffee, we're glad you were here.
714
Keep practicing your English one conversation at a time.
715
And remember, discipline is not about being perfect.
716
It's about learning how to keep coming back to what matters.
717
Take care, everyone.
718
Bye for now!
719
Your progress doesn't end here.
720
To continue advancing your English skills, click on the next video or explore the additional videos we've thoughtfully selected for you.
このレッスンについて
「How to Discipline Your Mind | Easy English Conversation Podcast | 40 Minutes Real English Listening」を使って、シャドーイングで英語を練習しましょう。
毎日15〜30分の練習で、IELTSスピーキングへの自信と実践的な英会話力が身につきます。
シャドーイングとは？英語上達に効果的な理由
シャドーイング（Shadowing）は、もともとプロの通訳者養成プログラムで開発された言語学習法で、多言語習得者として知られるDr. Alexander Arguelles によって広く普及されました。方法はシンプルですが非常に効果的：ネイティブスピーカーの英語を聞きながら、1〜2秒の遅延で声に出してすぐに繰り返す——まるで「影（shadow）」のように話者を追いかけます。文法ドリルや受動的なリスニングと異なり、シャドーイングは脳と口の筋肉が同時にリアルタイムで英語を処理・再現することを強制します。研究により、発音精度、抑揚、リズム、連音、リスニング力、そして会話の流暢さが大幅に向上することが確認されています。IELTSスピーキング対策や自然な英語コミュニケーションを目指す方に特におすすめです。