Shadowing Practice: How To Make Your Mind WANT To Focus - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
207 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Focus.
2
It is one of the core ingredients that determines if what you actually want becomes ultimately what you create.
3
Because you can have a worthy goal, you can have an effective strategy, you can have all the potential in the world.
4
But if you cannot keep your mind on what matters long enough to actually materialize it, then it is unlikely that it will become real.
5
And most people trying to build focus or even tap into flow, they do it the wrong way.
6
They often try to force it through discipline
7
or they manage it through productivity systems or they protect it by removing distractions
8
and those things they can help
9
but they are missing the most powerful ingredient to access effortless focus your mind
10
because focus it has an inner game and
11
when you learn how to play it you stop fighting for your own attention
12
and you effortlessly focus your mind to help turn your vision into results.
13
So in this video, I am going to show you the mental mechanism that makes this possible.
14
I'm going to show you how to activate it deliberately and why when you do, you do not just get more out of your time, you get more out of your life.
15
Hi, I'm Jodi Jackson, a neuroconditioning specialist who uses neuroscience to train your brain for high performance
16
so you can rewire reality for the results you most want.
17
So let me begin by saying this, if you cannot direct your focus, you cannot direct your results.
18
Well, you can't direct your results reliably at least.
19
And here is why.
20
Everything you create requires energy.
21
Your goals require energy.
22
Your ideas require energy.
23
Turning something that exists in your imagination into something
24
that exists in your reality, it requires energy
25
and the more concentrated your focus the more powerful
26
that energy becomes what do i mean
27
so i want you to imagine a light bulb
28
if you give energy to a light bulb it sends
29
that energy out in a million different directions right
30
and you have enough energy to actually light up a room
31
but if you take that same amount of energy
32
and you concentrate it into a laser it can cut through
33
steel right it's the same energy in both the only difference is how focused
34
that energy is that is what focus does for you it concentrates your attention
35
and so it concentrates your energy powerfully enough to actually cut through what is
36
and create what could be
37
and the problem is most of us are living like light bulbs our attention
38
and so our energy it is being scattered in a hundred different directions and
39
so we need to ask ourselves then right the question becomes
40
how do you become a laser instead of living like a
41
light bulb how do you train your mind to concentrate its
42
attention on what matters long enough to actually create it
43
so there are two levels to focus right
44
and the first is the level that most people teach
45
and unfortunately it's also the level where most people stop right
46
level one it is about removing distractions from your environment
47
so turn off your phone notifications right put it in another
48
room even block your calendar put periods in your calendar of uninterrupted work right remove distraction block your focus
49
and all of that is useful in fact i recommend it
50
but it is not what i am going to teach you in this video today
51
because i don't just want to show you how to make distractions harder to access.
52
I want to show you how to make distractions lose their power completely, right?
53
There is a big difference because one changes what's happening around you and the other it changes what's happening within you.
54
Because think about it, have you ever been so absorbed in something that the rest of the world seemed to disappear, right?
55
Maybe there was a project that you just couldn't pull yourself away from.
56
Maybe there was a conversation that you just did not want to end.
57
Or maybe there was something that you were so determined to finish that hours passed by without you even noticing.
58
In those situations, nobody had to tell you to focus.
59
You were not fighting distraction.
60
You weren't forcing yourself to concentrate.
61
Your mind had simply decided this matters more.
62
That is the level of focus that I want to teach you in this video and how you can access it.
63
Because the highest level of focus, it is not created by constantly protecting yourself from everything that might steal your attention.
64
It is created when your mind becomes so directed towards what matters
65
that everything else begins to lose its significance
66
and here is the amazing part your brain it already has the mechanism designed to help you do exactly
67
that right you don't need to create it it exists you just need to learn how to direct it
68
and activate it in fact let me show you
69
so right now i would love you to look at the dot in the center of the screen
70
so keep your eyes focused on it do not look anywhere else just keep looking at
71
that one point that center point right
72
and notice as your eyes are fixed as they are focused
73
as they are locked in right keep your eyes focused on it
74
and notice just in your peripheries notice the other dots beginning to disappear and what's incredible
75
is they haven't actually gone anywhere right those dots are still
76
there you just stopped seeing them they stopped being significant
77
because you had something that you were fixed and focused on right and
78
that is what i want you to understand about focus you
79
don't always have to remove the distraction you can train your mind to become
80
so directed towards what matters
81
that everything else it just begins to fall out of focus
82
your mind just begins to delete it it is less relevant
83
it is less significant it doesn't exist in the same way
84
right it doesn't necessarily disappear from your environment it just disappears from your focus
85
so your brain already has mechanisms designed to help protect your
86
focus you just need to learn how to activate them on command
87
so there are three things
88
that you need to do to start mastering the inner game
89
of focus right number one give your mind a target right most people struggle with focus
90
not because they lack attention it is because they lack intention
91
and what do i mean
92
when i say intention intention is simply knowing what you want
93
to create before you begin it is giving your mind a
94
target of where it is you want it to go
95
and this step it's not complicated there is a reason why
96
almost every philosophy of achievement comes back to the same basic
97
principle know what you want have a goal in mind
98
because your mind it needs to know what matters before it
99
can begin to prioritize it your brain cannot protect a target
100
that you haven't given it so you have to give it a target
101
if you don't have one everything competes for your attention
102
that email may feel important the notification that pops up may feel important that thought
103
that just popped into your head may feel important right everything has the potential to grab your attention
104
but the moment you set a clear intention right you give your mind a target something to prioritize
105
and something against which everything else becomes less important, right?
106
This is why intention is so powerful because most people, they think they have a distraction problem.
107
Often, they just have a direction problem, right?
108
They haven't clearly decided this is the direction, this is the target, this is what matters now.
109
So I have a whole video on how decisions direct your results.
110
I'll drop it in the notes below, right?
111
So that is number one, you give your mind a target.
112
And the second thing that you need to be able to master the inner game of focus, right?
113
Once you've given your mind a target, you have to give that target meaning, right?
114
You need to emotionally connect to it.
115
You see, your brain, it does not respond equally to everything you've asked it to focus on.
116
Some things naturally pull your attention more than others.
117
And that is the part we want to play with, naturally, right?
118
It is not effortful.
119
Why?
120
Because they mean something to you.
121
So remember earlier when I asked you to think about those moments, right?
122
When you have been so absorbed in something that everything else just kind of seemed to disappear.
123
If that happened, chances are you were emotionally driven by it or emotionally connected to it, right?
124
Because the more deeply something matters to you, the more naturally your attention is drawn towards it.
125
And this is something you can train.
126
In fact, this is a huge part of the work that I do with my clients.
127
We don't just train what they do and what they go after.
128
We train how they feel about what they do.
129
When something feels meaningless, you have to push yourself towards it.
130
And even if you achieve it, it can feel pretty unfulfilling.
131
But when something feels deeply meaningful, right, it begins to pull you towards it.
132
And it's a completely different experience.
133
And that is something that you can do deliberately.
134
And this does not have to be a long process.
135
It can be as simple as asking yourself the following four
136
questions number one what do you want what is the target the goal what's the result right something
137
that you want to be able to do or be
138
or have and then you need to go one step deeper than the outcome itself
139
so you ask yourself how would it feel to complete this right what feeling sits on the other side
140
and don't get in your head don't over analyze just connect to what it would feel like Thank you.
141
What emotion is on the other side of that result?
142
Is it relief?
143
Is it pride?
144
Is it freedom?
145
Is it excitement?
146
What is the emotion that sits the other side of that result?
147
And then ask yourself, what would achieving this actually mean about me?
148
What would it mean about you?
149
About what you're capable of?
150
About what kind of leader or person you are becoming?
151
What qualities will you have built in yourself to actually be
152
worthy of achieving this result right who have you become in the process
153
and then the last question is who else benefits
154
when you show up focused when you deliver on this
155
when you bring your best who feels the impact of
156
that is it your team your family your clients the people
157
that you lead or the people that you serve who else benefits
158
because you took action because you showed up because you achieved the result
159
that you wanted just hold them your mind for a moment
160
in fact hold them in your heart for a moment right
161
and when you do this and i can drop a visualization
162
so that i can help you emotionally charge it but
163
when you do this the outcome that you want it hasn't changed
164
but your relationship to it has right
165
and this is what makes it easier to naturally guide your focus towards it
166
and because what you're doing becomes more meaningful distractions become more meaningless
167
so don't just give your mind a target give your target meaning
168
that is number two and then that brings us on to step number three
169
because you can know exactly what you want you can be deeply connected to why it matters
170
and you can still lose your focus right
171
which is why the third thing you need to do is
172
condition it right you repeat it until it becomes automatic
173
because anything that you do automatically today you once had to do consciously
174
so if you think about driving right
175
when you first learned to drive everything required your attention everything
176
felt like effort the mirrors the gears the pedals the road everything right your hands in the right position
177
and it was exhausting
178
and now you don't even have to think about it you never have to remember how to drive
179
and what changed is that you repeated it you did it consciously again
180
and again and again until your mind learned the pattern well enough to actually do it automatically
181
and it is exactly the same with focus
182
but often people do it the wrong way around right they practice distraction all day
183
and then they wonder why focus feels difficult because every time you allow your attention to jump from one thing to another, to another, you are training the pattern of distraction.
184
But the opposite is also true.
185
You can train focus to become the dominant pattern of your mind.
186
How?
187
You keep giving your mind a target.
188
You keep connecting to why it matters and you do it again and again and again, right?
189
What am I actually trying to achieve?
190
What needs my focus right now why does it matter what
191
does it mean who else benefits right make it meaningful let
192
it juice you up let it make your soul salivate right you make this a habit of thinking
193
and as you develop a habit of thinking this way you begin to develop a habit of focus
194
and if you repeat it enough eventually you don't have to try
195
so hard so that is the goal you set a target you give it meaning
196
and you repeat it until your mind learns the pattern right
197
that is how you become a laser you stop relying on
198
things like willpower to hold your attention in place right
199
or removing distractions you hold your attention in place with meaning
200
and you return to
201
that meaning repeatedly until your mind begins to work in your
202
favor helping filter your attention helping you focus more effortlessly on
203
what matters long enough to make what you want become what you have.
204
And if you would like to train your mind with me, you can find the links below.
205
Life is a team sport.
206
I am in your corner.
207
I will see you in the next video.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B288
12 sentences
Stay Focused — The Secret to Achieving Your Goals Faster #english #mindsettraining #speakconfident
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
218 sentences
How to Get Your Brain Addicted to Hard Things, Not Cheap Dopamine
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
128 sentences
Speaking Like This Makes Your YouTube Videos Impossible To Forget
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B210
407 sentences
I wasted 33 years trapped in my own head before Naval Ravikant explained this in 23 minutes…
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
175 sentences
How The Law Of Attraction Really Works
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
150 sentences
How to Study When You Have No Motivation ( 7 Psychology-Based Strategies)
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
257 sentences
How to ACTUALLY Build the Life You Want (And Stop Waiting for It to Happen)
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
91 sentences
Train Your Brain for MAXIMUM DISCIPLINE with The Lotus Method
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
189 sentences
This Book Made Me Dangerously Productive
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B240
32 sentences
D86_ ALBRECHT FUND SHADOWING_ Fueling Desire
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
347 sentences
Why You Keep Falling Off Your Goals (5 Neuroscience Backed Reasons)
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “How To Make Your Mind WANT To Focus”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: focus, attention, target, energy, distraction. This video has 207 sentences and 2423 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:57. The speaker talks at a natural 174 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 90% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| distraction noun | /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/ | Something that distracts. |
| concentrate verb | /ˈkɑn.sən.tɹeɪt/ | To bring to, or direct toward, a common center; to unite more closely; to gather into one body, mass, or force. |
| disappear verb | /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/ | To vanish. |
| bulb noun | /ˈbʌlb/ | The bulb-shaped underground portion of a plant such as a tulip, consisting of a shortened stem and many fleshy scale leaves, from which the rest of the plant… |
| emotionally adverb | /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/ | In an emotional manner; displaying emotion. |
| activate verb | /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/ | To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate. |
| meaningful adjective | /ˈmiː.nɪŋ.fl̩/ | Having meaning, significant. |
| laser noun | /ˈleɪzɚ/ | A device that produces a monochromatic, coherent beam of light. |
| effortlessly adverb | /ˈɛf.ɚt.ləs.li/ | Without effort; without difficulty or struggle. |
| prioritize verb | /pɹaɪˈɒɹ.ə.taɪz/ | To value, do, or choose something first, or before other things. |
| consciously adverb | In a conscious manner; knowingly, volitionally. | |
| meaningless adjective | /ˈmiː.nɪŋ.ləs/ | Lacking meaning. |
| ingredient noun | /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/ | One of the substances present in a mixture, especially food. |
| absorb verb | /æbˈsɔɹb/ | To include so that it no longer has separate existence; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to incorporate; to assimilate; to take in… |
| notification noun | /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/ | The act of notifying. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| cut through verb | To take a shortcut through. |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. |
| light up verb | To illuminate, to bring light to something, to brighten. |
| pop up verb | To come up with a "pop" sound. |
| turn off verb | To power down, to switch off, to put out of operation, to deactivate (an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- You weren't forcing yourself to concentrate.
- I'll drop it in the notes below, right?
- What would it mean about you?
- About what you're capable of?
- What am I actually trying to achieve?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't actually gone · haven't given · you've given |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being scattered · is not created · is created |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 26 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, haven't, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: distraction /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/, emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, visualization /ˌvɪʒ.ʊ.ə.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/, effortlessly /ˈɛf.ɚt.ləs.li/, prioritize /pɹaɪˈɒɹ.ə.taɪz/, ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/
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 distraction, concentrate, disappear.
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.