Shadowing Practice: How To Change Your Brain with Positive Thinking - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Welcome.
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Today, I'm going to be talking with scientific proof of ways to actually change your brain to be more positive.
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Let's dive in.
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This is not going to be anything that's weird and out there.
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I'm going to slam you with scientific proof today to the point where you're going to be like, is he still telling me more studies?
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And the answer is yes, because I really want to hammer in home that actually thinking positive can change the structure and function of your brain.
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And I'm going to tell you exactly how to do it.
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I'm not just going to sit here and be like a motivational speaker that can't root anything back in science.
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No, no, no. We're proving it today because research has shown over
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and over and over again that positive thoughts have a massive impact on the structure of your brain.
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And when the structure of your brain changes, the function of your brain long-term will change as well.
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In fact, it's very similar to how physical exercise gradually changes the body
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if you do it over and over and over again.
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Positive brain workouts help form new neural pathways that can disrupt your negative thinking patterns,
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leading to long-lasting changes in your cognitive function, which help you think better and actually help your brain work better.
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And so to understand how this works, let's first take a look at just the brain itself.
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Your brain is basically this little mushy thing that's made up of billions and billions of neurons,
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which are specialized cells that transmit information throughout the brain and the nervous system.
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And these neurons are connected through things called synapses, which help them communicate with one another.
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And when you think a thought or you perform a certain action or task in some sort of way,
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your neurons are going to fire in a particular pattern that corresponds with that thought or with that action.
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And there's a real famous phrase, the most famous phrase around neurology, is neurons that fire together, wire together.
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Fire together basically just means an electrical signal.
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And then they wire together, which means they create an electrical connection.
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And over time, repeated patterns of thought or behavior,
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positive, negative, whatever it might be just repeated patterns of thought and behavior can actually change the structure of your brain.
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And this is known as neuroplasticity.
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This is what allows your brain to adapt and learn new things throughout your entire life.
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So we've all heard the phrase, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, completely false.
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You definitely can.
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It's just as you get older, it becomes a little bit harder to learn things or to change, but it does not mean that you cannot change.
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So for example, you know, if you, if you sit and you decide I've never played the piano before, but I'm going to it down for an hour a day and I'm going to practice the piano every single day.
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The areas of your brain responsible for processing music become more developed and more efficient.
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I have an entire episode, I have an entire chapter in my book, my book Level Up, that is specifically around neuroplasticity.
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And it is
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so fascinating to me how we can change our brains whenever we put dedicated practice into something
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and how people who play the piano, their brains end up changing and being different.
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People who drive taxis in London, their brains end up being different because they have to memorize every single road that's in London.
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And so the same is positive for, I'm sorry, the same is true for positive thoughts.
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So the same way that if I decide to learn piano, my brain is going to change.
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If I decide that I'm no longer going to be negative, my brain is going to change.
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It's not going to change overnight, but it's going to change if I continue to keep being very intentional.
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And when you consciously focus on positive thoughts, you activate certain neural pathways in the brain that correspond with those thoughts.
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And over time, those pathways become stronger and stronger and stronger.
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And as it becomes stronger, they become more efficient.
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And as they become more efficient, it actually makes it easier for you to access positive thoughts and emotions in the future.
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That's what's crazy.
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You could be negative as hell right now, but decide I'm no longer going to be negative.
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I'm going to find the good in everything, I'm going to be positive.
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And as you do it over and over and over, those neural pathways become stronger and stronger and stronger.
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And as it becomes stronger, they become more efficient which makes it easier for you to access positive thoughts and emotions.
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Wow that's pretty crazy right?
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This is why positive thinking is often referred to as a brain workout.
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It's just like a real workout like physical exercise strengthens your muscles.
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Positive thinking actually strengthens your brain.
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Once again I'm going to give you science don't you worry
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I'm not just saying this as some like rah-rah high-five motivational speaker because because that's not what I want to be.
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And this is why you can meet somebody who's always happy.
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And you're like, what the fuck?
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How are you always so happy?
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Right?
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Like, I'm like, how do you do it?
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Right?
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Like I've thought that we're so happy all the time.
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You're so positive all the time.
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Right?
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But you also can meet somebody and they're always sad all the time.
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They're always negative all the time.
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And you're like, this person's not fun to be around.
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All of that, whether it's the sadness, whether it's the happiness, when there's a positive, all of it is just a habit.
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It's just a habitual way of thinking.
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And if this is true for positive thinking, then the opposite must also be true.
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Negative thinking can also have a really huge impact on your brain as well.
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When you consistently think negative thoughts, you activate neural pathways that correspond with those thoughts.
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Same way that you do with positive, they're just different ones.
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And over time, those pathways become stronger and more efficient,
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making it easier for you to access negative thoughts and emotions in the future.
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And this is why negative thought patterns, negative thinking, being a little negative Nancy can be so hard to break.
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You can see someone and it's just like, they're so miserable.
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And even if they don't want to be miserable anymore, it's so hard for them to stop being miserable.
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It's hard to break because as you continue to keep doing them over and over and over again, it becomes easier to do.
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And they become deeply ingrained in the structure of your brain.
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But the good news is, is that with a lot of time, well, first off, with awareness of what you are thinking,
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how you're acting, in time and attention and intention, you can disrupt these negative thinking patterns and consciously start focusing on thoughts that are more positive.
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When you intentionally choose to think positively, you activate different neural pathways in your brain that correspond to those thoughts.
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You activate different neural pathways than the negative thoughts and neurons that fire together, wire together.
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And over time, these pathways become stronger and more efficient.
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And eventually they disrupt the negative patterns, making it easier for you to access positive thoughts and emotions.
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And recently I told you guys about, like, I used to be such a negative person.
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I used to be such a pessimistic person.
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I was such a negative Nancy.
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And over time I was like, I don't want to be this way anymore.
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This is not who I want to be in the future.
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Like just a negative little person.
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Nobody wants, I don't want to be that and so I started changing the way that I thought.
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Every time I thought negative, I'd force myself to find a positive.
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Every time I thought negative, I'd force myself to find a positive.
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Over and over and over again.
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The same way that you train a dog.
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If it goes pottie inside, you take it outside.
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It goes pottie inside, you take it outside.
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Over and over and over again, eventually the dog just goes, oh, I go pottie outside.
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Right?
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It's the same way that you train your brain.
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I was negative, I'm going to be positive.
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I was negative, I'm going to be positive.
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Over and over and over again, eventually your brain just starts learning new neural pathways.
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And so really that's what it comes down to.
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And you might be like, all right, cool, hippie, but is there real science?
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Can we root this in real science?
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Or are you just saying, rah, rah, high five, go do it, be positive, it changes your brain, and there's no studies behind it?
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Oh, ready?
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There are many, many studies.
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I've researched the hell out of this, just to make sure that the most pessimistic person that's out there,
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the most analytical person, and the most skeptical person, all in one, would go, well, damn, yeah, this actually seems to hold,
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it seems to hold water.
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I'm guessing that this is the truth, okay?
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So let me give you a bunch of different studies.
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You ready?
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One study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research found
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that practicing positive affirmations for just four weeks led to significant changes in the brain in areas
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that were associated with self-related processing and emotional regulation.
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Participants in the study reported feeling less anxious and more self-confident after practicing positive affirmations,
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and these changes were reflected in their brain activity.
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Want another study?
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Let's keep going.
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Another study published in the Journal of Social Cognitive
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and Effective Neuroscience found that when participants were trained to focus on positive images instead of negative ones,
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they experienced changes in the brain activity in areas associated with emotional regulation and attentional control.
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These changes were still present six months after the training ended, suggesting that the effects of positive thinking are actually long-lasting.
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There was another study.
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Neuroimaging studies have shown that positive thinking can increase activity in the prefrontal cortex of your brain,
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which is the part of the brain that's responsible for executive functions such as decision-making, planning, and impulse control.
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Another study that came out have shown, or many studies have shown, that positive thinking can actually decrease activity in the amygdala,
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which is the part of the brain that's responsible for fear and other negative emotions.
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So positive thinking actually decreases the blood flow in the amygdala, which means less fear is going to pop up.
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A study that was in the Journal of Cerebral Cortex, I don't even know that was a journal, the Cerebral Cortex Journal found
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that people who practice mindfulness meditation had greater gray matter density in the prefrontal cortex of their brain,
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which is associated with cognitive control and emotional regulation.
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Research has also shown that positive thinking can increase the production of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin,
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which are both associated with feelings of happiness and well-being and being more motivated.
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Studies have also found that positive thinking can improve cognitive performance in tasks such as problem solving, decision making, and working memory.
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A study that was published in the journal of
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oh god let me try my best psychoneuroendocrinology
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that might be the longest word i've ever seen psycho that's one word everybody psychoneuroendocrinology found
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that people who wrote about positive experiences had lower levels of
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stress hormone cortisol than those who wrote about negative experiences research has also shown that positive thinking can improve physical
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health outcomes such as reducing inflammation and improving cardiovascular health.
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So that's a crazy thing to think about.
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Positive thinking reduces inflammation in your body and improves cardiovascular health.
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So it's not just your brain that changes, your body also changes.
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All right, we're almost done.
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We got a couple more, okay?
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Neuroplasticity studies have shown that the brain is capable of changing
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and adapting throughout our lifetime and that positive experiences and thoughts help shape the processes and the efficiency of the brain.
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A study that was published in the Journal of Nature Neuroscience found
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that people who receive positive feedback during a learning task had increased activity in striatum,
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which is associated with reward processing and reinforcement learning.
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So does positive thinking actually change your brain scientifically?
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The answer is yes.
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That is the most studies I've ever put into one podcast episode.
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Of course, it's important to note that positive thinking alone is not some like magic cure-all for all mental health issues.
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I'm not saying that when something comes up and, you know, you're feeling like complete shit, that you're just like, hey, everything's going to be okay, everything's going to be okay, everything's going to be okay.
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That's not what I'm saying.
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What I'm saying is, is there a way for us to try to start searching for a little bit more positivity?
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When something happens, can we look at it through a positive light? if something negative happens in our life, can we look it through a positive light so that not, not so that we ignore the negative,
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but so that we can actually take on the negative in a more of a positive way.
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So it's not a cure-all for mental health issues.
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For instance, for people that have like clinical depression, positive thinking exercises might not be enough to alleviate their symptoms,
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but there's many studies that show just practicing positive thinking can be helpful
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as a complement to forms of therapy that they might have or medication that they might be using.
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And so how do we start actually taking this and now that you've realized that it works, how do we take this positive thinking and we put it into your daily routine?
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Well, let's dive in.
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I'm going to give you a few different techniques and some tips to help you.
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The first thing, as corny as it sounds, is to practice gratitude, right?
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Take a few minutes a day to just write down three things that you're grateful for.
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All too often, our brain goes to negative.
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It looks for what is wrong in our environment, and it does that as a way to keep us safe.
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It searches for what is wrong.
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And so what we need to do, if that's the case, is we need to search for what is right.
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We need to search for what we can be grateful for.
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And so what we need to do is we need to find three things that we're grateful for early in the morning, not late at night, but early in the morning when your brain is still kind of waking up.
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It's still kind of in theta state because theta is the most programmable state that you can be in. And
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so a simple exercise like this can just help shift your
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focus from what's wrong in your life to what's going right
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or what you can be proud of or what you can find that's good.
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And it doesn't have to be huge things.
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It doesn't be like, oh, my God, I bought a new house.
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It could be like, hey, it's a beautiful, sunny day outside.
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I get to go have dinner with a friend tonight.
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It could be something like that, right?
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That's the first thing.
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Practice gratitude.
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Next thing is use positive affirmations.
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I gave you multiple studies that show that positive affirmations actually start to change the way that you view yourself.
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And so instead of saying, you know, don't lie to yourself, but if you say, I am capable and I am confident, or if you feel like you're unlovable, I am worthy of love.
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I'm worthy of respect and repeat them to yourself all throughout the day.
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Because all too often, we have a narrative that's going on in our heads, and it's not really a story that's helping us.
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And so really what it comes down to is how can I change the narrative that's going on in my head?
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You can also write them down on sticky notes.
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You can place them all around your house, your workspace, everything.
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Next thing is how can you try to surround yourself with more positivity?
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Can you start spending, can you be more intentional with who you spend your time with, right?
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The people that you spend your time with, you have really negative people around you, they're going to, you know, change your mental health.
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So can you spend more time with people who lift you up, who make you feel good about yourself?
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Avoid negative people and start to get into the energy of more positive people.
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Another thing is to practice mindfulness.
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Sit down, be quiet, and become aware of your thoughts.
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You know, a lot of people think that sitting down and meditating is about trying to turn your brain off.
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It's really not.
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What it's about is to take out all the things that you're seeing, all the things that you're doing, and to take a moment just to be with yourself.
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And it's not about getting rid of your thoughts.
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It's about observing your thoughts.
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So when you sit down and you meditate, you start to become more aware of your thoughts.
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You start to become more aware of your emotions.
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You're just trying to be with yourself a little bit more, which can help you develop much more of a positive mindset.
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Oh man, I'm noticing that when I sit down to meditate, I'm immediately going to anxious thoughts, anxious feelings.
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Okay, what do I need to do to change that?
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Another thing you can do that really helps is to start getting better with your self-talk.
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A lot of times, most people that I come in contact with are not really the nicest, they're kind of shitty to themselves.
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And so when you catch yourself with negative thinking and having negative thoughts, challenge yourself to change them with positive thoughts that immediately come back.
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So if you say something negatively about yourself and you notice it, become aware of it, immediately replace that with three positive things that you like about yourself.
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And that's slowly how you start repatterning yourself.
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So if you start thinking, you find yourself thinking, I'm not good enough.
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Well, counter that with I'm capable, I'm deserving of success.
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What else that you need to hear?
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How do you need to be your best friend?
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How do you need to be the person that's in your corner that's building yourself up instead of breaking yourself down?
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Remember, practicing positive thinking, it's a process.
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It's not going to happen overnight.
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You're not going to be positive today and wake up tomorrow and just immediately be like, oh my god, I'm so positive.
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But when you're really consistent with it, when you practice it all the time, you can actually change your mindset.
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You can actually change the structure of your brain through those long-lasting changes.
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And when you change the structure of your brain, the function of your brain changes.
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And the cognitive function that happens inside of your brain actually starts to change and adjust as well.
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So, I hope I prove to you that there's scientific proof that positive thinking actually changes your brain for the better.
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So with that, I'm going to leave you the same way I leave you every single episode.
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Make it your mission.
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Make somebody else's day better.
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I appreciate you, and I hope that you have an amazing day.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “How To Change Your Brain with Positive Thinking”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: positive, brain, negative, thinking. This video has 240 sentences and 3320 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:19. The speaker talks fast, about 192 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pathway noun | /ˈpæθˌweɪ/ | A footpath or other path or track. |
| neural adjective | /ˈnʊɹəl/ | Of, or relating to the nerves, neurons or the nervous system. |
| emotion noun | /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ | A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data. |
| neuron noun | /ˈn(j)ʊɹɑn/ | A cell of the nervous system, which conducts nerve impulses; consisting of an axon and several dendrites. Neurons are connected by synapses. |
| cognitive adjective | /ˈkɑɡ.nɪ.tɪv/ | Relating to the part of mental functions that deals with logic, as opposed to affective which deals with emotions. |
| affirmation noun | /æfɝˈmeɪʃn/ | That which is affirmed; a declaration that something is true. |
| correspond verb | /ˌkoɹəˈspɑnd/ | To be equivalent or similar in character, quantity, quality, origin, structure, function etc. |
| cortex noun | /ˈkɔɹtɛks/ | The outer layer of an internal organ or body structure, such as the kidney or the brain. |
| activate verb | /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/ | To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate. |
| meditate verb | /ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt/ | To contemplate; to keep the mind fixed upon something; to study. |
| neuroplasticity noun | The state or quality of being neuroplastic, of having a brain that adapts to experience. | |
| disrupt verb | /dɪsˈɹʌpt/ | To throw into confusion or disorder. |
| workout noun | /ˈwɝk.aʊ̯t/ | An exercise session; a period of physical exercise. |
| miserable adjective | /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/ | In a state of misery: very sad, ill, or poor. |
| anxious adjective | /ˈæŋkʃəs/ | Nervous and worried. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. | |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. | |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| pop up verb | To come up with a "pop" sound. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Wow that's pretty crazy right?
- How are you always so happy?
- Can we root this in real science?
- What else that you need to hear?
- How do you need to be your best friend?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to be |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has shown · I've never played · I've thought |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are specialized · are connected · might be just repeated |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | together, which means · people who play · People who drive |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 72 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: pathway /ˈpæθˌweɪ/, theta /ˈθiːtə/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, affirmation /æfɝˈmeɪʃn/, anxious /ˈæŋkʃəs/, intentional /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, amygdala /əˈmɪɡ.də.lə/, pessimistic /ˌpɛ.səˈmɪs.tɪk/, positivity /ˌpɑ.zɪˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/, cardiovascular /ˌkɑːdi.əʊˈvæskjʊlə(ɹ)/
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 pathway, neural, emotion.
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.