Shadowing Practice: 6 Books That Changed My Life - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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As a high school dropout, pretty much everything that I've ever learned has been self-taught from books.
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And these books in particular have completely shaped my life, my mindset, have helped me with productivity, with making money, with business.
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A lot of you have been asking for recommendations, so here are some books that have completely changed my life.
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In no particular order, the first one is The One Thing by Gary Keeler.
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If you've watched my channel, you've heard me talk about how I try to do one thing every day
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that gets me closer to my goal
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And I really originally learned this from this book It really helped me realize
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that not everything has equal importance We sometimes confuse being busy with actually being productive
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and we spread ourselves thin There's this quote from the book
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that I kind of use all the time in my own life
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And that is what is the one thing such
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that by doing it everything else will become easy And on top of that, until my one thing is done, everything else is a distraction.
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Honestly, I've kind of like adapted my whole life around this book.
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It's really minimalism, the fire movement, habits, saving money, everything really comes down to doing small steps, really narrowing in your attention and your energy
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and your focus onto the things that will make a huge impact
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and trying to ignore as much of the rest as you possibly can.
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Next up is The War of Art.
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If you're an artist or a creative of any type, this book is super, super helpful.
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Even if you're not, it's a really short, quick, easy read.
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It's like 160 pages.
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This really taught me to, especially with YouTube, be a pro instead of an amateur.
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So if you think of maybe an amateur in anything, they will fiddle around with it.
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They'll do it on the weekends.
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They'll do it occasionally in their spare time.
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But like with any business or side hustle or anything you're doing, if you want to see extraordinary results you need to treat
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it like a business you need to show up for work
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especially as a creative i've created 250 plus youtube videos at this point
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and it's very easy to be like i am totally out of ideas to stare at a blank page
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and have no idea what to make a video about this week
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but the important thing is
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that i sit down i set myself up for success i start writing even
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if it's a terrible thing
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and i just continue to make progress whether i feel like it
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or not whether i'm sick or not whether stuff's going on
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or not and especially when you feel that resistance that you don't wanna do it, you wanna do anything else instead, that's generally a good sign that you're doing something important.
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A great quote from this book, are you paralyzed by fear?
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That's a good sign.
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Fear is good.
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Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator.
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Fear tells us what we have to do.
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Remember one rule of thumb.
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The more scared we are of work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.
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By the way, if you're enjoying this and getting some value, it would mean a ton if you would subscribe.
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The next one is Rich Dad, Poor Dad, no surprise if you've seen my channel.
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But this is the book that started everything for me.
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It was recommended to me by my mom, I think, when I was like 18.
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I read it and while some of it might be a little out of date, the overall mindset that it promotes and a lot of the values that it talks about are super, super applicable today.
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So if you're getting started in finances, maybe in the fire movement, and you want to start creating wealth and having your money work for you, This is a great book to get started with.
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One of my favorite quotes from it is, the single most powerful asset we have is our minds.
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If it is trained well, it can create enormous wealth.
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This was really the first time that I kind of realized that there was another path besides going to school.
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I didn't know what I wanted to go to college for.
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I didn't even finish high school, but I was trying to finish that at the time.
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And I realized that I don't have to do this path that everybody else is taking where you go to school, try to get a high paying job so that when you're in your 30s or 40s,
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you can finally pay off your degree and then be starting at ground zero
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and that you can have your money actually work for you
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and do things like real estate investing and other types of investing
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and also realizing that the best investment that I can really make is in my mind.
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So that's why I've gone to so many seminars and bought courses and books.
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I've read this probably like 10 times by now.
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Very good book if you're just getting started or you just want some reminders.
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The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris.
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What a great book.
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I also lent it out to somebody
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so I don't have it here today to show you because it's one of the books that I recommend to people.
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But one of my favorite quotes from this book is that busyness is a form of laziness.
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And I have realized this in myself so often that in order to feel productive, to feel like I contributed to society,
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I will just do stuff and count that as work.
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And not everything is as important as everything else and a lot of times we'll check email constantly, we'll be in meetings, we'll schedule stuff, we'll do way too much work,
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we won't outsource anything so that we can micromanage everything.
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Like kind of this idea of work for work's sake and that is just stupid and I still struggle with it.
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But this book kind of like Rich Dad Poor Dad, even though some things are out of date gave me this mindset shift that I can work four hours a week,
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which right now I'm like anywhere from like five to 30 hours a week, depending on what I feel like doing that week.
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But it's totally possible to just do the things that are super important.
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Don't do the rest, outsource as much as possible.
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And that there are just so many different ways to make money online relatively passively where it's not actual passive income.
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You still have to work, whether it's real estate investing, starting some type of channel, doing a t-shirt business, whatever it is, there's so many different ways.
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And then figuring out how to put that on relative autopilot
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so you don't have to be the bottleneck that everything comes through.
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If you read Rich Dad Poor Dad, this might be the next book that I would recommend or vice versa.
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I would also say another lesson that it taught me is that the timing is never right.
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So many people wait to start a side hustle, to start a new business, to leave their job, to do anything until the timing is just right.
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And it is never right.
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So if you're thinking of doing it, don't wait till Monday, don't wait till later, just actually take action and start doing things every single day to get you closer to that.
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Don't wait until the timing's perfect.
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How to win friends and influence people.
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But I've probably read this about half a dozen times.
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As an extreme introvert, this book really helped me learn how to deal with people.
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It's kind of got a click-baity title, but it really taught me a lot about human psychology and how to have good, deep, meaningful conversations, how to actually make friends with people,
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how to make people like you, not in a slimy way, but actually paying attention and listening to people and asking questions and being interested in their lives.
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And in turn, that will make them think
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that you are a good conversationalist because you're actually having a good conversation with them.
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A great quote from this is that, "'Every man I met is my superior in some way.
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In that, I learn of him.'" It's this idea that no matter who you talk to, they're probably a relative expert in some niche.
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They have something interesting about them, something you can find in common, something you can ask them questions about.
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If you're looking to get better at making friends, talking to people, be better with relationships, understanding yourself even, and how to win an argument or
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when getting in an argument is just stupid because it doesn't matter if you're right or not.
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A lot of times if you ruin a friendship over something, then that's not really as important.
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It's a great book.
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Highly recommend.
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I'll also leave links to all these and Audible if you guys want to check them all out.
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Not a sponsor.
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I just really like it.
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You can also use Libby, I think, if you're part of a library to get like free books.
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Essentialism by Greg McCown, who has still not returned my emails or messages so that I can interview him,
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but that might be because he's taking the advice of his own book, so I guess that's fine.
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I would say if your life feels like this and you want to go to this, this is a very good book for you.
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Another great quote from this book is that if you don't prioritize your life, somebody else will.
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And since I was short, we'll do another one.
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It's like my favorite, and that is, you cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.
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This book is generally more geared towards work and business and how to be more productive, but there's so many things that you can extract from it
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and kind of mesh it together with minimalism or whatever you're going through and apply it to other areas of your life.
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We've all heard about the 80-20 rule.
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There's also the 90-10 rule that he talks about, which is more like an extreme version of the 80-20 rule where 10% of things are gonna lead to 90% of results,
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10% of people, 90% of the problems.
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And can you really focus on those few things that make a huge impact?
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And if you can do that, you can eliminate a lot of stress in your life.
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You can free up a lot of time in your life, eliminate a lot of headaches, really be more organized because with any project, there are a few things that are gonna make the most impact.
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And we get caught up with doing all the other things because we feel like if we focus on those big things, then we can fail.
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So instead we procrastinate, we do anything else instead, but really need to be narrowing down our focus in every area of our life so we can use our time,
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money, and energy on the things that really matter.
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And I appreciate you using your energy on watching this video if you enjoyed it.
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Don't forget to subscribe.
Context & Background
The speaker of this video is a self-taught individual who has transformed his life through the knowledge gained from various influential books. He shares personal insights into how these texts shaped his productivity, mindset, and financial acumen, highlighting the importance of continuous learning and self-discipline. His journey from a high school dropout to a successful creator emphasizes that anyone, regardless of their background, can harness the power of literature to enrich their lives. This alignment with personal growth is particularly beneficial for those looking to learn English with YouTube, as it demonstrates how storytelling and real-life applications can enhance language acquisition.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “What is the one thing such that by doing it everything else will become easy?” - A phrase to prioritize tasks in your day.
- “Are you paralyzed by fear? That’s a good sign.” - A motivational quote to encourage action despite self-doubt.
- “Until my one thing is done, everything else is a distraction.” - Useful for emphasizing focus in conversations.
- “The single most powerful asset we have is our minds.” - Inspirational for discussions related to potential and capability.
- “The more scared we are of work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” - Great for encouraging others to confront their challenges.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
If you're aiming to improve your English speaking skills, employing the shadowing technique while watching this video can be an invaluable method. Here’s how you can effectively practice:
- Choose Your Focus: Select a segment of the video, ideally a few minutes long, where the speaker delivers coherent and engaging content.
- Listen Actively: Play the segment and listen closely to the speaker’s intonation, rhythm, and vocabulary. Make note of expressions you find intriguing or useful.
- First Repetition: Play the segment again, this time speaking out loud as the speaker does. Aim to mimic not just the words but also the tone and pace. This is key for your English speaking practice.
- Pause and Replay: If you find a phrase particularly challenging, pause the video and repeat it until you feel more confident. This technique is effective for IELTS speaking practice as well.
- Review and Reflect: After practicing, summarize what you learned in your own words. Consider discussing it with a friend or practicing it in a conversation to reinforce your learning.
Utilizing this structured approach will optimize your learning experience and help you engage effectively with English content on various platforms, making the most of your shadowing site sessions.
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.