Shadowing Practice: How to build social capital - Learn English Speaking with Video
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If you want to level up and receive everything that you desire in life with less resistance, then you need to understand a kind of wealth
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that does not show up on a bank statement and it might be the most important one.
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We've talked about pretty privilege, how your appearance can open doors for you and change how people receive you,
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which is why you should invest in it.
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But there's something that goes even deeper than that
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because it determines who keeps on getting the opportunities long after the first impression.
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That is social capital and most people never think to invest in it the same way
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that they do with everything else because we invest in our appearance and we invest in our education and our skills.
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We study hard and we work hard but you cannot outwork a room that doesn't even know you exist.
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And so let's talk about how to build the advantage
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that might be the key to helping you achieve everything that you desire in life with ease.
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Welcome back to the Acre Playbook, today we're breaking down social capital, what it actually is, what makes it valuable,
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and how to actually build it intentionally so that you stop missing out on all of the opportunities that you deserve.
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Let's start with first understanding the value of social capital and why you should invest in your relationship.
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Because you've probably heard of the saying, your network is your net worth,
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but most of us repeat it without actually understanding why it's true or what to do about it.
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Relationships act like an asset.
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Every relationship you build, you nurture, or neglect has a compounding effect that has real tangible returns.
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I used to help at my family's business.
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I wasn't getting paid, but I got to talk to all of the different customers that we had, which had its own form of value.
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I would ask about their work.
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I would get genuinely interested and actually listen to them.
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And from all of the conversations that I've had,
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there was a college professor who helped me get an interview for a business program when I was still in high school.
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That did not come from a resume, and to be honest, I probably didn't even know what a resume was at the time.
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It simply came from being in enough conversations and building enough relationships that someone decided to open a door up for me.
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And that was way before I even knew what social capital was, and so imagine what is possible for you when you actually do.
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So the real question is not whether your network matters, it's whether or not you're building it intentionally which raises the next question,
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how do you build it intentionally?
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Which leads us to our next section on network maxing.
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To really understand social capital, we need to understand that it doesn't come in one form.
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When most people think about socializing and building relationships and networking, they often picture one thing, working a room, being outgoing,
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looking impressive, and then collecting contacts.
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And sure, that's one version of it, but it's not the only one.
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Social capital comes in three forms, and depending on who you are and how you naturally operate,
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one of these is probably already more available to you than you realize.
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The first type is one -to -one.
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I call this archetype the connector because these people tend to build social capital through depth rather than quantity.
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If you resonate with this archetype, it's probably because you're not the person who knows everyone.
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You're the person who really knows the people that you know.
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Every relationship you build is intentional, it's genuine, and the kind that runs so deep that people will genuinely go out of their way for you.
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You may be reminded of Olivia Pope.
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Her entire power base wasn't built on necessarily the widest network.
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Sure, she knew people here and there, but who she was and what she can do on a small number of people,
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her team, and essentially her second family, who are completely unconditionally loyal to her.
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These are people who would literally burn everything down for her.
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They gave her everything that they got, which is why she was able to achieve everything that she was able to achieve.
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If this resonates with you, you probably already know it, because you're not the person who thrives at networking events or collecting business cards.
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You rather have one real conversation at a time than 10 surface level ones and that is not a weakness.
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People don't open doors simply because they met you at a social event and now you have their contacts.
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They open doors for the people they actually care about and if they really care about you,
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they will create a door for you just to open it if it really came to that.
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The second type of social capital is one to many.
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I call this archetype the influencer because quantity here actually does matter because they build social capital through visibility and attention.
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Where you don't necessarily have a personal relationship with everyone in your network, but the attention you command is its own form of currency.
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Think of influencers and celebrities like
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Emma Chamberlain, Addison Rae, Kylie Jenner.
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Each one builds something valuable, not through who they personally knew, but through who knew them.
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They have enough influence to create culture and set trends.
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Lisa sells out la boo -boo just by being seen with it.
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Jenny put a band -aid on her cheek and it became a trend.
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Hailey Bieber ate sushi with a face mask and suddenly everyone had to try it.
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That is influence and that is the power of the influencer's social capital.
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The association itself has value.
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If this resonates with you, you're probably someone who naturally draws attention.
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You maybe have a point of view that people want to follow
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or has built an audience around something that you do or you genuinely stand for.
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And here's what's worth understanding about this type.
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Quantity actually does matter here.
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Not in the superficial way where you're obsessed with how many followers you have and how popular you are,
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but in the sense that the more attention that you can hold, the more valuable your social capital becomes.
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Because attention is a resource and a form of currency that brands want access to.
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Opportunities follow it people are drawn to whoever the room is already looking at.
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So if you have the ability to hold attention, that is a legitimate and powerful form of social capital.
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So please do not underestimate it.
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And last but not least, the third type is one to zero.
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I call this archetype the authority because you build social capital through excellence and expertise.
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You do not need a wide network or a massive platform.
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You are simply so indispensable at what you do that people come to you.
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You're in the position where you're not chasing the room, the room finds you.
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Think about Miranda Priestly.
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Her expertise and her standards are so undeniable that the entire industry quite literally orbits around her.
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Designers want her, editors want her, talent wants her.
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She created a gravitational pull where all the opportunity,
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all the talent, and all the relationships come to her simply through being the best at what she does.
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If this resonates with you, you're probably someone who leads with your craft.
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Maybe it's your knowledge or your vision rather than your personality or your connections.
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Maybe you're not necessarily the most outgoing person in the room, but that is okay because when you speak,
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people listen because you are too good at what you do or what you're about that people simply cannot ignore you.
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The social capital that you build isn't through who you know or how many people are watching.
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It's through what you bring to the table that nobody else can.
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The three different ways of building social capital highlight just how different each of them can be from each other,
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but each valuable in its own way.
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The goal is to figure out which one already comes natural to you
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and lean into that because one might be more readily available or naturally lean to your strengths already.
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But regardless of which type you are, there are a few universal principles that apply across all three
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and these are things that actually move the needle no matter how you're wired.
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So let's get right into it starting with the weak ties theory.
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Your close friends naturally move in the same circles that you do.
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Maybe they're in the same industry, they have the same interests and share the same social scene.
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They rarely introduce you to anything genuinely new but your weak ties do.
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The old classmate you haven't talked to in years, the person you met once at an event, the friend of a friend.
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Those are the people who unlock rooms that you don't already have because they live in a completely different world than you.
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People are far more likely to hear about their next job through a weak tie than through a close friend.
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This isn't to say abandon your existing friendships.
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Your close circle matters, but so do your weak ties
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because they exist in worlds that you do not have access to yet.
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You're not trying to become best friends with everyone.
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It's simply to say that do not neglect those relationships
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because you're trying to stay visible enough that they think of you when something comes up.
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Next is your reputation because that is what exists about you when you're not in the room.
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And unlike your network or your platform, you cannot manage it in real time because by definition, it's happening in conversations that you're not part of.
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And so think very carefully about how you want to develop
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that reputation because I used to want to be known as the nice,
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friendly, sweet girl and I was but I noticed that reputation just made me more of a people pleaser.
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I learned to start saying no more
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which is now making more people joke about me being quote -unquote mean
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and I have a reputation of being mean
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but I'm letting it run its course because I noticed that that reputation has earned me more respect.
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Your reputation will always say something about you, and so just make sure that it's working for you and not against you.
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Next is understanding reciprocity.
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Social capital is not a one -way street.
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People like to be useful, but nobody likes to feel used.
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When you only show up when you need something, sure, people will help you once, but as the pattern continues,
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even if they can help you they will find it annoying.
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Building social capital does mean leveraging relationships.
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That is the whole point.
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But people who do it well understand reciprocating.
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They share opportunities.
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They make introductions.
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They show up for people before they need anything back.
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So when they do need something, it never feels transactional because their relationship never was.
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Be someone worth investing in and invest first.
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Number four is this phenomenon called crabs in a bucket.
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If you put one crab in a bucket, it will climb out.
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But if you put multiple crabs in a bucket, every time one tries to climb out,
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the others will pull it back down and none of them escape.
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The people around you are either pulling you up
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or pulling you back down and sometimes they don't even realize they're doing it.
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It's not always malicious.
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Sometimes your growth or your success make people uncomfortable.
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Sometimes they genuinely think that they're looking out for you, but regardless, they keep you where you are trying to get out of.
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This isn't to say cut everyone off and be suspicious of everyone.
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It means really reflecting the effects of the people you surround yourself with and share your goals with.
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Maybe you do have to cut some people off.
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Maybe you just have to distance yourself temporarily.
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Maybe it means building in private temporarily,
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or it might just mean being more selective about what you share and who you share it with before it's ready.
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I didn't tell anyone about this channel until I felt more confident about it.
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Figure out which move makes sense for your situation so
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that you're not in a position where you're like a crap in a bucket where everything
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or everyone is intentionally or unintentionally pulling you back down into the same place that you're working on getting out of.
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And last but not least, we have consistency.
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Social capital requires a network.
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Your network consists of relationships, and no relationship exists without trust.
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Trust is not built through grand gestures.
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It's built through small, repeated actions over time, showing up when you said you would, doing what you said you do.
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Most people underestimate this because it sounds simple, but oftentimes it's these simple things that get overlooked.
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This applies to your reputation, your relationships, your platforms, and even your skills equally.
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Whatever it is that you're trying to build for your social capital, the more consistent you nurture it, the more it will compound in your favor.
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At the end of the day, social capital is not luck.
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It's simply being known on purpose in a way that is valuable for you and also sustainable for who you are.
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Whether you resonate with the connector, the influencer, or the authority, in the social capital that they have,
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they all end up in the same place eventually, surrounded by people who trust them, respect them, and want to see them win.
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They take completely different roads to get there and that is the whole point.
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You don't have to become the most impressive person in every room.
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You don't have to be everywhere and know everyone.
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You just have to stop treating your relationships like something that will sort themselves out on their own because they won't.
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We love to talk about pretty privilege, but that is the advantage that you can see.
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But this one is about the advantage that will determine whether or not opportunities keep coming your way.
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That's it for today.
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I hope to see you in the next one and in the meantime as always stay hot.
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Bye
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “How to build social capital”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: capital, relationship, build. This video has 173 sentences and 2419 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:07. The speaker talks fast, about 184 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| reputation noun | /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/ | What somebody or something is known for. |
| invest verb | /ɪnˈvɛst/ | To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in. |
| genuinely adverb | /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/ | In a genuine manner; truthfully, truly. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| bucket noun | /ˈbʌkɪt/ | A container made of rigid material, often with a handle, used to carry liquids or small items. |
| intentionally adverb | /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/ | In an intentional manner; on purpose. |
| necessarily adverb | /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/ | Inevitably; of necessity. |
| quantity noun | /ˈkwɑn(t)ɪti/ | A fundamental, generic term used when referring to the measurement (count, amount) of a scalar, vector, number of items or to some other way of denominating… |
| crab noun | /kɹæb/ | Any crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace. |
| regardless adverb | /ɹɪˈɡɑɹd.lɪs/ | Without attention to warnings or indications of bad consequences. |
| impressive adjective | /ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/ | Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| collect verb | /ˈkɑlɪkt/ | To gather together; amass. |
| currency noun | /ˈkʌɹ.ən.si/ | Money or other items used to facilitate transactions. |
| climb verb | /ˈklaɪ̯m/ | To traverse a slope or contour, either upwards (ascending) or downwards (descending). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| back down verb | To take a less aggressive position in a conflict than one previously had, or has planned to have. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
| sell out verb | To sell all of a supply or stock of something. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I used to help at my family's business.
- This isn't to say abandon your existing friendships.
- You're not trying to become best friends with everyone.
- You don't have to be everywhere and know everyone.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if they can help you they will find |
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to help · used to want |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | person who knows · person who really · people who would |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | may be reminded · wasn't built · being seen |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 45 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, isn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, impression /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/
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 reputation, invest, genuinely.
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.