Shadowing Practice: 10 Things I’ve learned since starting my 30’s | Coffee Talks - Learn English Speaking with Video

good morning friends welcome back to new video it is currently sunday i'm back in la

and i was about to make my morning matcha

and then i was like you know what we're gonna film another coffee talk video

because i want to do kind of a proper catch-up i want to share 10 things

that i have learned because I turned 31 this past year

and I have definitely not figured out life

but I have learned some very important lessons that I am

so grateful for and I wish also

that I could have found my younger 20 year old self

so I wrote them all down I was like journaling this morning we're gonna make our morning beverage

and we're going to sit down and have a nice chat I am

so happy to be back home to be in my routines

and things like

that I don't know I feel a lot of appreciation for

just being able to make my own morning beverage in the morning.

It is really hot in LA, so I'm thinking we're doing a little ice drink today.

There we go.

Let's make my favorite morning pooch.

okay i'm gonna make a little bit of a specialty matcha

I usually keep my matcha very very simple and also

if I drink coffee it's usually very simple

but in the weekend I sometimes like to get like a specialty drink

when I go to a cafe or like a cream top or something just like as a little treat.

I got this in the mail.

This is chai concentrate and I love chai.

It's masala chai.

I think the brand is Donut.

It's actually a really delicious combo to do matcha with a little bit of chai and again I don't really do this.

I'm feeling inner barista today

so we're gonna make an ice matcha with a little bit of this and then with the matcha in here

this test looks amazing

it's almost giving a fall matcha because it has like cinnamon

and stuff in it it's way too early for fall stuff

but i also wanted to share something really excited in the world of Nekahama

because as you can see the matcha has a new packaging so Max

and I started Nekahama around five years ago we have been carrying the same matcha for the past five years

and we have truly poured our hearts in and perfecting the product.

We're using organic fertilizers, we're working on improving the soil and all of these small little changes.

And being out there onto the farms, and I've shared so many different blogs on this, influences the quality and the taste of the matcha.

Our product has always been the most important focus.

And I think a lot of companies actually do the opposite.

They all focus on branding and packaging first, and then their product is second and for us that has always been the other way around.

After five years kind of perfecting our product, we really wanted to elevate our packaging as well.

So as you can see, this is our new Nekohama packaging.

This is our A1 organic matcha and I just want to show you guys because it is the cutest thing.

It has a little bag in here.

The reason why we have a little bag is because when you store matcha in like a tin, it's actually not good for the metal

and this way you can store it in an airtight container

so it preserves the matcha much better

and it also makes it really easy for like travel

and stuff and then it also comes with or silver spoon in it

so it's kind of a nice full matcha set

i also feel this is like such a good gift

but yeah we've been working on this for almost two years

and now it's finally here

so i'm gonna link it down below for you guys truly max

and i constantly say this to each other like even

when we're in japan

and we're on the farmland we could have never ever done

this without you like with all your support incredible community here

and i feel we've come a long way from all the early matcha days

and making matcha in our little apartments and stuff

and like now being able to like work directly

and support like japanese farmers it's really amazing

so yeah i am gonna link this down below definitely try it

if you do like also share photos with me

or your favorite like matcha drink and stuff i always like love watching

that but yeah okay the Marsha it's ready it is time to spill the tea grab your drink

and i'm gonna be sharing my 10 lessons i learned in my 30s so far

and i wish i could tell my younger 20 year old

self okay first one life comes in seasons not every year

is meant for the same thing i think I have truly felt

that especially this year maybe some year is to really focus

and build career maybe another year is more family focused maybe another year is more healing there is

so many different areas of your life that you always can evolve

and like improve in

but it's really hard to do everything at the same time for my own experience I have pushed career for

so many years as my number one this past year you know after a lot of things

that i personally went through you know with the miscarriages

and everything i really had to like slow down so much

and on top of that i was doing a lot of inner work

and stuff and it was really hard to like combine

that with everything career and whatever and the moment i found acceptance around

that and just really leaned into like well this is the season for self everything kind of changes

and i found it like so much more peace with it

so life comes in seasons and not everything comes at the same time

and you have to build acceptance for

that number two invest earlier than you think i think this is such an important one i think

so many women actually do not even think about investing their money

or resources in their early 20s i thankfully have some good guidance in my 20s

when you know i started modeling

and i am actually benefiting already from it right now in my 30s

and i even spoke about this with my friend she just got married she's dutch

and we had this whole conversation around investing and stuff

and like her she just had a wedding

and a friend of hers had made a comment something like oh i didn't know you have money for

that first of all very weird comment to say

but she kind of said she's like yeah like ever since i've been in my 20s

and i've been working i have always like put money aside

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and i've always been a saver and always working hard so even

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if you can only put aside 50 dollars 100 dollars it

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is going to compound over time i truly wish like this

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is the type of shit they would teach you in school

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and how to do that

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but definitely already in your 20s like start saving up stuff start investing in little things

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that you can do because it is going to compound over time

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and i cannot emphasize

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that enough number three the people you spend time with shape your future i believe this

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so so deeply does not matter how or if they're

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so different whatever you are going to adopt thoughts habits a

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lot of other things from the people around you i think they always say like you become the five people

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that you spend the most time with

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so i think it's really important to sometimes really evaluate like

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who are those five people who you spend time with

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and i think especially in your 20s if you want to do crazy things

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if you want to build big things

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if you want to get out there build a big life

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that you desire sometimes you need to pull yourself out out of your kind of high school environments

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and your little village somewhere i mean i'm just also reusing

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to my reference in your little village where everyone is doing the same things

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when i was living in new york

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and a lot of my friends were you know models

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and stuff and everyone had so much free time going for lunches

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and pilates it's part of the job right it really is

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because you got to take care of yourself but for me in

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that moment at one point i realized i was like oh

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my god i am surrounded just with everyone who's like working

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and then they're completely doing nothing and i wanted to do more i wanted to be be an entrepreneur, I wanted to do things.

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It was one of the reasons we moved to LA as well because it put me in a different environment.

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It put me in an environment of people who were chasing their dreams, who were building things and I was very attracted to that

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and I knew that I had to be in a different type of environment to be able to do that.

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I think this is a really important thing and I wish

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that a lot of people in their 20s could think about this, that sometimes you got to get out of your comfort zone

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and surround yourself with different type of people

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and also good people like you want people around you who like lift you up

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if you have trouble with people around you who like bring you down have negative thoughts then

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that is gonna be your negative life too number four most

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things aren't as urgent as you think i used to always think

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that when a problem came up it was

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so urgent i always had to immediately text back i had to immediately like close down fires

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when it came to like my business i had to immediately like answer emails

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and like i think even when it came to like a lot of problems

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that you're walking into i treated everything like so urgently

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and i was so stressed about it

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and it was just a point like two years ago where i was like why am i

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so in this time fright mode as all the time

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and i was like it is really not that big of a deal sometimes.

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And like sometimes if I would get into a situation like that, I ask myself the question, like, is this really going to matter in six weeks?

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And very often the answer is no. And it changes your approach to kind of your day-to-day absolutely completely.

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Number five, your home shapes your habits.

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I am such a true believer of that.

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I mean you can see it in all my like vlogs

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I create my home as a sanctuary I want to make sure

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that when I come home for my crazy day

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that my home feels like a safe and nice place so

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that means I like to declutter it I like to keep it clean

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and I set myself up for success as well from like a healthy habit type of situation

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because my cabinet is not filled with like sugary snacks

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because I know I'll be like snacking all day long

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or like in the evening when I'm bored whatever

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so i'm not even bringing it into the house i switched a lot of things like non-toxic in my home

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so i really tried to make my home like a sanctuary

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i don't want you to think i think a lot of people

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when they watch my videos like oh my god i'm like

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so type a and clean

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and perfect girl i came a long way i had a nickname for a little

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while called dirty dutchy that max gave me because i was a

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freaking mess i was

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so messy i lost everything my shit was everywhere all the time everything was like disorganized

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and there was at one point in the moment

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that i was like okay it was like in my n20s i was like i need to change my environment

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and set myself up for success and i felt

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so much more clear-headed

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and also like little things right like putting up my workout set the evening before so

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when i wake up in the morning i can go straight

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into a workout like setting up these little things in your home will shape the habits

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and how you go through your day and how you go through your life

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um number six train for longevity

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and not just aesthetics i think this is a really really important one

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and i think you like don't in your 20s don't really think about it

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or i didn't i was like just give me the abs you know

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and then now in my 30s i'm like no actually i

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want to feel strong i want to feel healthy i want to be able to carry a baby one day

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and i think that big shift once

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that only clicks in your 30s like i honestly wish i could tell in my younger 20s already

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because i think in my 20s

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and i see this with a lot of other girls as

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well i feel a lot of the girls is just kind of like the way you look where i think

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when you shift

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that mindset to longevity in the way you're gonna feel you're gonna actually have like long-lasting results

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because your goal is much more important really important to have full energy to feel strong

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and to like live

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and fulfilled life number seven honestly this should be truly number

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one i always talked about it sleep is the foundation of

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everything i think nothing has more impact than prioritizing sleep

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when you feel tired throughout your day you are irritated more quickly small things will become big things

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that bother you you feel like a slump you will have no motivation it's hard to be consistent

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when i sleep well i am obviously energized my hormones feel

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more in sync i feel creative like i can go on

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and on and on with the list

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so sleep is truly the foundation of everything

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and i know this one is like kind of like

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so boring but it's like true

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so yeah definitely prioritize your sleep it's gonna solve all your problems like sometimes

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when i'm just feeling so grumpy and tired or max even sometimes he's so grumpy

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and tired he was like i don't know what it is

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maybe i'm feeling depressed today i'm like baby didn't sleep last night he's like yeah yeah maybe

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and then the next day he sleeps he's like oh yeah I think it was a sleeping

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and I'm like yeah sometimes it's hard to like help coach your your partner you know

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so I'm trying to like not do

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that too much um okay number eight stop waiting until everything

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is perfect it is never the perfect time to start

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if you want to start your business if you want to book a trip

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if you need to have an important conversation with someone stop

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waiting until things are perfect you're gonna learn on the way because

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when you're gonna wait until everything is perfect you're truly gonna

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miss out sometimes on momentum very often we don't even end up doing it

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because the perfect moment is never coming so i think

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that is really important like

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when i started doing my youtube videos first i had never

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done really social media i've never talked to a camera i felt

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so uncomfortable and i was like you know what i'm just gonna post this

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and over the years over the years it became easier

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and i started to understand how to film and like all of

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that but i think because i just started

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and just put it out there like first of all people are there for you like on the journey

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but I really think

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that stop waiting until things are perfect I think it's one

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of the biggest blockages for people to actually get started

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and this is really a lesson

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that I wanted to give myself to in my 20s it

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took for me two years to find the confidence to start

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Solswing Body I don't think I've ever really talked about this

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but I was filming a bunch of videos and workout stuff already during COVID and I was also, you know, we were building Nekahama.

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So like my plate was really full and I just felt a little overwhelmed constantly.

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And I just had this idea of like, I cannot take on another business, even though I have this great idea.

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So I put it on the back burner for like two years.

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And like looking back, I'm like, I should have just started it and learn on the way already then even

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if it wasn't really perfect or I wasn't in a perfect state

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because you're never gonna be so definitely something that I would want to teach my younger self.

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Number nine I think this is so important bet on yourself and invest in yourself.

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I think betting on yourself is probably one of the best bets

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that you can ever make because you are in control of

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that bet and you are in control of what you're going to do i have really learned

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that confidence is not something

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that you start with like whatever you're gonna do it is something

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that like really grows within so you gotta say yes to opportunities

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that you're maybe not ready for but just tell yourself

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that you can and that on yourself that you're gonna execute on there

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and you're gonna see where you're gonna go i maybe was

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out of school for like seven months before i moved to new york city

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and i was just like fuck yes this is a new opportunity like let's go

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and even like starting a business like i never went to business school i only did high school

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and like i went straight into modeling like i never done like business education

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and whatever but at the end i just set my mind to it

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and i'm like i can do this and you'll figure it out there's

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so many tools to learn skills and i think you can learn any skill

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that you want if you set your mind to it like there's

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so much free stuff when it comes on youtube but instagram whatever

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and i think that's also the beauty of social media in a way

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but you can learn a skill you can develop a skill you can train the skill

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so truly bet on yourself invest in yourself make yourself feel good make yourself feel confident

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and truly you can do anything you can do anything in

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life um okay number 10 i think this is a really important one this is something

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that i actually started to do this year define success for yourself

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and i think this is an important one because especially

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when it comes to the fields of social media we can really quickly get very consumed

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and caught up by looking at other people

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and what other people are doing and other people's life look better

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and nicer and more exciting you always need to remember

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that whatever you see online is like a highlight reel for most people i also really think

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that defining success for yourself is really important because

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if you don't do this you're always going to be chasing the next thing

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and you're always going to have that inner feeling that if

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or when i reach this i'll be happy and

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when you really define what success actually means to you like

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deep in your core very often you're already like partly there

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and it's also

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so much easier to reverse engineer it of like okay this

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is what success is going to look for me like these

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are are the steps i need to take to like get there

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and i actually think like defining the success for myself has been only something i've done like really recently

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because i was on this hamster wheel for a little while

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that i constantly was feeling i wasn't doing enough

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or like achieving enough or whatever

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and i see this a lot with really like successful people

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your friends in la like who have built massive companies

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and stuff and they feel like a failure and it's

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so funny and i also think it's part of the drive

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that comes in a little bit there um

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but yeah i started to really redefining success

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and it reminded me like oh wait okay a lot of things you've already like hit

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that off your list and i think a big success driver for me was having freedom

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and i was like wait i think i've created

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that already i think being present

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and having a calm nervous system is my next definition of success

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so yeah so these are the very important life lessons that i learned

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and I hope these are going to be beneficial for you as well

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because I truly wish that someone told me these

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or emphasized on these when I was in my 20s but anything comes on its time

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also I would love to know from you what is something

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that you would wish you would tell your younger 20 year old self

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if you can share

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that would be amazing I feel a lot of people in the comment section could also learn from

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that I always like love reading it as well

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and just like hearing other people's life lessons

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and yeah we can probably relate a lot more to each other than we actually think

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so yeah i hope you enjoyed today's vlog

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while i'm back here i am definitely really getting back into kind of my routines

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and stuff i'm working on some really exciting new strength programs

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because i have some new fitness goals and stuff

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and i want to take you guys a bit on

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that journey so see you next week don't forget to subscribe your support is always

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so so welcome and i'll see you very soon

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “10 Things I’ve learned since starting my 30’s”. This video has 314 sentences and 3800 words to shadow. The speech runs for 19:58. The speaker talks fast, about 190 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
matcha noun	/ˈmɑ.t͡ʃə/	A type of powdered green tea, traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies.
workout noun	/ˈwɝk.aʊ̯t/	An exercise session; a period of physical exercise.
excite verb	/ɪkˈsaɪt/	To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement.
grumpy adjective	/ˈɡɹʌmpi/	Dissatisfied and irritable.
prioritize verb	/pɹaɪˈɒɹ.ə.taɪz/	To value, do, or choose something first, or before other things.
vlog noun	/ˈvlɑɡ/	A weblog using video as its primary presentation format.
longevity noun	/lɒnˈd͡ʒɛv.ɪ.ti/	The quality of being long-lasting, especially of life.
emphasize verb	/ˈɛm.fə.saɪz/	To stress, give emphasis or extra weight to (something).
beverage noun	/ˈbɛv(ə)ɹɪd͡ʒ/	A liquid to consume; a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or a soft drink, often excluding water.
surround verb	/səˈɹaʊnd/	To encircle something or simultaneously extend in all directions.
specialty noun	/ˈspɛʃ.əl.ti/	That in which one specializes; a chosen expertise or talent; bailiwick.
snack noun	/snæk/	A light meal.
sanctuary noun	/ˈsæŋkt͡ʃuˌɛɹi/	A place of safety, refuge, or protection.
bore verb	/boɹ/	To inspire boredom in somebody.
urgent adjective	/ˈɜː.d͡ʒənt/	Requiring immediate attention.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.
catch up verb		To pick up suddenly.
caught up verb		Involuntarily involved in a situation.
close down verb	/kləʊzˈdaʊn/	To stop trading as a business.
come up verb		To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
end up verb		To bring to a conclusion.
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
get out verb		To leave or escape.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	have been carrying · we've been working · i've been working
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have learned · have definitely not figured · I've shared
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is meant · is not filled · are irritated
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	people who you · people who were

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 101 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: specialty /ˈspɛʃ.əl.ti/, beneficial /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, appreciation /əˌpɹiː.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: prioritize /pɹaɪˈɒɹ.ə.taɪz/, longevity /lɒnˈd͡ʒɛv.ɪ.ti/, sanctuary /ˈsæŋkt͡ʃuˌɛɹi/, disorganized /dɪsˈɔːɡənaɪzd/, entrepreneur /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like matcha, workout, excite.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?