Shadowing Practice: I am Unstoppable | Brian Tracy - Learn English Speaking with Video

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here

and thank you for being here on video i think you're

going to enjoy what we're going to talk about for time

immemorial going back to several hundred years before christ the greatest

minds of all time have focused on answering the question why is it

that some people are more successful than others all the work

of socrates was around the subject how shall we live in

order to be happy what are the keys to wisdom

and goodness in life plato also wrote about the same subject how should live how should we organize our lives

and our families and our societies aristotle and all throughout history the great philosophers

and metaphysicians and mystics the great religious teachers and preachers

and the best writers have all looked at this question what

can we do in order to be happy to be more successful to have more of the things

that we want would you like to be financially independent you

say of course would you like to be financially independent yes

why aren't you why aren't you financially independent you're making one

of the best livings in the history of the world living

in the richest country in the history of the world why aren't you a little bit financially independent

and you know what you say well i can't my bills

are too high my taxes are too high my costs are too high my this my

that my the fact of the matter is there are people who come over here with nothing from foreign countries

and save every single thing that they make

and live on half of their income

and 10 years later working at laboring jobs they've got 20 50 100 people working for them

and they're financially independent why it's

because they had no limitation our limitations exist within our own minds

and the worst of all is we feel helpless second reason

why people stay where they are illustrated by the story of speedy the rat

speedy the rat is put into a cage

and off the cage there are four tunnels and speedy is kept hungry

and in the mouth of the fourth tunnel down here a

little bit of cheese is put speedy is dropped into the cage

and speedy is hungry smells cheese around here somewhere

so starts doing a search searches around a little bit tries

the first tunnel second tunnel third tunnel finds the cheese at the fourth tunnel eats the cheese

and is happy take speedy out keep him out for 24

hours he's hungry again put him back in mouth his cheese is in the mouth of the fourth tunnel

and speedy goes a little bit familiar he does a search

process comes to the first tunnel second tunnel third time there's the cheese in the fourth tunnel by the third

or fourth day you can put speedy in the cage

and he'll go right to the fourth tunnel

and get the cheese once speedy conditioned they take the cheese

and they move halfway back this tunnel about three feet deep

with the tunnel by which i mean about three feet or three inches around

and speedy comes running in rushes to the fourth tunnel no cheese looks around backs up counts

goes

and explores sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff

sniff sniff smells smells cheese net fourth tunnel finally explores

and finds the cheese well in a couple of days speediest

condition to drop into the cage go straight to the fourth tunnel halfway back

and get the cheese and

so then they move the cheese to the back of the fourth tunnel

and of course in no time at all speediest condition go choo choo

and get the cheese then they take the cheese

and move it to the back of the second tunnel but there's no cheese at the end of the fourth tunnel

and we'll begin exploring the other tunnels

and we'll eventually find it at the end of the second tunnel

but human beings with this incredible brain will keep going down

the fourth tunnel forever they will keep doing what they've always done they will get into a rut

which we call a comfort zone they will set a series of habits

that are not serving their best interests

and they will keep on with those habits and they'll keep doing things

that no longer make them happy that no longer give them any cheese

and they will keep doing them year after year and we find

that almost everybody today all of us too consciously

and unconsciously is held by these twin pillars these twin bindings of helplessness on the one hand

and habit on the other is

that we try to free ourselves from uh feeling helpless

and we fall right into an old comfort zone where we

get out of the comfort zone we get right back into feeling helpless the only way

that we can achieve our true destiny is to break the shackles

that are holding us and the answers to both of them are confidence

and courage courage

and confidence the greatest single limitation on success in america in the world today is lack of confidence it's not

that we can't do it we have capacities and abilities beyond anything

that we have ever thought of in our whole life you know

if you used your talents to the full for the rest

of your life you would never even use a fraction of

what you're actually capable of based on all the research that's

been done we are right now functioning according to stanford brain

institute with about two percent of our brain power two percent

the rest of this huge this huge reserve of brain power

which we're kind of keeping there in case we ever need a little you know we got

so much of it it's unbelievable well

so i said to myself what is what is the key here

and you know what there's a common denominator of helplessness

and habit and the common denominators are fear and ignorance fear

and ignorance we're afraid we're afraid it might not work we're

afraid we might fail we're afraid it might cost us something we're afraid of criticism

and embarrassment we're afraid of failure and loss and limitation

and lack and ill health and disapproval we're so afraid the things

that we would do if we weren't afraid are literally beyond belief

and we're afraid of getting out of the comfort some but

because of what they might say what

if we did something different change jobs change careers started a

business got into something else what would they say do you

know i was listening to a psychologist talking the other day

he says nobody's ever been able to define who they are

but it's they out there it's the great almighty they that's

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got us terrified you know it's a true statement we say

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that when you're in your 20s you don't care what people think

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and when you're in your 30s you're very sensitive to what people think

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and then you get into your 40s

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and in your 40s you realize the great truth is

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that no one was ever thinking about you at all

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and that's the fact nobody ever thinks about us at all

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and there we are we're so terrified of doing what you really want to do

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because of what they might say or think so we stay in

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that comfort zone now all successful people are those who consciously are aware

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that the self -doubt that holds most people back is something

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that they are heir to as well and they're alert

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and sensitive to it when a person says why don't you do this

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or why don't you do that they have a tendency to say well I can't

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because of this

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and I can't wait a minute there's a story of a little boy goes to school for the first time

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and the teacher says do you play a musical instrument he said I don't know I haven't tried yet

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if you ask an adult you play a musical instrument what

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will the adult say no I can't no never could don't

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have him tone -deaf don't have any musical ability at all

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you know every child has perfect pitch up to the age

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of five to every child has the ability to play classical music up to the age of five.

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The Suzuki musical training systems have demonstrated that.

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You can start teaching kids classical violin at the age of three.

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Just when they can barely move their hands, they can start to play.

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It's phenomenal, yet most of us believe, I can't, you know, I don't have it, I can't do it.

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Our natural tendency is to sell ourselves short.

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Our natural tendency is to think of the reasons why we can't before we think of the reasons why we can.

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So the key to breaking ourselves out of the comfort zone

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and breaking ourselves loose of the shackle of helplessness is courage

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and confidence we neutralize the antidote to fear and ignorance is desire

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and knowledge and the more we learn about what we want to do

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and be and have the more we believe

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that we can do it the more we believe

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that we can do it the more willing we are to try

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and the more willing we are to try the more likely

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it is we will succeed what is the first part of

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triumph the first part of triumph is to try a little

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simple one -liner now this is what i found what's

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if somebody came to that elephant

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and said mr elephant you don't have to stay here you

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can do anything you want you're the biggest animal in the world

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that little thing can't hold you all you have to do is pop loose

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and you can go he said no no no i've been stuck here for years

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and every time i'm tied up i stay here why well

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because of this and because that's a habit you know i'm i can't

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and i can't i wish i would i wonder whoa i'm

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too tall i'm too short i'm male female young old educated uneducated

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so what we say is look just try just try the very thought of trying something new

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or different is traumatic for most people all right i'll try it all right pop

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and the elephant thinks my god i've been tied up

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and made to work like a slave all these years

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and that's what's been holding me and the elephant gets mad

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and goes looking for its owner now what do you call an elephant

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that gets mad

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and goes looking for its owner you call it what a

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a rogue elephant that's right now each one of you has the capacity to be a rogue elephant

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because you know something there's nothing holding us back except the limitations we have in our own mind

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that elephant is in reality unstoppable and the most important goal

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that you can develop the most important quality or characteristic

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that you can develop for happiness

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and success is to be unstoppable yourself is to think of yourself as unstoppable

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and you know how you become unstoppable it's by the basic

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psychological behavioral development principle of simply saying it to yourself

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because whatever you say to yourself and believe over

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and over again you start to believe as a reality you start to walk it

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and talk it and act it

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so what you say is i am unstoppable i'm unstoppable what

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it is i'm unstoppable nothing will stop me the greatest of

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all qualities to guarantee success is the absolute willingness to go at anything

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and refuse to stop until you achieve it 95 of the goals

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that you set for yourself you will achieve

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if you refuse to quit starting point is just to simply

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say i am unstoppable say it say i am unstoppable now

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say like you mean to get your thumbs out of your mouth

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and say it like you mean say i am unstoppable

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once more i am unstoppable yes now from now on whenever you see a barrier

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or wall or you think of anything you want to do

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or be you say wait a minute here i'm unstoppable nothing stops me

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and you know something you will develop yourself to the point where nothing does

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cause and effect going right back to what we talked about mental attitudes

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and personality are determined by things that we do

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and there are certain things that you can do consistently every single day

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and in so doing them you'll build your self -confidence up

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and up and up to the point where you become unstoppable

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and these are very simple things and they're practiced the most successful men

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and women men and women who were

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so terrified they could not lead silent prayer in a telephone booth at one time

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and they built themselves up to the point where they're not

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afraid of anything by working on themselves just like a weight

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lister built up muscles you can build up character personality

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and strength and tenacity and desire and knowledge and courage

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and confidence by working on yourself and

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so i'm going to give you now are the 12 key principles practice by all high achieving men

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and women very easy to learn very easy to practice don't cost anything As a matter of fact, what I would ask is that you try them, just a little tiny bit,

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and you'll get results out of all proportion to the efforts you put in.

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First of all, a starting point of great accomplishment is to dream big dreams.

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Number one, dream big dreams.

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Let your mind float free.

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All really exceptional men and women dream big dreams.

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They allow their minds to float.

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They think of what they could be and what they could do and what they really, really want.

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Here's an exercise for you.

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Take a piece of paper later on and right at the top, dream list.

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then make a list of all your dreams

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but what about this what about

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that no decide what's right before you decide what's possible don't decide well we can't afford this

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and we couldn't do

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that we got stop stop stop that's helplessness that's habit that's

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these old negative habit patterns holding you back before you even

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decide what you want most people are figuring out why they

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can't have it what you do is you say wait a minute

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if i had no limitations

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and this is the key you dream as though you had

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no limitations nothing's holding you back imagine you have all the

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time all the money contacts all the education influence you have everything going for you in the whole world

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and just simply decide these are my dreams

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and write them down project yourself into the future say where

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do I want to be in five to ten years

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if I could design a perfect life

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so my life was perfect in every respect my relationships my

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income my work my family my health my home my car

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what would it be this is the starting point of great achievement

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because what will happen is that if you can clearly define that target, you can hit it.

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You eventually always hit the targets that you set for yourself, but you can't hit a target that you can't see.

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So allow your mind to float freely.

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Allow yourself to engage in what is called blue sky thinking.

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Blue sky thinking means you just simply imagine you have the whole blue sky above you and no limitations, and then you write it down.

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And then you think and ask yourself this question.

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What one great thing would I dare to dream

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if I knew I could not fail what one great thing would you dare to dream

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if you knew you could not fail imagine you were absolutely guaranteed of success in any one thing big

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or small long term or short term in the whole world what would it be

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and write it down now

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that doesn't make your heart pound a little bit faster than maybe somebody should nudge you with their elbow uh

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because you're probably not alive or awake the fact is that

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when you start dreaming big dreams you know what happens is

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your self concept goes up your self -esteem goes up the very fact that you allow yourself to dream big dreams

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causes you to feel better about yourself see yourself better think of yourself better

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and it starts the process of making yourself unstoppable you become unstoppable people with big dreams

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that are absolutely they're absolutely committed to are unstoppable human beings it's people with little dreams

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and no hopes and no plans beyond tomorrow

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and next week these are easy people to stop but people that have big dreams to make wonderful lives for themselves

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they're phenomenal tell how close you are it may be near but it seems so far so stick to the fight

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when your hardest hit it's when things seem worst

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that you must not quit and if you don't quit and

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if you keep on keeping on then you must you will become unstoppable yes thank you very much

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158 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “I am Unstoppable”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: tunnel, dream, unstoppable, cheese, fourth. This video has 246 sentences and 2923 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:45. The speaker talks fast, about 213 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
unstoppable adjective	/ʌnˈstɔ.pə.bəl/	Unable to be stopped.
speedy adjective	/ˈspiː.di/	Proceeding with or characterized by high speed; rapid.
sniff verb	/snɪf/	To make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as when smelling something.
limitation noun	/lɪmɪˈteɪʃən/	The act of limiting or the state of being limited.
elephant noun	/ˈɛlɪfənt/	A large mammal of the family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and native to Africa and Asia.
financially adverb		In terms of finance or money.
helplessness noun	/ˈhɛlplɪsnɪs/	The state of being helpless.
terrify verb	/ˈtɛɹɪfaɪ/	To frighten greatly; to fill with terror.
helpless adjective	/ˈhɛlplɪs/	Unable to defend oneself.
float verb	/fləʊt/	To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).
tendency noun	/ˈtɛn.dən.si/	A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward.
ignorance noun	/ˈɪɡ.nɚ.əns/	The condition of being uninformed or uneducated; lack of knowledge or information.
choo noun	/tʃuː/	The sound of a locomotive whistle.
denominator noun	/dɪˈnɒmɪneɪtə(ɹ)/	The number or expression written below the line in a fraction (such as 2 in ½).
shackle noun	/ˈʃæk(ə)l/	A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
build up verb	To erect; to construct.
get out of verb	To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
go up verb	To move upwards.
tie up verb	To secure with rope, string, etc.
back up verb	To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so.
come over verb	To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse.
figure out verb	To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
go back to verb	To stem from; to originate in.

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	have focused · they've always done · have ever thought
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are illustrated · is put · is kept
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	people who come · those who consciously · women who were

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 78 contractions and reduced forms, such as can't, don't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: limitation /lɪmɪˈteɪʃən/, shackle /ˈʃæk(ə)l/, unconsciously /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəsli/, accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, fraction /ˈfɹæk.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: unstoppable /ʌnˈstɔ.pə.bəl/, limitation /lɪmɪˈteɪʃən/, denominator /dɪˈnɒmɪneɪtə(ɹ)/, phenomenal /fɪˈnɒmɪnəl/, disapproval /dɪsəˈpɹuvəl/

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 unstoppable, speedy, sniff.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: I am Unstoppable | Brian Tracy - Learn English Speaking with Video

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