Shadowing Practice: How To Find Your Passion - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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One of the most common questions I receive is improvement pill.
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One of the most common questions I receive is improvement pill.
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I don't know what I want to do in life.
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How can I find my passion?
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And that's a pretty important question.
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So in today's video, I'm going to show you exactly how to do just that.
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This episode was brought to you with the help of the guys at Skillshare.com.
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The first 350 people that click on the link in the description box below will get a two-month free trial at Skillshare.
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Now before we get started,
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I want to debunk something.
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A lot of us are under the assumption
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that there's only one thing out there that can be our passion
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that it's predetermined by birth and that all we have to do is find it.
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But that's not how it works.
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The truth of the matter is that there's probably many,
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many things that could potentially be your passion.
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In fact, it's entirely possible to have more than one passion.
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If you take a look at a lot of very successful people,
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you'll find that this is generally the case.
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For example, Tim Ferriss is a well-known author and speaker.
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But did you know that he was also a competitive dancer, wrestler and investor?
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There's only two things you need to do in order for you to discover one of your passions.
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The first is that you must change where you get your dopamine from.
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Dopamine is the chemical that is released by our brain that motivates us to do things.
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Without it, you will literally starve to death even if there was food right in front of you.
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The release of dopamine is also accompanied by pleasure.
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The problem nowadays is that dopamine is very easy to get.
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It's cheap and it's abundant everywhere.
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Back in the day we had to do stuff in order to get
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that dopamine and most of the time that meant creating something.
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You had to build a house,
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you had to create a nice piece of pottery,
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you had to go out and tend to your crops.
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While you worked on these tasks you were flooded with dopamine and you felt good about the whole process.
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If you followed this route you'd naturally become passionate about whatever it is that you did.
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But nowadays it's a little bit different.
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We can now flood our brain with dopamine without having to do much at all.
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You can surf the web,
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you can binge watch some TV shows,
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you can order amazing foods for your front door almost instantaneously.
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And methods like this have become the main sources of dopamine for the majority of people.
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Now what's different about these sources of dopamine as compared to the ones we used to get it from?
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Well these are forms of consumption.
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And the ones we used to use are forms of creation.
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And this is a very important distinction.
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In order for something to be your passion,
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it must stem from creation.
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If you get the majority of your dopamine from a form of consumption,
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do you know what we call that?
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We call that an addiction.
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You're addicted to watching TV,
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you're addicted to smoking cigarettes,
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you're addicted to eating junk food.
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But on the other hand,
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if we get the majority of our dopamine from a form of creation,
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that's called the passion.
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You're passionate about drawing, you're passionate about dancing, you're passionate about farming.
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So the first
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and most important thing you have to do in order to find your passion is to turn back your consumption valve.
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Watch less TV, play less video games, eat less junk food.
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When you turn back your consumption valve,
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you force yourself to start looking for dopamine from forms of creation.
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This is crucial for our next step.
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The second thing you have to do in order to find
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your passion is to simply expose yourself to a variety of different forms of creation.
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To give yourself a chance to get dopamine from these sources instead of forms of consumption.
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Now there's no fancy trick to finding these things,
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you just gotta approach it the old-fashioned way by trying things out.
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So what I suggest you to do after successfully completing step number one is to search up a list of hobbies.
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Literally go on Google and type in list of hobbies Wikipedia.
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Look through the list and if you see anything that seems even remotely interesting or fun,
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write it down.
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Create a list.
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Then all you have to do is take this list and ask yourself Which thing would I like to try out first?
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You should only try out one of these hobbies at a
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time You must give yourself enough time to see whether
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or not you can make this hobby into a passion
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if you've successfully Followed our first step
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which is to drastically tone down the amount of dopamine you get from forms of consumption What happens next should be automatic?
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Let's say you picked photography as something you might be interested in
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if you followed our first step correctly You'll naturally do some research on photography.
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You'll look up some videos you'll start playing around with a cheap camera
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or your phone and after a while you'll know whether or not you actually like this hobby.
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All of this is fueled by the dopamine
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that you are no longer getting from forms of consumption because you are now getting it from a form of creation.
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And let's say you don't find yourself interested in photography,
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all you have to do is move on to the second thing on your list.
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And if that doesn't work out either,
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try the third thing and so on and so on.
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And if you continue to find yourself not interested in anything,
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then chances are you're not following the first step properly.
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You have to turn down the amount of dopamine you get from forms of consumption even more.
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Now I know this sounds overly simplistic,
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but finding a passion isn't as hard as people make it seem.
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Honestly, all you have to do is tone down the amount of dopamine you're getting from sources of consumption
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and allow yourself to explore different forms of creation.
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Speaking of
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which, a great place for you to dip your feet into the water for a variety of different hobbies is Skillshare.com
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Skillshare has over 17,000 unique videos teaching you about hundreds of different topics,
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including things like photography, drawing,
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productivity, business, and much, much more.
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Personally, I've been interested in learning more about videography and film.
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My goal is to eventually create better videos for you guys in the future,
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and these video editing classes are teaching me what I need in order to reach that goal.
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For those of you that are looking for your passion,
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I highly recommend checking out Skillshare by using the link in the description box below.
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The first 350 people will get a 2 month free trial and after that it's only $10 per month to remain a member.
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Besides that guys, stay tuned.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging with the content of "How To Find Your Passion" is an excellent way to enhance your english speaking practice. This video addresses a fundamental question many people have about discovering their passions, making it relatable and relevant. By practicing speaking through such meaningful content, you not only improve your fluency but also develop your ability to discuss complex topics. Additionally, expressing your thoughts on finding passion in life can boost your confidence during IELTS speaking practice, where critical thinking and articulation are key.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
The speaker uses several grammatical structures and expressions that are valuable for learners. Here are a few notable ones:
- Conditional sentences: "If you take a look at a lot of very successful people, you'll find..." This structure is widely used in conversational English and helps learners articulate hypothetical situations.
- Present continuous tense: "There’s a problem nowadays..." This form shows you how to discuss current trends, which is vital for effective communication in daily life.
- Passive voice: "Dopamine is released by our brain..." Understanding this structure enhances your ability to describe processes or actions where the focus is on the action, rather than who is performing it.
- Modal verbs: "You must change where you get your dopamine from." Modal verbs express necessity and ability, crucial for giving advice or suggestions during conversations.
Common Pronunciation Traps
Practicing pronunciation is essential for comprehensible speech. Here are a few common pronunciation traps from the video:
- Dopamine: This word may be tricky due to its unique stress pattern. Emphasizing the second syllable can help clear up any confusion.
- Consumption vs. Creation: These two words can easily be mispronounced, especially when spoken quickly. Focus on the 'n' sound in consumption and the 'cr' blend in creation.
- Predetermined: Many English learners struggle with the pronunciation of this longer word. Breaking it down into syllables can be helpful in mastering it.
Using a shadowing app or shadowing site can facilitate these pronunciation practices, allowing you to mimic the speaker's intonation and rhythm, which is crucial for improving your spoken English.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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