Shadowing Practice: 9 Stoic Rules For A Better Life (From Marcus Aurelius) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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You could leave life right now, as Marcus Aurelius says, let that determine what you do and say and think.
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Life is short.
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Do everything as if it was the thought or action of a dying person, Marcus says.
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I think Marcus Aurelius is maybe the most fascinating person who ever lived.
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You know, we have this idea that absolute power corrupts absolutely, but Marcus is the exception to this rule.
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He's not born to a royal family.
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He's chosen as a young man, actually, at the same age as Nero and groomed for power.
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And what is the first thing he does with the power?
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He shares it with his brother.
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So I've been on this journey studying Marcus Aurelius since I first read Meditations, and it changed my life.
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And it's changed the life of millions of people in the 2 ,000 years since he lived.
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I'm Ryan Holiday.
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I've written now 12 books.
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I've been writing about Marcus Aurelius for more than a decade.
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I've been lucky enough to talk about Marcus Aurelius to the NBA and the NFL, special forces, to sitting senators, to CEOs, and everyone in between.
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And in today's episode, I wanted to give you some of my favorite lessons from the one and only Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher king.
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If you want to learn about the great principles and ideas that this man lived by, I think this video is for you.
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My favorite story about Marcus Aurelius comes at the depths of the Antonine Plague, which is a horrible pandemic that kills millions of people.
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Rome's economy has been devastated people are dying in the streets
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and everyone feels like it can't possibly get better
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and what does Marcus Aurelius do he walks through the imperial palace
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and begins to mark things for sale for two months
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he sells on the lawn of the great emperor's palace the jewels and robes
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and couches the finery owned by the emperor he's sending a message
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he says I'm not going to put myself first I don't need these fancy things not
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when people are struggling he says I'm going to do the little things
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that make a difference to me
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this is like the ceo who takes a pay cut in a bad economy
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this is the athlete who renegotiates their contract
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so the team can bring on new people this is the leader who sacrifices
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and struggles who puts the people first not their own comfort
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and needs that's what greatness is like and that's why i love this story from mark surelius
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you're not stuck i know you think you are
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but what the stoics wanted you to know is that yes one path might be closed, but another remains open, right?
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The impediment to action advances action.
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What stands in the way becomes the way.
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Marcus Rebillus isn't saying that nothing can ever stop you.
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He's saying that when you're stopped in one capacity, there remains other capacities open to you.
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You always have the opportunity to practice virtue, practice excellence, to change in some form or another based on what's happened.
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We don't control what happened.
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We control how we respond.
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That's what stoic philosophy is about.
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So yes, one path can be closed the door can be shut
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but the window remains open you know someone gets in your way someone blocks you someone prevents you sure that happens
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but they can't stop you from being patient they can't stop
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you from practicing forgiveness they can't stop
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you from going in a different direction from changing your mind trying something new growing
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because of this learning
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because of it the stoics say no one prevents us from accommodating adapting changing integrating the experiences the obstacles
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that are in our path
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and turning them into new paths that's what the obstacle is the way is it's impossible to get stuck
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because we always retain our ability to choose and change
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we know what it is we need to do right
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we have the information the problem is doing it marcus aurelius says
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you could be good today instead you choose tomorrow we put
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it off we say i'm going to get started on the diet
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i'm going to get started on the novel i'm going to get started cleaning the house.
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I'm not going to do it today.
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I'm going to do it tomorrow.
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If it was about information, no one would be overweight.
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No one would be unhealthy.
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Everyone would have six -pack abs.
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Every project would get completed.
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We know how to do it.
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The problem is that we don't do it.
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We don't take the steps.
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That's why the Stoics had the discipline of action.
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At the end of the day, it's all about the action.
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It's not what you say.
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It's not what you think.
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It's what you do.
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What action are you going to take?
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What step are you going to take?
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And really, that's how you finish stuff, step by step.
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Just take the first step, Marcus Aurelius says.
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No one can stop you from that.
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It takes an immense amount of self -awareness to go, like, I'm feeling discomforted because of X, or I'm feeling anxious because of X.
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You know, I think that was something for me that I found during the pandemic where suddenly I wasn't doing anything.
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So I wasn't having to get to this plane.
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I wasn't stuck in traffic here.
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I wasn't having to prepare for this or that.
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And so you'd think that my anxiety would go way down, that suddenly you'd have a lot less to worry about.
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And then, actually, that's not true.
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And then you realize, oh, the anxiety has nothing to do with any of the things.
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It's actually, Mark Shrews talks about this in meditations.
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He says, I escaped anxiety.
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And then he goes, no, actually, I discarded it.
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And he writes this during a plague, no less.
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But he goes, I discarded it because it was within me.
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That was a breakthrough I sort of had.
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It was like, oh, I thought I was stressed and anxious
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and worried because of all of these very reasonable things that cause those things in your life, work, family stuff.
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And then when all that gets pared down, you realize it's like, oh no, it was me.
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Marcus Aurelius has a better morning routine than you, I promise.
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So he gets up early.
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Even though he doesn't want to get up early, even though he doesn't have to get up early, he makes himself get up early.
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He says, what were you made to sit here under the covers
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and keep warm? were you meant to go do the work of a human being?
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So he gets up early and he goes and he does his work.
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And what is the first thing he do?
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I think that he sits down with his journal.
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Meditation survives to us because it's the private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world.
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He wrote down these thoughts because they made him better.
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And then what did he do?
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He got to work on his most important task of the day.
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He says, concentrate like a Roman.
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He says, do this as if it's the last thing you're doing in your life.
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That's what Marcus Aurelius did.
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His morning routine set him up for success he didn't approach the day at random he knew
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that well begun is half done and
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so should you start your day with a morning routine
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that lets you own the day from the beginning
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it's called self -discipline nobody else signed up for it you signed up for it
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so you're you're learning and your study
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and your self -improvement you have to be sure that you're applying this only to yourself.
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Marcus Aurelius says, tolerant with others, strict with yourself.
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The purpose of all this is to make you a better master of yourself.
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It's not to make you condescending or patronizing or controlling of other people.
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It's called self -discipline for a reason.
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It's your discipline over yourself.
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You'll leave everyone else and their mistakes and their way of doing things to them.
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Mark Sebelius didn't like people.
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I mean, you can't read meditations and not see this.
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He opens meditations with a meditation on how frustrating and obnoxious other people are.
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And even this idea, this idea of the obstacle is the way, that quote is him talking about other people,
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about how people get in our way, how people present obstacles
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but he says that in that obstacle there's an opportunity to actually practice this philosophy
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that you say you believe to be good in spite of
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other people to be just in the face of injustice to be temperate in the face of intemperance
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that's being rewarded to be courageous when everyone else is being cowardly
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and being rewarded for it
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so for for the stoics people are frustrating people are an obstacle
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but like all obstacles they're also the way that's a challenge
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we can rise to meet we can be better for wrestling with other people's difficulties
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so don't resent people use them to become better you're busy i'm busy
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but how much of what we're busy with actually matters marcus rila says ask yourself with everything you do
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and say is this essential because most of what we do and say is not essential.
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And he's so right.
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Most of what we do is because people asked us to do it
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or people told us to do it or that's how we've always done it.
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Do we actually need to do it?
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If we found out we were dying tomorrow, would we keep doing it?
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Would we do it the way we're doing it?
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Absolutely not.
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So he says, when you ask yourself, is this essential?
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You eliminate so much of what you don't need to be doing.
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And then he says, you get the double benefit of now doing fewer things better
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that's why you ask yourself
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this question is this essential do i actually need to be doing it am i doing it the way
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that it needs to be done and you ask this of everything you do and say and think
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number one amor fati it didn't happen to you it happened for you fate chose
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this for you accept it embrace it bear
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it make something of it that's the idea of amor fati marx really says a fire turns everything into fuel
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and brightness that's amorphagy number two
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it's about what you do for other people marcus really says the fruit of this life is good character
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and acts for the common good right the stoics weren't trying to to study
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this philosophy to be better sociopaths to be able to make
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more money for their own sake to be more famous
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it was about what they do for other people do you
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contribute to your community to your country are you moving the ball forward for humanity
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Number three, this puts the other two in perspective, memento mori.
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You could leave life right now, as Mark Sarelius says, let that determine what you do and say and think.
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Life is short.
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Do everything as if it was the thought or action of a dying person, Marcus says.
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Life is fragile.
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The pandemic has reminded us of this.
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Live while you can.
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Seize the day.
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Those are three great lessons from Stoic philosophy you can apply right now.
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If you want to learn more about Stoic philosophy, totally for free, you can sign up for our daily Stoic email.
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It's one free email every morning.
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The best of Stoic wisdom, dailystoic .com slash email.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “9 Stoic Rules For A Better Life”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: marcus, aurelius, stoic. This video has 172 sentences and 1966 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:27. The speaker talks fast, about 188 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| obstacle noun | /ˈɑbstəkəl/ | Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively |
| meditation noun | /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/ | A devotional exercise of, or leading to, contemplation. |
| discipline noun | /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ | A controlled behaviour; self-control. |
| anxiety noun | /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ | An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event. |
| routine noun | /ɹuˈtin/ | A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| palace noun | /ˈpælɪs/ | Official residence of a head of state or other dignitary, especially in a monarchical or imperial governmental system. |
| reward noun | /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/ | Something of value given in return for an act. |
| anxious adjective | /ˈæŋkʃəs/ | Nervous and worried. |
| plague noun | /plɛɡ/ | The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis. |
| awareness noun | /əˈwɛɹ.nəs/ | The state or level of consciousness where sense data can be confirmed by an observer. |
| horrible adjective | /ˈhɔɹ.ɪ.bəl/ | Causing horror; terrible; shocking. |
| comfort noun | /ˈkʌm.fət/ | Contentment, ease. |
| sake noun | /ˈseɪ̯k/ | Cause, interest or account. |
| remind verb | /ɹəˈmaɪnd/ | To cause one to experience a memory (of someone or something); to bring to the notice or consideration (of a person). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| walk through verb | To explain (something) to (someone), step by step. |
| write down verb | To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- We don't control what happened.
- What action are you going to take?
- What step are you going to take?
- Do we actually need to do it?
- Would we do it the way we're doing it?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been devastated · might be closed · can be closed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've been · I've written · has been devastated |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | person who ever · Plague, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 51 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/, breakthrough /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/, unhealthy /ʌnˈhɛl.θi/, sociopath /ˈsəʊ.si.ə(ʊ)ˌpæθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/, anxious /ˈæŋkʃəs/, exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/, obnoxious /əbˈnɑkʃəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, humanity /hjuˈmænɪti/, imperial /ɪmˈpɪɹ.i.əl/, eliminate /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/
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 obstacle, meditation, discipline.
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.