Shadowing Practice: Do This Simple Thing… and You Will Immediately Change Your Life! | Mel Robbins - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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The most important relationship that you have is the one you have with yourself, and you work on it the least.
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The most important relationship that you have is the one you have with yourself, and you work on it the least.
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Intentionally, through repetition, you can encode a default way of thinking.
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If you're interested in achieving your goals and making more money and having a positive mindset, understanding that your brain is trying to help you.
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And if you're not helping your brain by telling your brain what's important to it, it's going to filter out things that could be helping you.
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You better train your mind to see opportunities and deals that other people walk right by.
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You see your dreams, you either pursue them or they haunt you.
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Kinds of prisons that you can sentence yourself to.
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The circumstances of your life, the circumstances of your body, the circumstances that are unfair.
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and then there is the mental prison and that's the one you're in control of and you can be
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born into situations that are not fair they're not safe they're cruel it's unfair you didn't
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deserve it but the real power that you always have is how you react
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to it mentally it begins with your mental attitude about your own ability to
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face it and to survive it and to move past it it begins though with the
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belief that you can you can have nothing and you can still have your own back you
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can have tremendous problems and very real obstacles that you're facing and you can have
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a mindset that says through my efforts my attitude I can have an impact on the situation
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that I'm in that's the power that I have I can ask for help because I believe I deserve it I can seek therapy because I believe I should heal because I deserve that
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I can seek information about how to break trauma patterns, about how to regulate my nervous system, because I believe I am worthy of that.
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When I raise my hand in the mirror, I'm basically saying off to these people that hurt me because I believe that I deserve better.
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That's where it begins.
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begins with you self-confidence self-love self-esteem self-reliance self-awareness it all
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has the same self you have to give yourself those things you want validation give it to yourself
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you want to be cheered for give it to yourself you want to feel supported in life start by giving those things to
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yourself because the most important relationship that you have is the one you have with yourself and you work on it the least it's the foundation of every relationship you have
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it proves to you that it's possible to change the way your brain works it's not going to take away poverty it's not going to make you
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lose a hundred pounds it's going to prove to you that you do have power over the way your mind works and when you get crafty about training your brain you can do really cool shit.
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And when your attitude is optimistic that you will work harder and keep going because you believe that it makes a difference, it begins with these simple things.
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A lot of times it's the pattern of negative thoughts.
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I'm fat, I'm this, I'm that, I'm the other thing, I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough.
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Or even just worrying.
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What if the Delta variant takes off?
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What if I don't go back to work?
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What if this happens?
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What if that, how is that helping you exactly.
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Like there's productive worry, which is worry that motivates you to take action.
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And then there's destructive worry, which is worry that makes you literally circle the drain mentally.
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You always want to interrupt destructive worry or any kind of destructive self-talk.
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So the second you catch yourself going, gosh,
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I look fat or boy I'm a loser there I go I failed again you're like literally slap that away like high-five it away I'm not thinking about
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that and you start with I'm not thinking about that because if you're so used to hearing I'm not good enough there's no way you're going to believe the mantra I'm good enough because the thing about mantras are and this is why most mantras are is they don't work unless you believe them.
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And so there is power in creating what's called a meaningful mantra.
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But the first step to getting control of the negative self-talk is interrupt that.
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Don't listen to it.
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I'm not thinking about that.
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And then what I want you to do is just do that for a day.
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I'm not thinking about that.
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I'm not thinking about that.
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If you have any kind of thought that makes you feel bad that you don't like, I'm not thinking about that.
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The next day, start to notice what are the patterns in terms of the thoughts that come up.
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You know, when I was writing this book, one of my daughters talked about the fact that she's constantly feeling like she's not a good person.
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And so for example, she missed a dentist appointment.
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Missing the dentist appointment becomes evidence.
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See there I am again.
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I missed the dentist appointment.
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I'm not a good person.
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And so she started using, I'm not thinking about that.
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She's not ready to believe she's a good person yet because she's so used to saying,
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I'm not good person so the first step is interrupt the thing then take notice and then you can start to create what i call a
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meaningful mantra because now we want to break the pattern by saying i'm not thinking about that or use the five second rule five four
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three two one and then when you're ready you can create a meaningful mantra to replace it because any pattern is going
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to repeat unless you replace it and so meaningful mantras are things that you can be like yeah i can believe that so it might be i'm not perfect but i'm trying i'm not perfect but i'm doing my best
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ah you know i screw up sometimes but i'm not a bad person so if you just are like i'm doing the
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best i can that's pretty empowering if you think about it or i can learn from this or this
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is temporary i'll be okay those sorts of things are little ways to high five your mind instead of again going low
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you got a choice do you take yourself down or do you lift yourself up are you going outside of yourself or are
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you coming back in for what you need i want you to come in and lift yourself up this is
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one of these moments that's like a combination of science and the zygon arc effect and the res and wanting something i believe that what's meant for you is trying to reach you
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that you are neurochemistry dna energetically aligned with some things and purposes and passions that
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just call to you once something's important to you it never leaves your mind if you always dreamt about being a
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singer songwriter and you never did it you will be haunted by that at the age of 70 because it's still right here stored in
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the back of your mind it's something that's meant for you that's trying to call to you you see your dreams you either pursue them or they haunt you
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your mind is designed to help you get what you want you just have to be willing to
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believe it's possible seeing what you want to see in the world it's not some woo woo stupid nonsense
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my daily habit is look for hearts look for hearts is a very simple game that you're going to play that helps you train your brain.
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And it's very simple.
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As you're going about your life, I want you to look for a naturally occurring heart shape somewhere around you.
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You are going to tell your brain, as stupid as it sounds, brain, today, somewhere in the world, I want you to show me a shape of a heart.
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It could be a leaf on a tree.
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It could be a stain on a sidewalk.
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It could be the shape of the foam on your coffee today.
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I want you to just look around the environment that you're in, and I want you to just kind of scan the environment, see if you can see a heart shape.
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So you're probably thinking, why on earth is this important?
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Well, let me explain the science.
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In order to explain the science, I want to teach you about a part of your brain, the supercomputer between your ears, that has a specific name.
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And that part of your brain is called the reticular activating system.
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And what is this reticular activating system doing?
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Well, it is deciding all day long what information gets into your conscious mind and what information is being filtered out of your conscious mind.
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That is what it is doing.
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And there's a reason why you need this filter.
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Do you know that there are six to 10 million bits of information coming at your mind, body, and spirit every single second?
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Your brain can't handle that.
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Neither can your body.
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Your conscious brain can only handle between 50 and 100 bits.
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And 99% of that that it can handle is all stuff that's about how your body operates so
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teeny amounts of information is actually getting to your conscious brain what's super interesting about this is
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that means that a massive amount a bazillion amounts of bits of information are bombarding you you're just not aware of it
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and the reason why you're not aware of it is because of this hairnet on your brain the bouncer the reticular activating system its job
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is to decide whoa whoa whoa whoa of the six to ten million bits coming at me a million miles
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an hour what's actually important now here's where this gets interesting what's important
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is what you tell your reticular activating system is important this is so cool this is a treasure trove this is how you take control of your mind.
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If you're interested in achieving your goals and making more money and having a positive mindset, understanding that your brain is trying to help you.
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And if you're not helping your brain by telling your brain what's important to it, it's going to filter out things that could be helping you.
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You know, another example I can give you about how this works is, you know how social media is dynamically filtering things based on what it either watches you watching on social or it hears you talking to somebody about something.
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And you know, you're talking about maybe bird feeders.
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And next thing you know, there's freaking ads for bird feeders all over your social media.
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Well, that's because social media has a filter and it's dynamic.
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Your brain has the same thing.
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And so this is a habit looking for hearts that you can do all day, every day to strengthen this filter.
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Every time you see a heart, here's what I want you to do.
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I want you to stop in a very calm way to see this heart that you see as a sign from the universe or God or goddesses or whatever you believe in,
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that the world is actually trying to help you, that there are signs all around you.
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And you, just like I used to, you're just so up in your head and your computer is aimed against you that you're not programming it correctly to see the positive signs that are around you.
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If you can tell your brain to look for a heart, you can actually learn to use this habit to look for other things too.
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Because when you start to spot things that are going your way, you start to spot more things that are going your way.
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And it's evidence that your mind can be trained.
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Looking for hearts is not gonna make your problems go away.
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Not at all.
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The point of this exercise is to train your mind to spot things you currently block out and prove to yourself that you can make your brain work for you by telling it what is important to you.
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And if you want to make a lot of money, you better train your mind to see opportunities and deals that other people walk right by, just like the stupid heart rock on the ground.
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Because if you miss the heart rock because you're not looking for it, then you're gonna miss the opportunities and deals that are right there that you currently aren't seeing because you're not looking for it either.
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And the only reason why you're not looking for it is because you haven't made this a project.
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And the way you can start doing this is by looking for hearts.
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It's my way to prove to you that this filter is there and it is waiting for you to program it.
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And it's a simple thing.
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You can do this with your kids.
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You can do it anywhere that you live in the world.
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You can do this as a way to start to understand that, wow, my mind is very flexible.
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Wow, there are things that I see now that I've never seen.
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Nothing changed in the outside world.
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What changed is the filter on the supercomputer because you programmed it.
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And you can train yourself in how you program it by simply looking for hearts.
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How freaking cool is that?
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Manifesting.
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Just like looking for hearts.
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This is not fairy dust and woo-woo.
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This is hard science.
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And manifestation is the ability to take an intention and embed it into your subconscious in a manner such that it has the greatest likelihood to occur.
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In other words, you can, through intentional actions, fire and wire your neuropathways together to make your supercomputer in your brain help you.
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Manifesting is programming your brain so that it helps you get what you want in life.
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It's just about believing it.
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This is intentionally embedding information in your brain.
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And by intentionally embedding information in your brain, you are activating certain aspects of your brain to work for you.
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It's that instinct, that executive functioning, that focusing of your attention on something outside of you.
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And you can train your brain using that golden retriever to chase down what you want instead of turning itself at you.
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You can intentionally, through repetition, you can encode a default way of thinking.
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Take out a pencil.
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Write down the statement that you want to believe about yourself.
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After you write it down, you're going to read it to yourself.
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Then you're going to say it out loud.
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I believe I'm capable of success.
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I believe I am worthy of love.
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I believe that the love of my life is around the corner.
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I believe that this moment is temporary and the future is brighter.
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I believe that I'm stronger than I think.
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You could write down that I'm working very hard and my hard work is going to pay off.
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and all I need to do is just keep my head down and keep being a kind person and working hard and things are going to work out.
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You can write down anything you want to believe about yourself.
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Through repetition, you are intentionally embedding this belief about yourself.
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By writing it down, you're making it important.
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Through the repetition, you're actually embedding the intention in your subconscious, right?
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It's now actively chasing down anything that is related to this thing that you want.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Mel Robbins emphasizes the importance of self-relationship and mental attitude in her insightful talk. Engaging with her message through shadow speech techniques allows English learners to improve their speaking abilities while internalizing powerful concepts. By practicing along with her, you not only refine your English speaking practice but also cultivate a positive mindset. This dual benefit is essential for effective learning, as it encourages you to articulate your thoughts confidently and expressively.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Below are some key structures used by Mel Robbins that can enrich your English vocabulary and grammar:
- “It begins with…” - This phrase highlights the importance of starting points in any process. You can use this structure to discuss your goals, like, “It begins with understanding my weaknesses.”
- “You can have…” - This expression illustrates possibilities and options. Practice using it to convey your aspirations. For example, “You can have a fulfilling career if you work hard.”
- “Interrupt the negative self-talk.” - This phrase encourages action against harmful thoughts. Using verbs like “interrupt” or “challenge” can help you frame your thoughts positively, e.g., “I will challenge my doubts.”
- “I believe that...” - This statement showcases personal conviction. You could form your own sentences, such as “I believe that practice will improve my English pronunciation.”
Common Pronunciation Traps
While practicing speaking with Mel Robbins’ video, pay attention to the following pronunciation challenges:
- Words with "th" sounds - Words like "the," "that," and "with" can be tricky for non-native speakers. Make sure to practice pronouncing these sounds clearly to enhance your communication.
- Intonation with questions - Notice the rising intonation Robbins uses in her rhetorical questions. Emulating this can help improve your English pronunciation and make your speaking style more engaging.
- Emphasis on key phrases - Pay attention to which words Robbins stresses more in her sentences. Practicing this emphasis can help you convey meaning better in your spoken English.
By incorporating shadowing techniques from Mel Robbins' insightful speech, you can effectively learn English with YouTube while refining both your speaking and pronunciation. Challenge yourself to practice these structures and be mindful of pronunciation to make significant strides in your English journey!
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.
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