Shadowing Practice: How to ACTUALLY be productive (even if you lack motivation) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Are you tired of seeing people on social media work 25 hours a day while you still haven't left your couch?
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As someone who runs a YouTube channel, a podcast works out every day, and all with a full-time job, you may think that I'm super productive all the time.
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But here's my secret.
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I don't think of myself as a productive person at all.
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It just doesn't feel like I'm pushing myself that hard because I'm happy, well-rested, I socialize with my friends.
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There are plenty of days where I don't do much.
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So how can you be productive even when you don't want to?
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You have to make it easy and redefine productivity.
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The trick is to stop telling yourself to be productive
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because that only makes you feel worse since you're implying that you're not productive.
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Instead, only care about one thing, your life's bottom line.
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Meaning when you're deciding what action to do, ask, does this action actually make my life better?
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In this video, I'll give you four shifts that will get you moving, even when you feel too lazy to.
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Put this video on full screen, 1x speed and lock in because life's too short to have a short attention span.
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Let's go.
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Tip one, trying to be productive?
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Ask a better question.
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Every productivity video tells you to fix yourself with hacks.
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Aesthetic planners, just make your bed, the Pomodoro method, time blocking.
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But here's the thing.
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I never used the Pomodoro method before.
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In fact, I bookmarked it on my screen because I got recommended it.
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I've never used it once and I don't time block.
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So obviously hearing those tips are not the thing actually helping me, right?
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Hacks assume that the goal is always just to produce more, but on a day when you literally don't want to do anything, produce more is the least motivating goal.
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So shift one is like I alluded in the intro, stop asking, is this productive?
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And instead start asking, does this benefit me?
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Just redefine productive equals anything that benefits your life's bottom line.
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That means your mind, your body, your relationships.
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That is why slumping on the couch after a long day, putting on some lo-fi music
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and just closing your eyes could be one of the most productive things you do for yourself because you're helping yourself recharge.
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When it comes to a task like doing your homework, all you got to think is doing it right now benefits me
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because it will prevent the stress from later down the line.
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Going to the gym right now is not something I'm forcing myself to do
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because that's something productive and all those successful people do, but it's because it will make me happier.
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It'll make me stronger.
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So how do you practically apply this?
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Run everything through the bottom line filter in both directions.
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Rest that recharges yourself passes, but rest scrolling on your phone just because you're too lazy to do the thing is not actually productive.
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And on the flip side, productive looking busy work that doesn't actually produce anything you care about fails.
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If you're extremely tired and burnt out, forcing yourself to work all the way past midnight in that situation is not productive.
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Think to yourself, I am the most important person in this entire world.
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Every single action I choose should be for myself.
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Your life starts changing the second you realize procrastination is the highest form of self-abuse.
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Now, self-love and knowing something benefits you may still not make you want to do it.
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So if you lack motivation, that is where step two comes in.
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No motivation, stop needing it.
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Think about all the buzzwords.
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Discipline, willpower, motivation.
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You may think to yourself all the time, oh, I need to be more of those.
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But there's a reason why watching videos about those things has still not changed your life.
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Because they're not the right thing to look for.
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In fact, Ali Abdaal spent a whole book debunking those myths.
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From Feel Good Productivity, motivation clearly isn't enough, and telling people to simply feel more motivated isn't just unhelpful, it's potentially harmful.
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His alternative is play is our first energizer.
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Life is stressful.
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Play makes it fun.
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If we can integrate the spirit of play into our lives, we'll feel better and do more too.
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That's why shift two is to make it fun so that I don't want to never shows up.
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Thank you to Speak for sponsoring this portion of the video
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because they're honestly the perfect example of this shift in my life right now.
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For the last 13 days, I've been learning intermediate Chinese on speak every single day, and nobody is making me do this.
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Here's why it matters to me.
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My grandmother doesn't speak any English, and my sister and I try to call her every couple weeks.
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But there's always a gap between what I want to say to her and the words I actually know.
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I want to tell her what I've been up to, but I've never learned the language properly from the foundations.
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There are so many words and ways of speaking that I never got.
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So speak is helping me close that gap.
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When you start, you tell speak why you're learning and it builds you a custom learning path.
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Mine is built around the real conversations I want to have, not just flashcards.
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And that's because just like the app name speak, the whole method is around you learning by actually speaking out loud from day one.
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It listens, corrects you and keeps the conversation going.
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My favorite part is free talk.
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You can role play real scenarios like ordering at a coffee shop or jump into topics that the community created.
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And you can use speak completely hands-free.
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I love popping in my headphones and practicing while I'm walking from place to place in New York City.
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With a 13-day streak, why have I been able to be productive?
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Well, it's because it doesn't feel like homework.
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The app is fun and genuinely encouraging and that's the whole point of this shift.
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I never have to make myself do it.
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If there's a language you've been meaning to learn for family, for travel, or just for you, start your free week with speak down below.
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So tip two, apply the same move to whatever you've been avoiding.
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Don't ask, how do I force myself to do this?
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But instead ask, which version of this would I actually enjoy?
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Instead of going monk mode and studying alone in the dark, go find a friend to practice with.
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Pick the workout you like.
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There's so many options out there nowadays, like dance classes, Pilates, playing basketball instead of cardio.
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Turn any task into the game version of itself.
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Now you're probably saying, well, Amy, I can't make everything fun like studying for that difficult exam.
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That's not gonna feel like play.
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So for things you dread no matter what you do, that's why we have tip number three.
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Hate the pressure, you picked it.
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On days you don't want to do anything and then you become stressed
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because of how much you're not doing the thing and then you become stressed about your stress.
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You may think that pressure is the enemy.
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Oh, why do I have all these responsibilities and goals in life?
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You may have a deadline just sitting in your chest and you may wish you had less on your plate.
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So Billie Jean King was an incredible tennis player.
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She was one of the best in the world.
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And when she was playing tennis matches, there would be tons of critics all around her ready to tear her apart if she made a mistake.
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That must have been a ton of pressure and the expectations to live up to.
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But she remained completely calm and
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when asked how she says pressure is a privilege it only
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comes to those who earn it billy jean king has the
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pressure of showing up as the best tennis player in the world
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because she earned those expectations through her hard work
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and she would not wish otherwise the only people with zero
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pressure in their lives are those with nothing on the line nothing worth working toward
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if you stress about getting good jobs because you want them
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that is a privilege it It is a choice to want more things, to have goals and to dream bigger.
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And that is autonomy and control of your own life to want those things.
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And so you can use that same control to go ahead and get them.
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I heard of Billie Jean King's quote from Stephen Bartlett's Dyer of a CEO.
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And in that same book, he shares that there's scientific research where if you simply perceive stress as a positive thing,
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that kind of positive stress, knowing that you chose it, will not decrease your lifespan.
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If you view stress and pressure as bad things, they will actually be bad for your health.
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So the practical step here is to rename the feeling.
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Before you start, just have one line out loud and really feel it in your soul.
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Instead of saying, I have to, say, I get to.
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Now, I know this is not maybe new tips because I've heard it somewhere in another video, but do you see how the explanation
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and understanding how this is a good thing to feel pressure just really makes
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that tip feel more real and you'll be able to implement it?
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but there's one more trap what about the gray zone areas where you can't tell
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if something is rest is productive
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or is actually a waste of time well one question settles it in five seconds
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but before i reveal that remember
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that to make good choices your default you must work on
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your mindset you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with
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so you must choose people who rewire your mind the positive way one of the worst things
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that influence you is the brain rot content you consume.
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Instead, you can listen to my new podcast with my sister Angel called CEO of Life.
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I started this podcast solo in 2024, but now I'm revamping it.
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So excited to be doing it along with my sister, who also got a 4.0 in engineering at Caltech.
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She is also living in New York City with me, and we both consider ourselves to have our dream lives, even though they're both quite different, which is why we wanted to bring this perspective and to help you guys more.
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Angel and I share the truth about how we both got our dream lives
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and we spill our struggles past
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and present for example in an episode we discussed the stress of getting older
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and how to live in harmony with the pressure of achieving
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more very fitting for this topic you can listen on spotify
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or apple podcast and our trailer which is so cute is already out please check it out with the link down below.
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Now tip four, rest or waste?
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The five-year test.
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Fun fact, my most expensive subscription is Netflix because I don't use it.
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I rarely watch TV and it's not because I have iron discipline.
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I don't.
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I don't have any rule.
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I don't have any discipline involved in doing this.
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I just know that in a few years, I will barely remember the plot.
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I'll barely remember anything I've watched, but I would remember the thing I gave up to watch it.
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I would remember the regret of not doing something more important.
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The things that matter more to me in my life, the things I'm passionate about doing, like filming videos.
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That's how even when I was working in business management consulting, 50 to 80 hours per week, my co-workers would go home, classic watch TV, nothing wrong with that,
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of course, but I would not watch TV because instead I would spend that time making videos.
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Life is a trade-off.
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It's all an allocation of your time.
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So the one question I've used for years, You got to ask yourself in five years, will I regret how I spent this time?
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Here's why it works.
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It's not a productivity filter.
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It is a regret filter.
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Zero motivation needed.
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Just five seconds.
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Do you care about making your one life the best it can be?
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Are you scared enough about regret?
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Now, if I do watch something, it's always with other people, friends, family, so that it becomes a memory.
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And that is why this question works because I will never regret having that memory.
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In Bronny Wears the Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, most people regret the life they didn't live, not the rest day they took.
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So how to use it?
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Again, use it in both directions.
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This kills your three-hour scroll because, yes, hint, you will regret that.
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Plus, this test approves your real rest without guilt.
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You will never regret the walk with your parents, the movie night with your family.
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You'll never regret the hour that actually recharged you and made you happier.
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You don't need to become a productive person.
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You just need to care about your life's bottom line and protect it like it's your company, like you're the CEO of your life.
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Own your life or someone else will.
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And that doesn't sound very fun, but you know what is fun?
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Finally learning that language with speak.
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So remember that you can get your free week of speak with my link down below.
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Also in the description box, you'll find the link to my brand new shiny podcast with my sister and you can watch the trailer, which Angel worked really, really hard on.
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So please share your love in the comments with an emoji and you can use our classic blue and yellow ones.
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I hope I've debunked what you thought was how to be productive and I'm going to continue.
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So if you are still using the old time management tips, you're not just behind.
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You're like a dinosaur.
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Sorry, not sorry.
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I'm just looking out for you because being efficient in 2026 is completely different.
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So if you want to know how I actually do time management now, then you can watch this video.
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Thanks so much, a team, that was a new thing.
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I will see you at the top.
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Most people regret the life they didn't leave.
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Ah, what?
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Live.
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Oh my gosh.
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Most people regret the life they didn't live.
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Oh my gosh.
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It's great.
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It's fun.
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It's learning your ma.
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Dang
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Why This Video Is Great for Speaking Practice
This video is a goldmine for English learners because it uses conversational yet persuasive language—perfect for practicing natural speech. The speaker’s tone is relatable, with short, impactful sentences and common phrases like “the trick is to stop telling yourself” that mirror how people talk in daily life. It also includes nuanced expressions like “life's bottom line” and “buzzwords,” which help expand your vocabulary in context. Plus, the topic of productivity is universal, making it easy to connect with and mimic.
Breaking Down Natural Speech Patterns
Let’s look at a few lines that sound effortlessly natural: 1. “Are you tired of seeing people on social media work 25 hours a day while you still haven't left your couch?” – The use of “tired of seeing” and the contrast “while” creates a conversational flow, mimicking how we vent about relatable frustrations. 2. “I don't think of myself as a productive person at all.” – The phrase “at all” softens the statement, making it sound genuine rather than abrupt. 3. “Rest that recharges yourself passes, but rest scrolling on your phone just because you're too lazy to do the thing is not actually productive.” – The structure “X passes, but Y is not” is a common way to contrast ideas, and “just because” adds a casual, explanatory tone. These examples show how small words and structures make speech sound human, not scripted.
A Simple Shadowing Routine to Try
To practice with this video, use a shadowing app or shadowing site to repeat short clips. Here’s a loop:
- Watch a 10-second segment and listen for intonation (where the speaker rises or falls).
- Pause and repeat the segment out loud, focusing on matching the rhythm and stress (e.g., “the TRICK is to STOP telling YOURself to be proDUCtive”).
- Record yourself using a shadow speak tool and compare it to the original. Notice if you’re rushing or stressing the wrong words.
- Do this 5 times with the same segment, then move to a new one.
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.