Shadowing Practice: English Podcast for Motivation | Learn English for Conversation Practice Shadowing | Easy Listening - Learn English Speaking with Video
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hello my friends welcome back to english unleashed i'm tom today we will explore another powerful book
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that can help you live better make better choices and of course
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learn english in a deeper way the book is called your future self how to make tomorrow better
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today the author is hal hershfield in this episode we will
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use the ideas of the book to help you think about
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one very important person your future self your future self means you later in life.
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You in one year, five years, and ten years.
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It is still you, but in the future.
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In this podcast, I will take you chapter by chapter through the main ideas of the book,
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and I connect everything to language learning.
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We will ask questions like, how can my future self speak better English than my current self?
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What choices today will make life easier for my future self?
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Why do we often choose comfort now, even when it hurts our future?
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At the beginning of this episode, the language will be simpler and more familiar.
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this will help your brain warm up
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and feel safe then step by step chapter by chapter the
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language becomes a little more advanced the vocabulary will grow and the sentences will slowly become richer and stronger.
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This gentle change is on purpose.
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It helps you stretch your English without feeling lost and confused.
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You stay inside the world of comprehensible input.
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Comprehensible input is the English that is clear enough to understand, but still gives you new words,
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new ideas, and new structures.
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My goal is simple.
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I want you to see that you are not just learning English for today.
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You are learning for the person you will become.
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You are learning for your future self.
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Many people think about English only in the present moment.
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I am bad at speaking.
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I am shy.
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I make mistakes.
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But this book helps us move our eyes forward.
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It teaches us how to be kinder to the future version of us.
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How to make choices today that will make that future self proud, strong, and more fluent.
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As always, I will speak slowly and clearly.
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If I use a difficult word, I will explain it immediately in the same sentence.
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You do not need to take notes.
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You do not need to pause and study hard.
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Just sit with me, listen, breathe, and enjoy the journey.
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As you listen, your English is already growing.
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Your vocabulary is growing.
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Your sense of time and your sense of self are growing too.
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This is the magic of learning through stories and ideas.
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So, let's begin our journey with your future self.
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Chapter 1.
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Meeting Your Future Self In the first big idea of the book,
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the author asks us to do something very simple but very powerful.
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He asks us to meet our future self.
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Of course, we cannot really travel in time.
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We cannot physically meet the future you.
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But we can imagine them.
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We can picture them clearly in our mind.
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To picture something means to see it in your imagination, like a movie in your head.
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Most of the time, we live inside our present self.
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The present self is the you that is here right now, listening to this podcast.
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The present self always wants comfort now now.
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The present self prefers pleasure today.
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The present self does not like waiting.
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The future self is different.
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Your future self wants health, stability, and success later.
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The word stability means feeling safe and steady, not shaking, not in danger.
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Your future self wants you to save money, to exercise, to learn English,
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to grow in your work, to protect your relationships. But often, the present self
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and the future self do not agree for example your present self may say i just want to relax
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and watch a series in my own language your future self may say please listen to 10 minutes of english so
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that in two years we can speak confidently these two voices
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live inside us sometimes the present self wins sometimes the future self wins.
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The author explains that for many people, the future self feels like a stranger.
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A stranger is a person you do not know.
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When your future self feels like a stranger, it is hard to care about them.
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You do not feel responsible for them.
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So if your future self feels like a stranger, you choose comfort today and forget about tomorrow.
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The author says that many of our problems come from this distance between our present self and future self.
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Distance here means how far something feels in your mind.
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The future feels far away, so we think it is not real.
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But of course it is real.
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One day you will be that future person.
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Now, how do we meet our future self in a stronger way?
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One way is to imagine your life in a clear picture.
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You can close your eyes and ask, if I continue like this for five years, who will I be?
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How will my English sound?
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What kind of work will I do?
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How will my body feel?
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Will I be proud of the choices i make now this
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kind of imagination is called mental time travel mental means in the mind time travel means going to another time
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so mental time travel means visiting the future in your imagination.
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When you do this, your future self becomes more real.
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They are not just an idea.
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They begin to feel like a real person you care about.
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For language learning, meeting your future self is very important.
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If you see your future self clearly, maybe giving a presentation in English,
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maybe traveling easily, maybe talking with friends in English, you feel more motivated today.
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The word motivated means having more energy and desire to do something.
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Imagine two people.
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One person thinks, I am bad at English.
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I will always be bad.
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This person sees no future self, only today's problems.
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The other person thinks, I cannot speak well yet.
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But I can see myself in two years speaking calmly, making small mistakes, but communicating clearly.
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This person has met their future self.
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The future self gives them hope and direction.
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the word direction means knowing which way to go the author's research shows that
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when people feel a stronger connection to their future self they
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make better decisions today they save more money they take care of their health they study more they avoid dangerous habits
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In the same way, if you feel close to your future English -speaking self, you will make better language decisions,
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you will listen a little more, you will read a little more, you will practice a little more.
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So the first chapter of our journey is simple.
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Do not ignore your future self.
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They are not a stranger.
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They are you.
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They will live inside the results of your choices.
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Every minute you spend with English today is a small gift to your future self.
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In the next chapter, the author explains something very interesting.
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Your brain does not always see your future self as you
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many times the brain treats the future you like another person
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like an a stranger not an enemy not a best friend just someone else the word separate means not connected it,
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not joined.
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And because the future you feels separate, we often forget to take care of them.
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Think about how you can treat a close friend.
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If your friend needs help, you will help them.
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If they need advice, you listen.
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If they feel sad, you support them. But strangely,
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many of us do not treat our future self with the same kindness we forget
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that the future us has feelings has needs dreams
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and worries the author says that
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when your future self feels more real you make better choices today
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if you can imagine your future self clearly like a real person with the real life, you start to care more.
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You start to think ahead.
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Thinking ahead means thinking about what will happen later, not only right now.
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This is very important for English learning.
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If your future self feels real, you naturally ask,
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what can I do today to help my future English? what
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small practice will make their life easier what choice right now
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will help the future me speak more clearly the other uses the idea of future self vividness vivid means something
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that is clear colorful and easy to imagine
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so vividness means being clear colorful and easy to imagine right
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when your picture of your future self becomes vivid you feel
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closer to them they are not a shadow they are a
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person a person with a face a voice a room and a daily life try this
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imagine yourself two years from now see how you stand see
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how you dress see how confidently you speak english hear the
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calm strong sound of your voice this picture creates an emotional connection
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connection means a link between two things and
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when you feel this connection you feel responsible for
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that future version of you it becomes harder to disappoint them disappoint means to make someone feel sad
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because you did not do what you should.
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The author also shares an interesting study.
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When people look at aged photos of themselves,
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photos showing how they might look at age 60, they make better choices.
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They save more money.
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They eat healthier food.
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They study more carefully.
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And they avoid bad habits.
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Why?
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Because the future self suddenly feels real.
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You can use this idea for English too.
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Imagine your future self using English in real life.
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Maybe at work, maybe when traveling, maybe helping someone.
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What does their face look like when they speak clearly?
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How proud do you feel?
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This picture gives you motivation that is much stronger than a grammar rule.
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So the message of this chapter is soft and clear.
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Make your future self feel real.
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See them, feel them, understand them.
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When your future self becomes real in your mind, your choices today become wiser and kinder.
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And your English grows naturally because now you know exactly who you are learning for,
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the future you, the one who is waiting.
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Okay, my friends, now the author introduces the idea of the long game.
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The phrase the long game means thinking far into the future, not just today or tomorrow.
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it means making decisions with a long timeline a timeline is
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the line of time stretching from now into the future most
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people play the short game they choose what feels good now even
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if it hurts their future
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but the long game is different here you ask what will my life look like in 10 years
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if I make this choice repeatedly?
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What skills will I have if I practice a little every day?
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What kind of person will I become if I stay consistent?
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For English learning, the long game is everything.
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Fluency does not come from one big effort.
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It comes from small daily habits that compound over months and years.
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The word compound means to increase slowly by adding small pieces again and again,
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like interest growing in a bank account.
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The author says that the long game needs patience.
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Patience is the ability to wait calmly without frustration.
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Many language learners lack patience.
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They want fast results.
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They want to speak fluently in a few weeks.
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When this does not happen, they feel disappointed and give up.
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But the long game teaches us a more realistic truth.
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Small progress is still progress.
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One minute of listening is progress.
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One new word with meaning is progress.
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One sentence said out loud is progress.
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These small actions accumulate.
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The word accumulate means to gather slowly over time.
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The author also introduces the concept of delayed gratification.
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This is a big word.
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Gratification means pleasure or satisfaction.
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Delayed gratification means waiting for a bigger reward later instead of taking a smaller reward now. For example,
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your present self wants to relax and do nothing
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but your future self wants you to practice English for five minutes
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when you practice you delay gratification you choose the future reward
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over the present moment English learners who understand the long game do not panic
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when they forget a word they do not feel hopeless when progress is slow.
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They know that fluency is a long journey, so they keep going.
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Thinking long -term also helps with emotional stability.
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When you see the big picture, small mistakes stop hurting you.
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If you misunderstand something today, it does not harm your long game.
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If you skip one day, it does not destroy your future self.
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Thank you.
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the long game is flexible
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and wide it gives you space to breathe okay my friends now we enter chapter five of your future self
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so far i have talked about how the today you
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and the future you sometimes feel like two different people in this chapter we learn how to connect them
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so they feel closer and more united.
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The author explains that many people feel a big distance between who they are now and who they want to be later.
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This distance is not about the body.
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It is about the mind.
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It is about how we think and how we feel.
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When this distance feels big, we lose motivation.
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We tell ourselves, the future is far away.
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It does not matter what I do today.
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But this is not true.
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Everything you do today shapes the life your future self will live.
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To help us fix this problem, the author talks about an idea called future self -continuity.
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the word continuity means a smooth connected line something that does not break
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future self -continuity means feeling that the you today
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and the you tomorrow are the same person on one long journey
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when this feeling is a strong your choices today help your future When this is weak,
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you choose easy comfort now and ignore tomorrow.
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So, how do we make this connection stronger?
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One simple way is visualization.
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Visualization means using your imagination.
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Using your thoughts to see clear pictures in your mind.
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Imagine your future self in a real situation, at work, in a meeting,
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on a trip, or speaking English with confidence.
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When you imagine this clearly, your brain starts treating that future self like a real person who needs your help.
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Imagine this moment.
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You see your future self sitting in a room with people from different countries.
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Someone asks a question.
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Your future self answers calmly with clear English.
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They smile because they understand every word.
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Your future self feels proud and confident.
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When you imagine this clearly, you feel closer to that future version of you.
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And when you feel close to them, you naturally want to help them.
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Another simple way to build this connection is through small actions.
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Just think of small actions that show care. For example,
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listening to two minutes of English today is like saying to
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your future self i am helping you reading one short paragraph
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is like sending a message to your future self i'm building
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something better for you these small actions matter they are important
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they create micro progress micro means very small micro progress means tiny steps
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that slowly bring the present you and future you closer together.
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Many learners think progress must be big and dramatic.
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But tiny steps are often better because they are easy to continue and they do not create stress. For example,
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repeating one English sentence every day for a month will help your memory more than studying grammar for one hour
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and then stopping smallest steps add up so the author says
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that the strongest connection between present
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and future you is built with three simple things imagination kindness and repeatable actions let's talk about kindness
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this is also called compassion it means being gentle it means being gentle with your future self
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imagine your future self at the end of a long day
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your future self is tired they need english to communicate
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when you practice for even one minute today you are helping
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them you are giving them strength imagine your future self your future self needs english to communicate
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when you practice for even one minute today you are helping your future self.
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You are giving them strength.
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So, the message of this chapter is simple and soft.
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Your future self is not far away.
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You can reach them through imagination.
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You can reach them through tiny steps and small daily acts of care.
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Every minute you spend with English today is a gift to the person you will soon become.
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Okay, my friends, now we have reached the end of our long journey through your future self.
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In this episode, the language began simpler and became more complex, just like your own journey.
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At first, things felt softer and easier.
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Then the vocabulary grew.
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The ideas expanded.
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Thank you so much for staying with me through this long, thoughtful journey.
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Thank you for listening slowly and with an open heart.
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Thank you for choosing to grow.
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I'm Tom, and this is English Unleashed.
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I'm proud of you, truly proud.
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Keep listening and keep practicing.
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Your future self is smiling because of you.
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Bye for now.
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About This Lesson
You're practicing English with "English Podcast for Motivation | Learn English for Conversation Practice Shadowing | Easy Listening" using the Shadowing technique — a method originally developed for professional interpreter training.
Focus on sounding like the speaker — not just repeating words. With 15–30 minutes of daily practice, you'll build real-world speaking confidence.
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.